New member, Question on winter driving.

[Heliian]

Canadian lol.

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[TaxmanHog]

Expanding the details pane see link below avatar helps me get a better picture of who's who, what they are driving and where they hail from. It'd be great if more folks kept this information current as orders turn into ownership, [year, trim, SR/ER]

 

[SaranacTim]

I'm a new member, just purchased a 2023 ER Lariat. I know winter is a way's off, but I do live in Snow-Country, northern Nevada, south of Carson City near Lake Tahoe. Traded in a 2022 Chevy 1500 RST w/4-wheel drive. This Lighting will be my daily driver each winter, for members that live in Snow-Country, how is the traction of your Lighting in lite snow and some Ice on the roads? Will I need chains at all?
(Winter of 2022-20023 here was 4 months of the most snow in this area in 19 years)
Already have done 2 Mod's. A Gator Truck Bed Cover and a Ronin Short Antenna

Thanks for any information, Glad to be part of this Lighting group.

John

Congratulations! I do a tremendous amount of driving back it and forth in Upstate New York. We have a house on Upper Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks. Last fall I put on a set of Nokian hakapalitas.. combined with the all-wheel drive, low Center gravity Etc the truck was incredible in the ice and snow. I have never had that level of confidence in all my years of driving. Good luck!

 

[TaxmanHog]

Right, noted that as well, Canucks are funny folks.

 

[Halbach]

I'm a new member, just purchased a 2023 ER Lariat. I know winter is a way's off, but I do live in Snow-Country, northern Nevada, south of Carson City near Lake Tahoe. Traded in a 2022 Chevy 1500 RST w/4-wheel drive. This Lighting will be my daily driver each winter, for members that live in Snow-Country, how is the traction of your Lighting in lite snow and some Ice on the roads? Will I need chains at all?
(Winter of 2022-20023 here was 4 months of the most snow in this area in 19 years)
Already have done 2 Mod's. A Gator Truck Bed Cover and a Ronin Short Antenna

Thanks for any information, Glad to be part of this Lighting group.

John

I'm a little late to the party, but I live in Buffalo NY and the Lightning handled well enough for me all winter, even in our blizzard. Deepest snow I drove through was about a foot plus and it felt no different than my old 4x4. If you can drive in the snow in an ICE, you'll be just fine in the lightning. Enjoy!

 

[Howard S]

I'm a new member, just purchased a 2023 ER Lariat. I know winter is a way's off, but I do live in Snow-Country, northern Nevada, south of Carson City near Lake Tahoe. Traded in a 2022 Chevy 1500 RST w/4-wheel drive. This Lighting will be my daily driver each winter, for members that live in Snow-Country, how is the traction of your Lighting in lite snow and some Ice on the roads? Will I need chains at all?
(Winter of 2022-20023 here was 4 months of the most snow in this area in 19 years)
Already have done 2 Mod's. A Gator Truck Bed Cover and a Ronin Short Antenna

Thanks for any information, Glad to be part of this Lighting group.

John

Here is how it works in Mammoth Lakes this winter....

 

[ctuan13]

Tires will always be the key, but one big advantage the Lightning has over your old truck and almost any other half ton pickup on the market is its very heavy and its got almost perfect 50/50 weight distribution. We're talking 53/47 front to rear. That combined with the mechanical rear locker is quite a good setup for traction.

 

[VTbuckeye]

All of our vehicles get winter tires. It has been many years since we went a winter on all seasons (probably in 2012 with a f150 that had Goodyear rsa tires that sucked and when switched to blizzaks was awesome). The lightning was GREAT with continental vikingcontact7 tires 275 65 18. Stopping and turning is always better in the cold/slippery with winter tires (assuming it actually gets cold and slippery where you are driving).

 

[Yellow Buddy]

It’s all relative and subjective. Traction scenarios also vary as it could be fluffy, icy, or slushy. then aftermarket parts and air pressure adjustments can affect it. So I’ll review in OEM form with comparisons Hopefully this helps…

How does it get up and go in deep snow?

Wonderfully compared to an ICE truck. The extra weight helps to get it rolling.

How about compared to say a Tesla or a Rivian? Or on icy roads?

Not that great. Those two have better tuning. The Ford is tuned to allow slip, which means if you mash on it wrecklessly you will spin a bit before it grips.

What about sideways?

Just as bad as any other really heavy car/truck. Momentum is the killer here. This isn’t unique to the Lightning as there’s only so much rubber/grip.

How does it brake in icy/slushy conditions?

It’s not great. Weight again is a factor here. I also find it a little squirmy in hard braking situations. In normal braking in ice slush and careful driving, there’s no concerns.

 

[tls]

I see little point to comparing the summer ("all season") configurations of vehicles under winter conditions. If you care about winter traction you're not running summer tires.

The last 5 cars we've owned have been a Subaru Outback, a Model S, a Model Y, a 2020 ICE F150 and the ER Lightning. The F150s run Blizzak LTs on 18" rims all winter. The other cars all had studless Hakkas.

I'd rank the cars for winter traction, all around, as Model S - Lightning - Outback - Model Y - ICE F150. The Model Y's excessive regen in soft surface conditions makes it require more attention than the others. the Model S is just a total billy goat until it runs out of ground clearance (the only conditions where the trucks definitely beat it). On the Lightning I almost never have to lock the diff and tractor out with one wheel spinning while on the ICE truck it was a fairly regular occurrence. The Lightning is just a _little_ harder to brake to a stop than the others but if you don't have a non-stopping exit plan from every maneuver in slick conditions, you should...

I seriously wish the Lightning's front end were beefy enough to plow. With all that weight and the great traction it'd be a heck of a plow truck.

 

[FirstF150InCasco]

I'm a new member, just purchased a 2023 ER Lariat. I know winter is a way's off, but I do live in Snow-Country, northern Nevada, south of Carson City near Lake Tahoe. Traded in a 2022 Chevy 1500 RST w/4-wheel drive. This Lighting will be my daily driver each winter, for members that live in Snow-Country, how is the traction of your Lighting in lite snow and some Ice on the roads? Will I need chains at all?
(Winter of 2022-20023 here was 4 months of the most snow in this area in 19 years)
Already have done 2 Mod's. A Gator Truck Bed Cover and a Ronin Short Antenna

Thanks for any information, Glad to be part of this Lighting group.

John

New Englander here. Last fall I put on Bridgestone Blizzark DM-V2 and was very pleased.