Heading North in the Cayenne, but No Snow…

On this day, we headed north in search of snow, but contrary to the forecast, it was warm with high temperatures, and there was no snow at all even in places where it usually accumulates.

I’m a super rain and storm magnet, so when I want sunshine, it snows, but when I want snow, it’s sunny instead… (laughs)

We kept driving, and suddenly snow appeared around the mountains of Haga in Hyogo Prefecture.

However, the temperature was around 2-3°C and not very cold, and the snow on the road had already been cleared, so we ended up just driving on wet roads… (-_-)

Still, while studless tires might have been scary on wet roads, winter tires handled it perfectly fine.

There was a short hill with about 20-30 meters of snow left (I wonder why only that part remained), so we deliberately drove back and forth a few times. Driving slowly was no problem, but when braking hard, the car slipped slightly and the ABS activated.

My husband said,

I don’t think this surface was icy, just snowy. The longitudinal traction here was completely fine. The Cayenne’s four-wheel drive helps, but even on steep hills it climbed without slipping. Its ability to push through snow is quite high.
On descents, the Cayenne’s heavy weight probably helps, but when braking firmly, the ABS kicks in. Of course, with normal braking pressure, there’s no problem.

After that, we went all the way to Togura Pass on the Tottori Prefecture border, where there was a lot of snow piled beside the road, but the road itself had been cleared, so we couldn’t really test the winter tires’ full performance.

However, since a lot of melting water was spread on the road, it was a great opportunity to check grip and drainage on cold wet surfaces. In Kansai and other areas, this kind of situation is more common than full ice.

The drainage, grip, and braking felt no different from summer tires. Even though there was a lot of water on the road, drainage was ample, which is a big difference from studless tires.

That said, the kids were thrilled to see so much snow for the first time and played in it for a long time despite the cold. It was a great memory for them.