New England Driving - Snow

I've been driving my SX in the snow up here in NH this year and I don't find the car to be as bad as I feared with the 17" wheels and low-pro tires. All the traction control and safety systems work well together. I haven't had any odd noises from the braking system. The ABS will pulse but that is normal.

that's the ABS for sure wich is pulsing and noising...if you push the pedal in the snow like in the summer

CBForte/tccris,

Thanks for the feedback. I have the EX sedan flavor so I have the SAMPO tires that come stock.

As far as the ABS goes, I will have to get my camera out and record the noise when I run into the issue again. I litterally scared the #$%^ out of me because I could not even stop appropriately.

I will hope to find a unplowed parking lot when I get a spare second to try again.

winter tires on?if not is realy scare you the abs noise

tccris said:

winter tires on?if not is realy scare you the abs noise

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No winter tires. I thought the Sampo's were all season tires. The noise definately had a sound/feel that something was hitting the bottom body of the car.

gumbyjunior1 said:

No winter tires. I thought the Sampo's were all season tires. The noise definately had a sound/feel that something was hitting the bottom body of the car.

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sound like ABS to me...my advise, take nice summer tires and winter tires on different rims and,use it on specified season,you'll never know what's coming and is realy making the difference for 100 bucks by year.Here after 15 dec ,summer,all season tires are ilegal(a veeery nice ticket...)but you feel the difference with !
a litle second is enough so why don't you be prepared?

the pulse you are hearing and feeling is completely normal. The reason you don't feel like your stopping is because when ABS kicks in it will pulse the brake on and off so you don't lock up and maintain steering.

ABS is for people who panic in a situation and slam on the brake and don't think to do a pulse so they still have steering.

Also check the air pressure in your tires. When I picked up my car from the dealer last week I was feeling every bump and seam in the road. I checked the pressure a couple of days ago while tires were cold and it was 45psi (vehicle's placard calls for 32psi). I let some air out and its down to 40psi and it was an improvement. Over inflated tires will affect your handling and braking.

gumbyjunior1 said:

I took my car out after the snow storm that hit up here in Massachusettes. I found that the car is not handling to what I expected in the snow. Furthurmore, when I apply the brake on my car, I get a pulsing sensation/ kick back from the brake pedal. The scary part is that a noise like something is hitting the body is going on during the braking.

Have any fellow drivers have had similar issues such as myself?

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Your ABS and ESC are working overtime to get you stopped under control , true snow tires will make an incredible difference . I have 4 snows on my Forte and use 2nd gear to start from a stop in slippery conditions . A lot less torque is going to the drive wheels with 2nd gear starts .

We got between 20-24 inches of snow here last weekend. I have yet to take the Koup out in it. I refuse to have a week old car covered in a white salt coating. I have a second car for now so its not a problem, but I miss driving the Koup =]

Red Rocket said:

We got between 20-24 inches of snow here last weekend. I have yet to take the Koup out in it. I refuse to have a week old car covered in a white salt coating. I have a second car for now so its not a problem, but I miss driving the Koup =]

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The Forte is our daily driver , it's 4 weeks old , has 1100 kilometers on it . Had the snow tires installed , windows tinted and rustproofing oil spray done the first week . It's been covered in salt spray ever since , wash it once a week .

You're not the only one

gumbyjunior1 said:

I took my car out after the snow storm that hit up here in Massachusettes. I found that the car is not handling to what I expected in the snow. Furthurmore, when I apply the brake on my car, I get a pulsing sensation/ kick back from the brake pedal. The scary part is that a noise like something is hitting the body is going on during the braking.

Have any fellow drivers have had similar issues such as myself?

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Thank goodness that I am not the only that experiences this pulsating brake pedal! Here in the Midwest, we are pounded with the winter storm, and my Forte's brake pedal will also pulse when I apply the brakes. It only happens when the road is covered in snow, slush and/or ice. I haven't changed anything on my Forte, still using the stock tires.

Most of the replies say that it is ABS, and hopefully, that's also appropriate in my case.

Thet pulsing of the brake pedal is normal. I've felt that in every vehicle I've driven that was equipped with ABS (1998 Chevrolet Malibu, 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix GT, 2003 Saturn L200, and 2008 Saturn Sky RedLine). I have a full set of cheaper winter tires, and they're amazing in snow, coupled with our ESC, TC, and ABS (though TC is always switched off when starting in deep snow).

I've driven from Kitchener, ON to Jay Peak, VT (via Montreal) in a horrible snowstorm and the car performed admirably.

Our sx sedan drives like crap in the snow,I dont believe those low pro tires are all season tires. You would think they would sell these with all season tires.

copperhead said:

Our sx sedan drives like crap in the snow,I dont believe those low pro tires are all season tires. You would think they would sell these with all season tires.

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They are all season tires. At least here in Canada all Forte models are sold with all seasons. But they're not ideal for snow in any climate. You're much better off relying on real winter tires for snowy conditions.

Usually tires are marked on the sidewall showing they are all season tires, never saw any thing of the sort on these. Goodyear tires made in japan. load rating, tire pressure, size. I guess there all season but not snow eh.