We've had our 98 S70 a few weeks and had a few winter driving situations that I'm not sure are normal.
The first one was making a right turn, as I applied the brake while turning. The ABS seemed to engage, since there was a bit of snow and ice starting to form on the road. But I also seemed to lose steering control while turning, and ended up turning in the lane of oncoming traffic. I seemed to gain control just in time to get back into my lane without a collision. The conditions did not seem extreme enough for something like this to happen, and I've driven in much worse conditions in my Excursion without any problem.

The second time I took out the volvo in the snow was today. There was maybe an inch or two on the ground. Anytime I apply the brakes, they seem to grind, which I assume is the abs. My kids were freaking out everytime I braked because of the noise. The car also seems to have a mind of it's own when I turn. I don't know if it's the front wheel drive or traction control, but I often feel like it goes where it wants while I turn. So, I have to take the turns really slow, (so I don't end up in oncoming traffic again!). There was also some weird ticking noise that would come on and then stop.

I've been driving a Ford Excusion for 8 years with no problems in the snow or ice. We bought the Volvo so my daughter can learn how to drive a safe car that handles well, but I'm really worried about the way it has been handling when I have driven it in some mild winter driving conditions. I was born and raised in Chicago, and have driven in all kinds of conditions in various cars. My husband thinks I'm just not used to the ABS or the front wheel drive of this car. I just want to make sure this car is safe for my kids to drive.
Thanks,

 

well A) it is a volvo, which is pretty damn safe as for the traction, what kind of tires do you have on? Winter or all season?

I have the same problem while turning, even when it dry but cold out, I dont think I have teh right kind of tres on the car, but it deffinatly feels like its sliding when i turn fast.

 

I think your husband is right. If you hear/feel the ABS kicking in while driving in the snow, then I would say slow down. Rule #1 in winter driving is don't touch the brakes. Let yourlower gears control the speed until you reach better pavement.Don't count on those anti-locks to save you every time- you'll be glad when they do when the situationreally matters. Same thing when turning in the snow - your front tires are responsible for 2 things at that moment - turning and driving the car. Count on snowto reduce the effectiveness of at least 1 of them.

But yes, your volvo is safe. Rest assured many people buy these cars for their children, grandchildren, etcfor the same reason as you.

 

Front wheel drive is a whole different breed of car.
Your Excursion is a ton heavier and also the tires are about twice the size of the S70 ones.
That will cause the tires to lock up alot earlier than on the Excursion.

Also with the Excursion when you turned the front wheels are being pushed and not doing the pushing.

You will have to drive it around safely and learn how the car handles in the conditions.

Once you get used to it driving it will become fun.

 

Driving a FWD car in the snow does take some getting used to that's for sure. The quality of the tires is also very important. Make sure all four tires are the same and have good tread. The best way to get used to the car is to take it into a snow covered parking lot and intentionally put it into some slides so you get a feel for how it responds. I do this with most any car when I first get and every once in a while just for fun. You will find that FWD cars are not near as much fun as RWD cars when sliding around. I find them harder to control in a slide, but moch easier to keep from sliding in the first place. Once that rear end brakes lose in a FWD car there is nothing you can really do cause it is just sliding while the front wheels are doing the turning and driving. What I have found, and this it tough to do, once the back end starts sliding step on the accelerator a little to pull the back end in line with the front. It really takes some getting used to especially after driving something like and Excursion that probably had 4WD.

 

Thanks for all the great input. I'm glad it's just me and not something wrong with the car! After reading everyone's advice, I took the car into a small parking lot tonight that had not been plowed and drove around in the snow to get a better feeling of the car and the front wheel drive. Traction didn't seem that good, but I think that has to do with tires, which we plan on replacing soon. The car drives great on dry pavement, so I'll just have to get used to the difference between the volvo and my Excursion in the snow. I'm still glad we bought the car for my daughters to drive, as it seems to be a really solid vehicle, especially at 10 years old and 126K miles.

 

The Michelin MXV4 all season radials that I have on my wagon get the best traction. I don't think you really need snow tires, but a good set of all season radials should do the job. The cars normally get very good traction with the right tires. I have Yokohamas on the yellow car and they aren't worth a darn in slippery conditions. I have Kumhos on the white car, and I haven't had any problems with them, but I don't think they get as good of traction as the Michelins.

 

^All Seasons are generally terrible in the winter. I haven't seen or heard of a set that's really good in the snow.

The difference between my old snows and my all-seasons is night and day. In the winter time, #1 you need to slow down. 4wd, snow tires or no snow tires, you gotta slow down and you'll be ok.

And the grinding sounds more like traction control than it does ABS. The tracs is really loud (sounds something electronic) wheras in my experience, the ABS is mostly a pulsating only you as the driver will relaly notice (since your foot is on the brake).

 

My all season radials work fine on packed down snow or up to about 3-4 inches. More than that and I'm staying home until the roads are cleared. I agree that if you are driving in real snow, like five inches or more, all season's will not do the job and actual snow tires will. Snow tires wear out very fast and it's rare that you are in deep snow and driving. Just seems like a waste of money to me. I have a set of almost brand new Bridgeston Ponderosa snow tires in my basement on wheels that I didn't even bother to put on this winter.They were on theyellow car when I bougt it and I took them offvery quickly.

 

To atvinbaby,

Before responding to some of your queries, I want to explain that I come from 20 years as an emergency vehicle driving instructor at my state's police academy, including 8 years as a certified "Skid Car" instructor. We always trained no matter what the weather - dry, wet, ice, snow, and combinations thereof.

Your second sentence sent up a red flag for me. You really need to break yourself of the habit of braking and turning at the same time. This puts conflicting loads on the front tires and the car will do neither very well. This is compounded on snow/ice and is the cause of many winter driving accidents. The vast majority of your braking should be done prior to entering a turn, while the car is going straight, then smoothly ease off the brake pedal as you start to turn the wheel. If you find that you still feel the need to brake in the turn, then you're entering the turn too fast. In snowy/icy conditions, even 5 MPH could be too fast.

The reason for ABS is to keep the tires rolling, even after the amount of braking the driver has applied has exceeded the available traction on the roadway. As long as the tires are rolling, you still have some steering control. The problem is that ABS has its limits; it can only save you from your driving errors up to a certain point, then all bets are off.

Without ABS, most people will continue to mash down harder on the brake pedal, firmly locking the front tires and losing ALL steering control. At that point, the steering wheel is just a grab handle. The only way to regain any steering control is to get off the brakes and get the tires rolling again.

Score one point for ABS.

That just proves that each time you drive in winter conditions, it's not exactly the same as last time. You have to constantly evaluate the surface traction conditions and adjust your speed and driving habits accordingly. One way to do this is to do a quick brake check on a straight section of roadway, before you actually need to start braking for a turn. If you feel the car going into ABS mode (shuddering/grinding sound and feel in the brake pedal) with only light brake pedal pressure, then it's really slippery and you need to start slowing sooner than you might have expected. This can save you from sliding into an intersection, past a red light or stop sign.

The ABS system is telling you something: It's really slippery, you have inadequate tires for the conditions, you are applying the brakes too hard, or any combination thereof. On snow & ice, brakes need to be applied smoothly and gently. When you feel the car go into ABS mode, you have reached the limit of traction and it's time to back off and slow down.

One quirk of front wheel drive is that when you turn the wheel and accelerate, the car will want to keep turning unless you straighten the wheel out. If you're used to a rear wheel drive car and just letting the steering wheel slip through your fingers as the car straightens itself out as you exit a turn, this can be somewhat disconcerting. With front wheel drive you always have to steer the car where you want it to go.

Are you using the transmission in the winter driving mode? Press the "W" button and the car will start out from a stop in a higher gear, reducing the amount of slippage on the road.

Probably the traction control system. This system senses when one of the drive wheels is slipping and sends power to the other drive wheel to maintain traction.

Apples and oranges. The Excursion is a heavy tank, possibly with four wheel drive and better tires for snow & ice. Strangely enough, in my area most of the slide-offs and accidents in winter conditions involve four wheel drive SUV vehicles. My guess is because their owners think that since they have four wheel drive, they can go wizzing past all the two wheel drive cars. The only problem is that they forget they can't stop or turn any better than two wheel drive cars.

The Volvo is probably the best car for your daughter to learn in. (I taught my daughter to drive a manual transmission in my old Volvo 245.) If you really have some concerns about how your Volvo is operating, have a qualified technician check it out first.

That's a possibility. It does take some getting used to.

My wife and I have each experienced accidents in which our Volvos were totaled, and walked away without a scratch. In both cases, the other at-fault drivers went to the hospital on backboards. The secret is ALWAYS wearing your seat belt and driving defensively.

A few words on tires: I've found that "all weather" and "four season" tires are only good on wet or dry pavement. The only effective tires for winter (snow & ice) are REAL snow tires with studs. I'm not rich by any means, but I've managed to buy extra sets of (4) wheels and snow tires to equip my Volvo, my wife's Volvo, and my daughter's small pickup with four good studded snow tires. I figure it's good insurance for necessary winter driving and they increase my wife's and daughter's comfort level significantly. With care, they last at least 5~6 seasons. I'll never know how many accidents they've prevented, but I've driven past a lot of accidents which could have been avoided with better tires. Good studded snow tires will only increase traction by maybe 20~30%, but most of the time with careful driving, that's all you need. The also make our "summer" tires last longer.

-mrvolvo-
'79 242GT (long gone)
'84 244DL (totaled, rebuilt)
'84 760Ti (totaled real good)
'85 245DL (sold after 304K miles)
'98 S70 GLT (wife's daily driver)
'99 V70 GLT (my daily driver)



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Studded snow tires are not legal in many states. Ohio and Virginia I know for sure they are not. I had them on my 760 Turbo in Colorado Springs and that car would go anywhere in any weather with those studded snows. You were only permitted to have them on certain months of the year in Colorado. They lasted two winters.