SNOW Mode MG4

[Les burrows]

Tried the Snow mode setting this morning what does it do you might ask well to quote Paul Daniels “ Not A Lot “ all that appear to happen was it took the brake re gen from high to low, lower than low setting which did surprise me really as the re gen was zero or as near as dam, plus the throttle appeared to hold itself at a very low level which is what you would want in snow but with no re gen on the brakes the setting of which I could not change while in snow mode, it meant you have to use the brake lightly to keep control I played around with it for 5-10 minutes and then put the car back in default of normal with high regeneration on the brakes may be I was doing something wrong but I did not feel to happy in snow mode, pictures below show why I tried Snow Mode awoke this morning at the cottage in the lakes we use to about 4-6 inch’s of the white stuff under foot and tyres
Les

 

[siteguru]

Snow mode supposedly also allows a little bit more slip on the wheels before traction control kicks in. Low regen would be relevant because high regen may cause the wheels to lock and slide.

 

[Les burrows]

Added another couple of pictures to #01 which I had shot in pano mode but had to re-size them down as they would not load up full size also done a bit of text editing I hate typing on my phone.
Les

 

[MNE]

I tried snow mode on very icy roads. Like you, I was surprised by the very low regen.
When pulling away in low speed I also got high power useage compared to the speed and acceleration.

But ignoring the power use and remembering to gently use the break like on an ICE car, I found it quite useful. I didn’t feel the light wheel spin I had on my Mazda in similar conditions.
Would totally use again if conditions require it ?

 

[stevegus]

When i test drove the car and felt the heavy default regen i thought this will be bad on snow and ice as the car will break traction. I think you need ZERO regen on ice!

Also it SHOULD turn off traction control. A 3 series i had once came to a complete halt and wouldn’t rev above 1500 as it continued to sense wheel slip and woukdnt have enough power to move!

 

[Les burrows]

When i test drove the car and felt the heavy default regen i thought this will be bad on snow and ice as the car will break traction. I think you need ZERO regen on ice!

Also it SHOULD turn off traction control. A 3 series i had once came to a complete halt and wouldn’t rev above 1500 as it continued to sense wheel slip and woukdnt have enough power to move!

Well next year in February it will be 60 years on a terrible weather day with snow and ice on the ground since I passed my driving test 1st time I will add. and I was taught in slippery conditions like ice and snow to start off in as high a gear as possible to get going and once moving to keep the vehicle in a lower gear to make use of the engine braking to slow you down by using the gears to slow you down, there by avoiding braking as much as possible ICE vehicles of course.
And since then in them kind conditions that as been the way I have always tried to drive in snow and ice no matter if the car was FWD or RWD I have never driven a 4WD so that may be that might be a different method I don’t know.

But today in quite thick snow I was surprised to find the MG 4 when in snow mode was completely different than I expected, with next to no braking unless you used the brakes and kind of setting it’s own pace some how all be that was slowly, did not feel right to me at all hence back into normal mode the high braking available without any lock ups of the wheels if you did happen to apply the brakes a bit to much, and total control of the accelerator.

Please don’t tell me I have been doing it wrong all these 60 years.
Les.

Edit
Found this in the handbook

Confirming what I wrote in my first post #01 which in affect means you have no slowing of the vehicle unless you use the foot brake not ideal IMHO on snow.
I know the car as ABS brakes but that only becomes active under heavy braking I think.
Under Regen I don’t ever see the wheels locking up and I felt much happy during in normal with Regen available to slow the car.
Les.

 

[bear1]

We've had icy, not snowy road here. I found the couple of times I didn't engage snow mode, the car back-end attempted to get away from me. Otherwise, I was in snow mode and happy. Maybe I would have been anyhow, but certainly it didn't make things worse.

 

[AdamMGEV]

I found it strange that Snow seemed to have more power than eco mode. I thought snow mode would very much limit acceleration.

But I must say I didn't skid once and it was icy and snowy out on the roads yesterday.

 

[bowfer]

Been driving in this, normal mode is perfectly fine.
I do have Goodyear vector all season fitted though

 

[bowfer]

Just a thought, but I reckon the lack of regeneration in snow mode is an anti litigious thing.
If someone engaged snow mode and regen made the back wheels lock and they lost control, customer (probably American) bleats “I had it in snow mode I’ll see you in court!”
If the same happens and you weren’t in snow mode, customer is to blame.

 

[bear1]

Just a thought, but I reckon the lack of regeneration in snow mode is an anti litigious thing.
If someone engaged snow mode and regen made the back wheels lock and they lost control, customer (probably American) bleats “I had it in snow mode I’ll see you in court!”
If the same happens and you weren’t in snow mode, customer is to blame.

It's a good point. It's basically about giving the driver control (and so responsibility) and that's what I want in bad conditions anyhow.

 

[stevegus]

Well next year in February it will be 60 years on a terrible weather day with snow and ice on the ground since I passed my driving test 1st time I will add. and I was taught in slippery conditions like ice and snow to start off in as high a gear as possible to get going and once moving to keep the vehicle in a lower gear to make use of the engine braking to slow you down by using the gears to slow you down, there by avoiding braking as much as possible ICE vehicles of course.
And since then in them kind conditions that as been the way I have always tried to drive in snow and ice no matter if the car was FWD or RWD I have never driven a 4WD so that may be that might be a different method I don’t know.

But today in quite thick snow I was surprised to find the MG 4 when in snow mode was completely different than I expected, with next to no braking unless you used the brakes and kind of setting it’s own pace some how all be that was slowly, did not feel right to me at all hence back into normal mode the high braking available without any lock ups of the wheels if you did happen to apply the brakes a bit to much, and total control of the accelerator.

Please don’t tell me I have been doing it wrong all these 60 years.
Les.

Edit
Found this in the handbook
View attachment 13549
Confirming what I wrote in my first post #01 which in affect means you have no slowing of the vehicle unless you use the foot brake not ideal IMHO on snow.
I know the car as ABS brakes but that only becomes active under heavy braking I think.
Under Regen I don’t ever see the wheels locking up and I felt much happy during in normal with Regen available to slow the car.
Les.

The ABS will work under any braking including light slow braking.

Ive driven over 45 years in all conditions too. In the case of ABS in the snow it just ends up going off and you slide without slowing down much on the ice. Same as traction control will reduce power until you stop. In my view traction control is useless in snow as it totally stops you applying power if you are stuck even if its the best option.

Having regen, controlled by a computer, breaking traction on ice, is not what you want. Id prefer to brake as i judge and not have code decide to lock the wheels , fire off random ABS and have me slide with no ability to control it.

The standard regen on the car is really quite heavy and more like agressive use of a low gear down a hill. Its far too much for a slippery surface

 

[bowfer]

The ABS will work under any braking including light slow braking.

Ive driven over 45 years in all conditions too. In the case of ABS in the snow it just ends up going off and you slide without slowing down much on the ice. Same as traction control will reduce power until you stop. In my view traction control is useless in snow as it totally stops you applying power if you are stuck even if its the best option.

Having regen, controlled by a computer, breaking traction on ice, is not what you want. Id prefer to brake as i judge and not have code decide to lock the wheels , fire off random ABS and have me slide with no ability to control it.

The standard regen on the car is really quite heavy and more like agressive use of a low gear down a hill. Its far too much for a slippery surface

Yeah but the standard regen is only heaviest if you come off the throttle completely.
You can control it by just backing off the throttle gently.
I’ve been driving in Scottish winters for 38 years, the absolute last thing I want is ‘freewheeling’ and having to use the brakes only.

 

[PeteC]

Yeah but the standard regen is only heaviest if you come off the throttle completely.
You can control it by just backing off the throttle gently.
I’ve been driving in Scottish winters for 38 years, the absolute last thing I want is ‘freewheeling’ and having to use the brakes only.

I totally agree with this. You can easily moderate regen with the throttle. I'd much rather do that than having to use brakes in icy conditions.

 

[stevegus]

I think an EV in icy conditions isnt going to be anything like a standard petrol manual - or an auto in long range.

Personally id rather be in control than a Chinese software engineer.

 

[bowfer]

I think an EV in icy conditions isnt going to be anything like a standard petrol manual - or an auto in long range.

Personally id rather be in control than a Chinese software engineer.

Nothing will beat the ultimate snow driving control of a manual with a manual handbrake.
Or the fun.

 

[Ian Key]

Nothing will beat the ultimate snow driving control of a manual with a manual handbrake.
Or the fun.

My younger self would agree with you.
My older self had enough "fun" sliding a 40ft bus down a hill having to rub the tyres against the kerb to try and keep the speed down. Stopping was not an option ?

 

[WalkingBootWeather]

Modern cars with ABS and traction control are different beasts the manual ICE cars many of us learned to drive in.

I have used 'snow' mode or turned off traction control in previous cars to get started or to perform low speed manouvers but have then switched to normal mode.

Is it different in an EV? Would you complete your journey in 'snow' mode, or only use it when experiencing wheel spin?

 

[Les burrows]

The ABS will work under any braking including light slow braking.

Ive driven over 45 years in all conditions too. In the case of ABS in the snow it just ends up going off and you slide without slowing down much on the ice. Same as traction control will reduce power until you stop. In my view traction control is useless in snow as it totally stops you applying power if you are stuck even if its the best option.

Having regen, controlled by a computer, breaking traction on ice, is not what you want. Id prefer to brake as i judge and not have code decide to lock the wheels , fire off random ABS and have me slide with no ability to control it.

The standard regen on the car is really quite heavy and more like agressive use of a low gear down a hill. Its far too much for a slippery surface

I think an EV in icy conditions isnt going to be anything like a standard petrol manual - or an auto in long range.

Personally id rather be in control than a Chinese software engineer.

Totally disagree on both comments there is no way the regen would lock the wheels on any MG and ABS does not work until you brake harder than is normal photoshop from MG4 handbook page 192-193 below plus traction control can be disabled if you want to
So when you have a few inch’s of snow on the roads where you are then try snow mode and I bet you you soon back in Eco or Normal mode to get some control back by gently use the accelerator and the brakes I sure you will find
L

 

[Wakefield5]

Doesn't that screenshot proves that ABS would kick in? Under normal conditions, ABS would not be activated. Snow is not normal conditions. It also talks about braking force exceeding adhesion, causing wheels to lock, which is what happens when you start to skid in the snow and the ABS kicks in.

Personally, I turn all assistance off in snow to maintain maximum control over everything.