Transformative Traction

 What an absolute treat Christmas Day was in 2020!  After final preparations, we trundled off to bed with snow coming down:

By morning, the hemlocks were flocked:

And the Adirondacks were buried:

It was my favorite snow to shovel - powdery, light, and plentiful.  The dog was delighted as she tore through the snow, running wild and free:

We went for a wonderful family walk, and had a generally blissful day savoring each other's company.

Or course, I was delighted for other reasons - trying out winter tires!  This is what the streets looked like:

In the afternoon, it was time to put the Blizzaks to the test.  I went out in search of large, unplowed parking lots.  Upon finding them, I took tremendous delight in carving paths through fresh, unplowed snow:

It was peaceful and wonderful, quietly slicing through the snow.

While the snow was almost as high as the chin spoiler on the GLI, the Blizzaks cut through the snow with no problems.  Once again, the front end grip, particularly when cornering, was impressive.  

The snow was deep enough that the belly of the VW was dragging, and I had no problems powering through the snow, accelerating briskly, panic stopping with ease, and performing skidpad exercises around lamp poles.

Of note on the skidpad test is how well the traction control worked with the winter tires.  Despite my efforts to invoke lift-throttle oversteer, the traction control kept the back end planted and the Blizzaks provided all the traction I could ask for.

I think this video does a nice job showing how much fun I was having, and also demonstrates how well the Blizzaks were working:

I am also happy with how the wheels themselves performed.  In deep snow, they collected snow as anticipated:

Despite getting packed with snow, once I got out to the plowed main roads, the centrifugal force cleaned out the simple design, and I didn't have to spend any time clearing snow from the wheels.

That said, my antics did knock the front collision sensors offline:

Like I mentioned in January, I think it would be comparatively easy to put a heating element on the sensor cover.  The power is already in the area for the sensor, so why not heat the covering to keep it clear?  I hope I get the opportunity to go for a long drive in a snow/ice storm to see how long it would take to accumulate enough snow or ice up front to knock the sensors offline.

Having the Blizzaks for less than a week has provided ample opportunity to test them out, and I have to say, they are most impressive so far.