[3Roadster]

How are you guys finding the 718 handles the snow?

I didn't expect a snowmobile, but I had higher expectations. Mid-engine balance, winter tires... I had read somewhere that a rear wheel drive car with winter tires had better performance in the snow than an all-wheel drive car with all-seasons, but if that's true it must be more of an aggressive winter tire and not "performance" winter tires. I would still make claims that my car was "safer" than the other person's SUV because of superior stopping from the tires and lesser weight even if they had more ground clearance and traction (I guess you could sum it up as they were less likely to get stuck but more likely to crash, hence less safe).

Driving the 718 this winter, I knew from my 981 to keep the foot light on the accelerator and I would upshift at the first hint of fishtailing, but it feels like it fishtails a lot.
This is my only car so I wanted it to at least be able to get me around. I haven't compared identical road conditions with driving anything else to really tell, but it seems as though average cars have an easier time of the snow than I do.

I wondered if the extra low end torque of the 781 compared to the 981 makes it harder to keep control of the rear tires on slick surfaces, or also if the winter tires I'm using are getting less effective even though I'm far from the wear indicator bars in the tread.

It could also just be that the winter storms are particularly bad this season. And another advantage of the Boxster over the wife's SUV is that it's a lot easier to clear the snow off of a small car.

 

[Volkov]

In the winter, it's very fun to drift) If the cayman were all-wheel drive, it would be a real passable "fighter"

 

[photonscience]

It is my opinion (and experience) that mid engine, non-awd vehicles are the worst for snowy conditions (and snow tires only help so much). Weight on the nose or weight on the tail makes a big difference. 911's with snow tires are great fun in the snow and awd 911's with snow tires are absolute tanks (as long as the snow isn't too deep). My awd, mid engine R8 with snows was pretty good, but not nearly as good as my 991 turbo S with snows. Best non-awd snow car I ever owned was an old Saab 900- front wheel drive with something like 60% weight sitting on the front end.

Personally, I wouldn't expect much from a Cayman or Boxster even with snow tires - too low, and no bite at either end.

 

[Andros X Thomson]

I have snow tires on my cayman and it drives extremely well in the snow. I feel better than in my wife’s CRV, which has all seasons.

 

[johan]

The biggest issue with 718 on snow is the width of the rears, they are way to wide.
With that in mind its a pretty easy car to drive on snow


Oh, and you need a pair of good Winter tires to!
In Europé we have two kinds of M-S tires, one for Europé and one for us in the North.

 

[TEST DRyVer]

I keep seeing you guys use words like "snow" and "snowy". Whats that?

 

[GregW]

It's like cold dandruff. Falls from the sky and often accumulates--at least until it melts and makes cars really dirty.

I've almost forgotten about it since I moved from Canada to Australia.

 

[Volkov]

It's like cold dandruff. Falls from the sky and often accumulates--at least until it melts and makes cars really dirty.

I've almost forgotten about it since I moved from Canada to Australia.

Do you miss the snow?)

 

[Grasshopper]

From my limited experience ( two weeks) I'd say that the Cayman is reasonable in snow. I'm on the supplied summer tyres (P-Zeroes) and it's driveable. The absolute worst cars in snow are those with front engine and RWD - like BMW and Mercedes. The "mid-engine" 718 is better because the majority of the weight is over the driving wheels. The Mercedes is absolutely the worst because it not only has the worst configuration (most of the weight over the non-driving wheels) but it also has intrusive ESP which doesn't allow you to get any traction - and turning off ESP doesn't help because it just defaults to a pseudo LSD which cuts power to any wheel that's slipping.


As has been said the problems that the 718 has are to do with very wide tyres and high tyre pressures - both of which limit grip in snow. You can lower the tyre pressures of course to get more traction, provided that you remember to put them back up again when the snow has gone and you limit your speed. That's what I used to do on an old Merc I had.

 

[RussellHodgson]

I have 19" Continental snow tires on my 718CS (manual transmission) and it is incredible in the snow. It stops, goes and turns far better than our 4 wheel drive Tiguan that has all season tires. Of course if you put your foot down you can easily get the rear to step out. That can be fun sometimes. But for general driving around as long as you have a light touch and keep everything in check it is really easy to drive in the snow.

 

[Cinnamon]

I've chosen to avoid snow with my 718CS, and don't plan to get snow tires for it. But I did get surprised by icy roads to the east last December, and the car handled it very well, better than expected (OEM Goodyear tires). This is really not uncommon around here, as in winter the temperature crosses the freezing point often, resulting in icy roads. We've found Bridgestone Blizzaks are great on ice, and have these on our 4x4 pickup and the wife's AWD M-B.

It helps to keep speeds down, avoid sudden control movements, plan ahead, give other traffic lots of room, don't get sandwiched between semis, be patient.

I did get surprised once 20+ years before by a stretch of unexpected snow for some ways south of Bend OR. Driving a mid-engine Toyota MR2, no snow tires. With a semi on my back bumper the car started oscillating, fish-tailing on the slippery road. I lifted off the throttle and consciously under-corrected the steering, thereby reducing the magnitude of the oscillation. Scary. Traction was ok, but the mid/rear engine weight bias made the car want to swap ends.

Doug

 

[GregW]

Do you miss the snow?)

I do miss the snow sometimes, and then I remember how many times I almost had serious accidents in it just driving home from work.

I could actually drive/fly to the snowfields (in the big hills they optimistically call mountains) in 'winter' if it became a serious loss. In general though the beaches are better without it.:laugh:

 

[larvid]

I have a 2017 Mercedes C63S with snow tires and it drives just fine in the snow. Quite surprising actually.

 

[3Roadster]

I spoke a bit with a co-worker who has a Mustang. He also has winter tires, the Pirelli Sottozero (run-flats). He said he doesn't have any fishtailing, but there are so many caveats it's hard to compare.
He has an automatic transmission with a snow mode which limits power. He has limited slip in the rear. And I don't think we were on the same road conditions. The only vehicle I saw that seemed do well when I was out the night of our last snowstorm was the 4wd fullsize pickup truck (out plowing driveways), and I never saw how well it stopped. I think that while my car tends to fishtail easily, it still stops well and stays on the road.

 

[Mrrippry]

I’m in NJ and use my 718BS as a daily and we have been hit particularly hard this year and stunning 18’ Pirelli’s, the handles very well once you let the tires warm up a bit. In the snowy stuff, again not too bad, got me home and grippy the whole way.

Rippey