Junkfood Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 I just purchased my Dodge Journey RT,AWD with 19"Kuhmo tires 2 weeks ago and would like to hear from others who have gone through a winter with snow and ice and would comment how the car handled in these conditions. Although I have a Durango with 4 wheel drive I plan to drive this winter it is inevitable I will get caught in the snow at some point this winter with the Journey. From looking at the tire pattern they don't seem to be too much of a all weather tire but I do like the way the Journey handles on dry and wet pavement. Are snow tires a must for good handling in snow and ice or can I get by with the AWD and OEM tires? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radrob Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 I just purchased my Dodge Journey RT,AWD with 19"Kuhmo tires 2 weeks ago and would like to hear from others who have gone through a winter with snow and ice and would comment how the car handled in these conditions. Although I have a Durango with 4 wheel drive I plan to drive this winter it is inevitable I will get caught in the snow at some point this winter with the Journey. From looking at the tire pattern they don't seem to be too much of a all weather tire but I do like the way the Journey handles on dry and wet pavement. Are snow tires a must for good handling in snow and ice or can I get by with the AWD and OEM tires? ya i just posted a thred in the AWD section it worked awsome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2009 RT Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 Absolutely no complaints up here in Bruce County Ontario. (Lake Huron with lots of snow) I was on OEM 19's last winter. 17" snows this winter, bother were great. Both worked better than any 2wd i've owned, and better than the 94 explorer 4x4 i owned. Mine Journey is an AWD too. Oh Yeah, don;t expect to find 19" snows... you'd need steel rims and possibly TPMS... look to spend over a grand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLM Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 Lots of snow/ice here., went through last winter with no troubles. My AWD with snows handles superbly, every bit as sure footed as my 4wd suburban. And ditto on not finding 19" snows. I went with 17's and a second set of wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drklng1 Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 I just purchased my Dodge Journey RT,AWD with 19"Kuhmo tires 2 weeks ago and would like to hear from others who have gone through a winter with snow and ice and would comment how the car handled in these conditions. Although I have a Durango with 4 wheel drive I plan to drive this winter it is inevitable I will get caught in the snow at some point this winter with the Journey. From looking at the tire pattern they don't seem to be too much of a all weather tire but I do like the way the Journey handles on dry and wet pavement. Are snow tires a must for good handling in snow and ice or can I get by with the AWD and OEM tires? I have the 19 inch rims and it took forever to find thr right rims. I finally found 16 rims from the dealer and went with firestone winterforce. I didn't bother with the TPMS and had to sign a paper clearing the dealer of any responsibility for not having the monitors installed. just have to deal with the 30 second chime and the warning light on which is nothing. We just got some snow the other day and the awd does awesome. I tried to get it stuck but it drove through like a tank. I was quite surprised by the starting and stopping, it's great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkfood Posted December 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 Lots of snow/ice here., went through last winter with no troubles. My AWD with snows handles superbly, every bit as sure footed as my 4wd suburban. And ditto on not finding 19" snows. I went with 17's and a second set of wheels. I had my first opprotunity to drive in the snow last night. 3" of hard packed blowing snow with a hard packed icy base. The Journey really surprised me with its handling. I was planning on driving my 4 wheel drive Durango in snowy weather this winter but wanted to take the Journey out to see how it would do in the snow. The Journey was great and handled as good or better than the 4WD Durango which I feel handles very well in snow. I now have no fear of getting caught in the snow with the AWD Journey and will probably not invest in snow tires this year and only use the Durango in deep heavy snowfalls. The journey AWD is a great handling car and has made me a believer in AWD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Sex Posted December 10, 2009 Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 My AWD with the 19" worked really well in teh deep snow we had here. Developed a really bad shake the next day and took it in to the dealer to get it checked out. They said that they have had a lot in to see them as snow gets stuck in the rims and throws off the balance. Sprayed the packed snow and ice off and back to a smooth ride! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diggit Posted December 11, 2009 Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 Just went through our first 4" snowfall (southern ontario) with the '10 journey FWD and OEM 17" kumhos. Traction control only kicked in when I tried to gun it to see their limits. Handled pretty good. Alot better than the OEM Goodyear Wranglers on my Liberty 4X4. Those are THE worse tires I have ever had on a vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wejourney Posted December 11, 2009 Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 Wife drove the Journey through our 1st significant snowfall in Albany, NY. She wasn't thrilled. It's an 09 SXT FWD 17" Kumhos. She said once she got going it was great but starting off was almost impossible. From reading post in the forum I suggested she turn off ESP to start off then restart it once she was moving. That seemed to help a lot. She was a little confused with the ESP does the display of a skidding car mean that ESP is off or on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djbade Posted December 11, 2009 Report Share Posted December 11, 2009 Wife drove the Journey through our 1st significant snowfall in Albany, NY. She wasn't thrilled. It's an 09 SXT FWD 17" Kumhos. She said once she got going it was great but starting off was almost impossible. From reading post in the forum I suggested she turn off ESP to start off then restart it once she was moving. That seemed to help a lot. She was a little confused with the ESP does the display of a skidding car mean that ESP is off or on? If the light is on and solid, it means that the ESP is off. If the skidding car is flashing, then the ESP is kicking in. As for me, I have 2010 SXT FWD with the stock Kumho tires and I have to say that the drive was awesome. It was my first snowfall (between 8-9") in this car and I really enjoyed the drive and the traction that I got. The only time the ESP or ABS kicked in for me was, as mentionned earlier by diggit, when I did so on purpose. The law in Quebec obliges people to put winter tires on and mine go on tomorrow. Surely the drive will be even better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMSBronco Posted December 14, 2009 Report Share Posted December 14, 2009 I drove all last winter with the OEMs on my AWD through bands of Lake Effect snow in Western NY. No problems at all. This winter, we have had one good snowfall a few days ago and the new Kumho tires were just as good. when I had to replace my OEM tires, I decided to stick with the OEM rims, so I went witht he same Kumho tires (from tire rack, lots cheaper than I could get locally) because of how well they handled last winter. The only thing I don't like about these tires is that I only got 40K miles on the OEM set. As one poster said, you may get a shimmy after driving in deeper snow. That's where I wish I had regular profile tires instead of these low profile OEM rims and tires. The snow tends to get packed in the rim, but it's an easy fix to knock it loose or hose it out when you get int he garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cotonymopar Posted February 1, 2010 Report Share Posted February 1, 2010 We have had no problems with our R/T, and we have had some tough conditions here in Northern Colorado! Lots of snow and ice, and my wife said it handled better than her old Jeep Liberty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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