How often does your ESP come on with packed snow and ice when you have snow tires? I try to gently power out of a corner but the ESP always kicks in with A/S.

There are a gamut of tires out there, from those slightly better than an AS to studded tires. Each one involves trade offs with dry handling in order to achieve greater levels of grip on snow or ice. That said, any of them will be better than an AS tire.

If you have grip, ESP will not come on. If you don't, expect it to jump in. So the more grip you add, the less you'll see the ESP light.

mine kicks in when i push the car....from a dead stop in like 3-5 inches of snow it will come on....it comes on more when i go into a corner than on a straight

With Dunlop Wintersport 3D, mine almost never comes on. Of course, mostly that is a factor of how I'm driving in the snow; I can *make* it come on pretty easily. ;-) If I'm not driving like a tool though, it's kind of a surprise to ever see the ESP light come on in the snow.

It took a bit of courage, but I finally shut it off and had an absolute blast.

I think ESP is good for those times when I'm not expecting traction to be poor. However, when I'm cruising for fun, off is where it will go.

Cornering or leaving of a red light, the Quattro and snow tires combo makes for an awesome ride, to the point that it is easy to forget how slipery conditions really are.

Coming to a total stop is more tricky, of course the Winter tires give you the edge, stopping quickly, even after the ABS does its magic. Yet the concern is both, the overconfidence expecting too much, or expecting the cars around yo to perform up to the level.

I have changed my braking habits not not to cut my car some slack, but because I don't know if the car behind me will act in a prudent fashion.

For the rest! it's winterwonderland!!

Enjoy!

Free from hidden concrete dividers.... and get a feel for what your winter tires can do and can't do, and have some fun at the same time.

Last season was the first that I ever had dedicated winter tires, and I spent some time in an open lot getting accustomed to the braking, cornering and accelerating properties. Plus some AWD drifting, too. ;-)

It was time well spent - better to have a good sense of the edge of the envelope before you need to use it.

I was actually a little surprised when the light did come on, because it happened so infrequently. And I'd guess I logged a couple hundred miles over the last few days to boot. Sure does kill the power when it happens though!