Snow Drive Mode Request

[Willebrew]

Winter isn’t too far away and I would love to see a snow mode that changes the tuning of the powertrain for snow and ice conditions. Surely I’m not the only one requesting this from Ford. If they change the steering, throttle mapping, one pedal driving intensity, traction management, etc. for snow and ice, that would be super helpful. Who else wants to see this come in a future update?

Sponsored

 

[River Rat]

Canadian here, I've been in Texas during an ice storm and snow and can say Texans have a problem. Also have a Mach e and a Lightning both with snows and I use one pedal. I worried and thought I would use whisper in the winter conditions but engage works well so no need for snow mode. you have that under your right foot eh! Great in winter conditions.

 

[Willebrew]

Canadian here, I've been in Texas during an ice storm and snow and can say Texans have a problem. Also have a Mach e and a Lightning both with snows and I use one pedal. I worried and thought I would use whisper in the winter conditions but engage works well so no need for snow mode. you have that under your right foot eh! Great in winter conditions.

I’ve been through a winter storm in my Lightning and yes, it handles the conditions very well, but it could be tuned better for icy conditions. It’s super fun to slide around but occasionally one pedal skids because it’s slowing down too quickly. Having those tweaks would boost my confidence a bit.

 

[Marcoux]

Off-road would work well in a bad snow storm with heavy snow. Otherwise, Normal works fine on cleared roads with winter tires.

 

[RickLightning]

Normal, and don't use one pedal.

 

[FirstF150InCasco]

I’ve been through a winter storm in my Lightning and yes, it handles the conditions very well, but it could be tuned better for icy conditions. It’s super fun to slide around but occasionally one pedal skids because it’s slowing down too quickly. Having those tweaks would boost my confidence a bit.

Why not just turn off one pedal mode?

 

[Willebrew]

Why not just turn off one pedal mode?

Because I like driving in one pedal mode. It would be nice if it could be adjusted.

 

[chillaban]

The "adjustment" is not allowing one pedal in low traction situations. Normal + two pedal driving is already well tuned to winter conditions and I bought my Lightning right before the record breaking snow in Tahoe.

 

[Sneakypetie78]

If you start a slide in one pedal, does antlock kick in? Seems like it would almost have to... getting back on the gas would definitely be counter-intuitive if you started to slide.

 

[Maquis]

If you start a slide in one pedal, does antlock kick in? Seems like it would almost have to... getting back on the gas would definitely be counter-intuitive if you starred to slide.

Yes, I’ve had ABS engage when using 1PD. It felt to me like regen shut off temporarily while ABS was doing it’s thing.

 

[Willebrew]

Yes, I’ve had ABS engage when using 1PD. It felt to me like regen shut off temporarily while ABS was doing it’s thing.

Same, one pedal does work with ABS.

 

[Sneakypetie78]

Makes total sense.

Gives you another tidbit of appreciation for the amount of stiff going through the computer(s) at any one moment.

Wheels out of sync = slide
Shut off regen.
Start abs procedure

And then we get cranky when it's not delivered on time!

 

[chillaban]

If you start a slide in one pedal, does antlock kick in? Seems like it would almost have to... getting back on the gas would definitely be counter-intuitive if you starred to slide.

Yes, same with light regen braking. But it's a little scary -- regen basically suddenly cuts off and then ABS starts doing its thing, which feels like an acceleration relative to what regen was doing before.

I would compare it to an ICE car if you unnecessarily jabbed the brake pedal hard on snow/ice. Yes ABS kicks in, but you also get a little bit of sliding compared to if you never broke traction to begin with. It's less desirable compared to carefully feathering the accelerator/brake to avoid traction loss in the first place.

 

[GarageMahal]

Personally I found that Lightning in normal mode without one pedal one to be a very capable vehicle in all types of winter weather. The extra weight makes a huge difference. One pedal drive in snow seems like cruise control on in snow.... very bad idea.

 

[Willebrew]

Yes, same with light regen braking. But it's a little scary -- regen basically suddenly cuts off and then ABS starts doing its thing, which feels like an acceleration relative to what regen was doing before.

I would compare it to an ICE car if you unnecessarily jabbed the brake pedal hard on snow/ice. Yes ABS kicks in, but you also get a little bit of sliding compared to if you never broke traction to begin with. It's less desirable compared to carefully feathering the accelerator/brake to avoid traction loss in the first place.

Exactly, this is why it would be nice to have a snow & ice mode. I’m so used to one pedal that turning it off seems counterintuitive.

Sponsored