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Have you Played in the latest snowfall, to check the capability's of your vehicle?
This is a couple yrs old, but applies to the Sportage as well. Soon afterward, I put on Cooper CS-4 tires, and it was amazingly better then the o.e. Kumho Solus KL-21's!
Go, practice, put your car through it's paces so you'll know in an emergency what to expect, and how to drive it.
* Sorry, Please note I had the wrong page posted here before, (Page2), This is Page 1
Drives: 2011 Kia Sportage AWD EX w/ Premium................. 2012 Kia Rio SX w/ Premium
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I actually drove to Boston over the weekend to see this storm first hand. I drove through snow from about NYC to Boston Friday afternoon. Had zero problems. Took the Sportage out around Boston Sunday morning before driving back home. The vehicle seems to handle very well, although, I think it's better to turn the traction control "off" when driving around city streets. There is a little more wheel spin with it off but it seems to cut through deeper snow quicker. I do think more aggressive tires would help and plan on purchasing some when the originals are worn.
No snow here in DFW, but we had a driving rain storm when the last front blew in on Saturday 2-9 and 2-10. I had a gig in Dallas that ended at 2 am when the bars close down here. I live about 30 miles south of Dallas. Driving home, the rain hit and it was a deluge, about horizontal sometimes. All the freeway lights were out and the road semi flooded. The Sportage (pictured in my avatar) handled great! the anti-skid came on when needed and worked. I have never had a vehicle that handled so confidently in a storm. This guy made me just want to buy another Sportage if it ever wears out!
I'll keep the tire advice in mind, but the OEM tires work fine, too.
I live in Canada, so snow is a regular occurrence for us. I have my SX equipped with winter tires and it is an absolute beast. The only time I ever have any "issues" is when the roads are ICE. Anything that is somewhat slick, or snow, this thing just plows through. It's especially fun having an SX with the power to just pin it off the lights and leave all the FWD and RWD long behind lol.
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2012 Kia Sportage SX AWD - Canadian UVO package
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I live in Canada, so snow is a regular occurrence for us. I have my SX equipped with winter tires and it is an absolute beast. The only time I ever have any "issues" is when the roads are ICE. Anything that is somewhat slick, or snow, this thing just plows through. It's especially fun having an SX with the power to just pin it off the lights and leave all the FWD and RWD long behind lol.
I concur. I also live in Canada and have an SX with snow tires. Handles great, except for slush. I prefer the Traction Control off. I have found that I have turned out onto a road and press the accelerator to get going (because traffic is coming) and the traction control cuts the acceleration off. Almost makes it more dangerous. I think it's good to have for those not used to driving in icy conditions though.
I drove mine over the mountains the day after Christmas in West Virginia/Virginia in the middle of a pretty big snowfall. It wasn't snowing when I started the trek, but by the time I got halfway up the mountain there was a lot of snow on the road and it was pretty slick.
A few times going around a hairpin I gassed it a bit too much and had to correct a slight fishtail, but otherwise I didn't have to worry too much. I just kept it in low gear going down the hills and made it without incident. I had to hang back a few times to let some people who like to crawl up the roads slipping and fish tailing (RWD) so I didn't put myself in harm's way. I was impressed with how easily it would go from a stop on the snowy road and get right up the hill.
I was pretty happy with the way it handled. Stock tires. I will say that I have a bit of experience driving in bad conditions, so it wasn't my "first time".
All this talk about how great it is getting going from a standstill at a light is great, but stopping is just as important where awd doesn't mean anything. Don't forget that bit.
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