I noticed that our '15 Sport had the intake, located down by the air dam, completely caked with ice. So solid that I couldn't poke through it with an ice pick. So I am guessing the engineers realized this was going to happen, and it won't adversely effect the vehicle...???
If you are talking about this intake
It is a air channel that sends air to help cool the rear turbo.
I'm guessing in winter time it is needed less than in summer.
Did you happen to try driving it in those condition in 'Normal'? Just curious about the difference. Only received 17 cm here in the Ottawa area. My brother lives in London. I wonder if they got dumped on too?Hey folks!
Another year, another winter! Just wanted to add my own personal EX-perience...
We're out here in rural South-Western Ontario with a 17 XLT AWD and Arctic Claw winter tires (2nd to none in terms of performance/price).
Last night we got about 50cm of snow-fall on top of the ~20cm from the last few days. The top ~40cm was really light and loose, but under that slightly packed.
Anyway, I had very little trouble driving through the deep snow in Snow Mode. Just took it nice and steady, not stopping or turning too sharply. Sometimes I felt the wheels spinning, but never enough to gouge in and get stuck, and kept moving nicely.
I had to pick out snow after that from the front grilles and a bit from the lower parts of the engine bay that had collected there, but nothing untoward.
Can't wait to have some fun with Sand Mode, though! Just need to find a nice open lot.
Didn't try Normal, actually, but there's a stretch of lawn next to our driveway that I'll go through to see if there's a difference.Did you happen to try driving it in those condition in 'Normal'? Just curious about the difference. Only received 17 cm here in the Ottawa area. My brother lives in London. I wonder if they got dumped on too?
I think the main difference is the throttle is much softer to try and prevent wheel spin. I'll try and see what I find.I tried snow mode the other day in very deep snow and couldn't figure out the difference. It might have shifted a little sooner than usual, but I can't be sure. Normal worked just as well in my experience.
Yes, about 20" - hasn't snowed this much here in a long time though. Winter tires sure make a difference. I was also able to get through the same tracks the XLT made in my '17 Jetta FWD with Michelin X-Ice3s. Only got stuck once on a portion where a deeper layer of snow had compacted too much and the Jetta kinda beached itself on it, removing weight from the wheels.50 cm = about 20", right? That's a lot of snow!
No wonder you guys need snow tires.
I tried snow mode the other day in very deep snow and couldn't figure out the difference. It might have shifted a little sooner than usual, but I can't be sure. Normal worked just as well in my experience.