I could see how powdery dry snow could invoke the same response as sand; although in the Yukon the conditions were vary similar and I had no issues (although the snow was not as deep). What kind of tires are you on?

 

Was sand mode significantly better than standard default mode?

Usually the colder it is the better the grip. Around 32 degress is the worth when its all melting with ice/water layer.

Now what were you thinking hitting a 30 degree grade and trying to back it up? Why not just keep going down that hill?

 

I use the snow mode very often. My LR3 is my ski truck, and when it is snowing is when I'm driving to the hills.
Proper tires as mentioned are critical. I have a set of Nokian snows. Awesome. I use snow mode when the streets are snow covered. The main thing that happens is the second gear start, so if in deep you might not want that. At speeds below 20 I turn off the stability control. I don't mind hanging the tail out a bit when I want. With it on and pulling out of somewhere, that and the TC slow down pulling out if you want to spin them a bit so I like it off. At normal speeds on snow (20-45) I keep it on and let it do its work should a situation arise.
I used low and HDC on one real hairy hill, but otherwise not needed. Otherwise, high gears and snow mode is perfect.
On a side note, in snow mode the grip was phenomenal on ice. I made it up the road going to the ski house in VT on pure ice. Snow packed dirt road, and had freezing rain all morning. This road goes up the side of the ski slopes...about 1/2 mile. Subaru and F150 stuck on hill and I went up with zero slip or drama. Our friends in their Silvarado (all seasons) and Hyundai Santa Fe (snows) both slid back down and had to walk it. I have video from the house of 2 other trucks doing their dance and bouncing off snow banks before giving up.

 

Also, I forgot to mention, in snow mode the rear diff locks even without slipping on steep grades, which is nice. As soon as I get to a steep section of the one road by me the rear diff locks up before it is even needed....very cool feature.

 

Which Nokian Snows did you get?

My next set will probably Nokian but not sure which model to get.

I have 19" rims.

 

Nokian Hakkapeliitta r2 SUV

Very good in snow, excellent on ice and decent on dry roads.

 

I know that....doesn't make it less obnoxious at times.

 

I probably don't even need snows for what I do most the time. I'm running Perrelli zeros (they a year round tire) and never get stuck in deep snow and I know they are not a great snow tire.

We had like 14 inches of snow and I parked my kids Ford Explorer 4x4 in the yard to do driveway. It got stuck, just spun and spun. Only right front and rear driver side spin.

I took my LR3 with perrelli into same snow and it was no challange at all. Not even close to getting stuck.

I pulled it out with the LR3 that was ez too.

So I can't imagine the kind of grip I would get with real snow tires.

 

x2 on the Hakkas.

Rajod, while I agree that the LR3 would BOMB on any Explorer in that scenario, it's not a fair comparison. If you parked the Ford on the snow for any amount of time over say a half-hour, that snow under it would have glaciated and made it pretty tough to get off of, as opposed to driving the LR3 in that area and never stopping.

 

No the Explorer is much worse than LR3 I did not realize till I drove it.

I drove explorer into that snow and it was stuggling. The LR3 drove right next to it same snow no struggle. They were both parked in the yard over night. The explorer was stuck from the moment I stopped but did not pull it out till next day as it was late.



The reason is

- Weight (LR3 puts much more pressure on the tires vs Ford)
- Tires - the perellie are better than fords tires (Firestones)
- Clearance LR3 Better
- The 4 wheel drive. I am not certain but I think the LR3 can auto sense and put power to the non spinning tire. The Ford would only do front right and rear left. I could not get it to lock up the other tires. Would have helped.