How can I stop my car from sliding in the snow so much?

Question

I have a 2005 Cadillac CTS. It runs great during the summer, but in the snow, it is always sliding. It even slides a bit in the rain. It is rear wheel drive, so I'm wondering if I have to put something like sandbags in the trunk to give the rear wheels more traction. Some great ideas will be helpful.

Answer 1

Better tires is a key factor here, also take into consideration the fact that its rear wheel drive, you have less grip on the road and the more you accelerate the more it will slide.
If you replace the tires with snow tires and still notice this problem, you will have to correct your driving for the weather conditions, which include but are not limited to;

Ease into your acceleration.
Do not turn your steering wheel suddenly
Do not jam on the brakes, apply them lightly or not at all
and definately do not use your engine to slow you down (gearing down to from D to 2 or 1) that will cause you to slide also.

If you can't avoid sliding the easiest way to correct from a slide, is to aim in the direction you wish to travel, and let go of the gas pedal.

oh and yes sand bags will help your traction and maintain a better grip on the road on the rear wheels, however they wont help you in a slide.

Answer 2

Rear wear drive is a real pain in slick weather. You are experiencing the same issues a person with a pick-up or light backend rear-wheel drive vehicle has. There isn't enough weight on top of the tires. Adding weight to the trunk to keep the tires down will help, but at the same time you will eat up fuel efficiency. You could switch your tires to snow specific tires, but then you have the added expense and storage issues. You could also get snow chains, though they are a bit of a hassle and you shouldn't use them on non-snowy roads.

As previously states, check your tire tread depth and the air pressure. You may need new all-season tires or may need to adjust the air pressure to get better traction or better road contact. If that fails, I'd add the weight. You may want to find something other than sand. You will inevitably get a tear in the bag and end up with sand in your trunk. A few cinder blocks could do the same thing and you won't have sand to clean out.

Answer 3

75 - 100 lbs. of sand would help.
I'd like to know the brand and part number of your tires. Note the suggested tire pressure on your left front door post. Wright your max. tire pressure (located on the tire) on top of the door opening pressure Add the two numbers together and divide by two. This will put more concentrated tire weight on the snow. Try driving slower as if you have an egg between your right foot and the throttle. Remove your foot very early as you approach intersections and corners and touch the brakes lightly. If at all possible do not brake in the radius of a corner. Braking in the radius in snow or ice causes complete loss of traction of the front wheels as the calipers on the rotors lock the wheels causing skidding and loss of control. I've (we've) got a terrific website to pick better tires For your Cadillac CT'S. Try tirerack.com, enter your car and model. It will give you your tire size. You can pick "Best Sellers" or open every brand on the list and study one at a time there is a specific page that lists specs. and tests. When you open tests closely read snow and wet performance, road noise, life expectancy of tires.

Answer 4

I disagree that FWD is better than RWD in slick conditions. Tires are key, as others have said. Get narrower tires to dig down through the slush (wider tires tend to float above), but tread type and depth are so much more critical in winter driving.

BTW, if your car has wet traction issues as well, look for a different brand or style. MY GTOs tires are rated 9 for dry roads, 8 for wet, and 2 for snow. I can't even think about going out this week with those shoes on the car! But Bridgestone makes Blizzaks, which are rated much better. If I needed this car to get around, you can bet I'd have those tires on today!

Answer 5

dd7 gives a pretty complete answer.

The tires are key. You need to either get a compromise set of all-season radials that will provide better traction than what you're getting or swap out summer/winter sets. Tires with better traction may be noisier, have a lower speed rating, yield slightly less gas mileage, and have a lower treadwear rating. It's all a matter of balancing the parameters and finding a well-rated tire with the characteristics you're looking for.

Here are a couple of quick reference links on tires:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/tire2.htm
http://autorepair.about.com/cs/generalinfo/l/bldef_760a.htm

Answer 6

Snow tires on their own steel rims, you can down size in width a little and rim diameter while raising the sidewall height. Easy on the brakes and corners, but the best thing you can do is proper set of winter tires.

Answer 7

Try to put snow Tires on in the winter and be easy on the gas pedal

Answer 8

The sand bags may help. How about the tires? How's the tread depth? If it is worn too much, it will slip & slide.

Answer 9

Keep your butt at home!