Driving on Snow or Ice
Most of the time, those places where the tires meet the
road probably have good traction.
However, if there is snow or ice between the tires and
the road, you can have a very slippery situation. You will
have a lot less traction, or grip, and will need to be
very careful.
What is the worst time for this? Wet ice. Very cold snow
or ice can be slick and hard to drive on. But wet ice
can be even more trouble because it may offer the least
traction of all. You can get wet ice when it is about
freezing, 32°F (0°C), and freezing rain begins to fall.
Try to avoid driving on wet ice until salt and sand crews
can get there.
Whatever the condition — smooth ice, packed, blowing,
or loose snow — drive with caution.
Traction control improves your ability to accelerate when
driving on a slippery road. Even though your vehicle has
the Traction Control System (TCS), you will want to slow
down and adjust your driving to the road conditions.
Under certain conditions, you may want to turn the TCS
off, such as when driving through deep snow and loose
gravel, to help maintain vehicle motion at lower speeds.
See Traction Control System (TCS) (CTS) on page 4-9 or
Traction Control System (TCS) (CTS-V) on page 4-10.
Also see StabiliTrak
®
System on page 4-12, If Your
Vehicle is Stuck in Sand, Mud, Ice or Snow on page 4-31
and “Winter Tires” under Tires on page 5-58.
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