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Contours in Snow

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Scorpion8

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Jul 10, 2008
Messages
1,681
Location
Juneau, AK
My first winter with the 'tour and I gotta admit that snow slides off this thing easier than any other car, including the wife's Suby. A nice easy sweep job each AM and it's all gone. We're up to 134" of snow so far this year so believe me that DOES make a difference. Got a nice strong powerful rear window defogger too that makes short work of anything left on the rear window.

So, all in all, those are a few things that Ford got very right when they made these.
 
I agree. It handles quite well in the snow too, for a front drive. I took a 1500 mile trip this weekend which went over several major mountain passes in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. I still have my summer S03 Pole Position tires mounted! Lots of snow, no problems. Had the tire cables just in case though!
 
I think my Contiques have handled Ottawa winters better than most cars -- and I use all season tires. My 95 Contour got me through many brutal snow storms.

My only complaint is that Duratecs take forever to warm up.
 
Desiato said:
My only complaint is that Duratecs take forever to warm up.
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There's a consideration..... my Zetec warms up much faster than my Ram 1500. She's a sweet lil' en-gine. So far as snow tires, I have studded tires on since I always keep a summer-set and a winter-set but almost all of the studs are gone since they're the new eco-friendly (translate: less harm to roads since DOT never does road maintenance anyway, but no better grip than all-seasons) studs. I've yet to slip and slide in the 'tour and the SUVs fill our ditches most mornings....
 
I would ask one question though, and that is: Does any, and I mean any American car manufacturer know how to make a car that doesn dump snow directly on the seats when you open a door to get out your snow brush/scraper?
 
shotwell said:
Had the tire cables just in case though!
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I thought cables didn't fit on our cars??

So far, so good on the BFG Winter Slaloms. Just don't ask me to plow through 20" of snow!


Scorpion8: you need to anticipate the snow and leave the brush on the outside of the car! (That's what I do, anyway.)
 
Cables will fit, but you have to buy EXACTLY the right size. Otherwise you will beat up your fenders and side skirts. I went over Donner Pass in CA in the dead of December 2002 just before they closed it for mass snow. It was ugly, but I made it.

Since then I got the limited slip installed. That really helps a lot. In 2003 when Vancouver was snowed in for 5 days I put on the cables...I was unstoppable!
 
DDV said:
Scorpion8: you need to anticipate the snow and leave the brush on the outside of the car! (That's what I do, anyway.)
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Except that once the brush part freezes solid with snow, snain, and sleet it's completely unuseable. I keep it in the back seat so when the door opens (even reeeeeeeal gently) and some snow drops in at least it's not where I'm sitting.
 
shotwell said:
Cables will fit, but you have to buy EXACTLY the right size. Otherwise you will beat up your fenders and side skirts. I went over Donner Pass in CA in the dead of December 2002 just before they closed it for mass snow. It was ugly, but I made it.

Since then I got the limited slip installed. That really helps a lot. In 2003 when Vancouver was snowed in for 5 days I put on the cables...I was unstoppable!
Click to expand...

Talk to PDXSVT about ground clearance and drifts....... :nonono:
 
Ground clearance and drifts?? After a couple-days storm, I got stuck in a almost level slight uphill parking lot where the snow was over? a foot deep, maybe drifted a little deeper, with rainy mist on top of that to dense it up, with the quaife but no cables on. Jackpoints?? While stuck and trying to get out, a jackpoint cover came off, lost in the snow, was run over, found later broke in half. Side skirts?? And one side skirt snagged in the drift and was 1/3 off before I removed it for its own protection. But with that storm, that was the only time I got stuck and couldn't get myself out of it. Although I parked the next day and Aussie drove me around in a 4X4 truck. OK that's what I should have had all along, but until then my damn Chicago snow driver macho took over.

But getting around w/ fwd and no chains and not a lot of tread on my all weather tires had worked for me up until that day. I'd seen 4wd jeeps get stuck while I was still getting around. The svt worked as well in snow as a Saab 99 with michelin snows had worked for me in Champaign-Urbana in the 80s.

And my Duratec blows warm within a mile of home in city driving.
 
Ill admit the contour is pretty good in the snow, but when the SVT meets like 15 in of snow on the road:shocked:, it turns into a nice snow plow :laugh:.. lol the first time that happened to me i just cried...
 
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