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How did the FWD Journey do this winter?


BigCountry

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All,

I was just curious how the FWD handles in the snow. They had 0 AWD models when we picked ours out (Arizona go figure). The manual says no chains, but the low profile diamonoid chains they have out now should have plenty of clearance and do the trick for the real hairy stuff. BTW I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the journey. The dealer has been super cool about giving us a rental on the dodge oil changes that came with the Journey and I have had the opportunity to drive everything from the caravan to the liberty and the Journey is hands down the favorite!!!

Thanks,

BC

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With good snow tires, no problems at all. The ESP and the traction control (wich work a lot on the start) do a great job. I assume (and is sure) it is not as good as AWD, but it is a lot better than a car without traction control and ESP. I had absolutely no problem of traction last winter.

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  • 3 weeks later...
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  • 2 months later...

I also have a FWD Journey. It handles very well in the snow. I had a Jeep Liberty with 4 wheel drive before and I think the Journey handles better than my Jeep with it in 4 wheel. We get snow and ice. There are lots of hills that have bad accidents and my journey survived them last winter.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello,

I am a newby here and will get my Journey R/T in a couple of weeks. I am planning to go to the mountains this winter (French Alps) and I am looking for snow chains that would fit the 225/55/19 tires (mounted on R/Ts) but could not find any. Would anyone have any clue where I could find such snow chains ? Thanks,

Zardoz

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Hello,

I am a newby here and will get my Journey R/T in a couple of weeks. I am planning to go to the mountains this winter (French Alps) and I am looking for snow chains that would fit the 225/55/19 tires (mounted on R/Ts) but could not find any. Would anyone have any clue where I could find such snow chains ? Thanks,

Zardoz

I have no insight about these but I saw someone else posted them on the board and said he was going to give them a shot. Do your research first before buying.

http://www.scc-chain.com/Traction%20Pages/Trac_SZ6.html

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We live in Minnesota and have a 09 SXT Journey with FWD. I am convinced that the car can do fine in the winter, but the Kumho tires that came on our car are complete junk in the snow.

I found this out the hard way over Christmas when we got around 15 inches of snow over 3 days. We only got stuck once, but I firmly believe that my 98 Ford Escort with regular all season tires would not have gotten stuck where the Journey did. The tires get absolutely zero grip when the car is on a snow pack (welcome to any residential street in Minnesota for most of the winter). So I am in the process of pricing out snow tires right now, hoping this will make as much of a difference as everyone says they will.

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I agree with you. I went to Michelin snow tires and I ended up having to buy them from my Dodge dealer. I have 17" tires and they were very difficult to find. Even Wal-mart couldn't supply them in the proper size for a Journey.

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Yeah the OEM Kumho's suck. We have had a few snow storms and the Kumhos get zero traction. Once you get going they seem o.k. but getting started is rough. Going to try and make it through this winter because we plan on buying new rims this spring, then we'll use the stock rims with dedicated snow tires.

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  • 3 weeks later...

We live in Minnesota and have a 09 SXT Journey with FWD. I am convinced that the car can do fine in the winter, but the Kumho tires that came on our car are complete junk in the snow.

I found this out the hard way over Christmas when we got around 15 inches of snow over 3 days. We only got stuck once, but I firmly believe that my 98 Ford Escort with regular all season tires would not have gotten stuck where the Journey did. The tires get absolutely zero grip when the car is on a snow pack (welcome to any residential street in Minnesota for most of the winter). So I am in the process of pricing out snow tires right now, hoping this will make as much of a difference as everyone says they will.

I just found out the other morning, and i agree with you on the Kumho tires have got to be the worse tires i ever owned, they would not dig into the snow causing my wife to get stuck, i have a 2001 ford focus with cheap all seasons on it and i got out just fine......let us know what kind of winter tire you found

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  • 4 months later...

Just an update on my snow tire experience this past winter. I have never had snow tires on any vehicle before but I can say they do have better traction than all seasons. I feel a little safer with them but if a guy drives on all seasons with care, he should be ok. Although in deep snow, it is great to have the snow tires. Most of the time I would be driving on bare pavement so I did wonder about wearing the tires out. They say you should travel a bit slower on the snow tires or else they might wear out too fast. I have the Kuhmos on now for the 3rd summer and they will have to be replaced for sure at the end of this summer.

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The OEM Kumhohos are not snow tires. They barely make it a summer tire let alone all season(except winter) Do yourselves a favour and buy four good snow tires and put the kumhohos in the shed. Better still leave them out and maybe someone who does not know about them well will steal them. :)

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So far my FWD SXT with stock all-season Kumho Tires is doing very well. We had 3 days straight with over 3 ft of snowfall, followed by several days of zero to half a foot to one footish of snow fall. My city plows both the sidewalks and street resulting in having to shovel 3 mounds everyday after snow fall. With just over 20,000km our Journey has only gotten stuck in the driveway once. Handles well, nice to have defeatable stability/traction control for when you need to spin your tires. Will probably get winter tires for next year.

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Made it through a Chicago winter with no trouble at all. My Journey replaced a 00 Durango and I was a little worried, but it sailed right through. I used the 19" all season tires that came with the car. It has the 6 with FWD

Have you attempted to replace those all season 19" tires yet? Good luck, you can't! Only one company offers 225/55R19 and they aren't the best tires (per another member) ! I'm in europe and I have a 2009 SXT NOT fwd and I had to buy full winter tires because the all season manufatured tires couldn't climb the smallest hills. Ended up getting 215/65R16 rims and tires because 19" don't exist! Now my Journey handles very well in snow but I'm desperately looking for another company that sells 19" summer tires before the season's over!

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  • 2 months later...

OWN A 2010 R/T FWD:

KUHMOS ARE VERY POOR TIRES FOR SNOW. GOT STUCK AT THE BOTTOM OF MY DRIVEWAY IN 3 INCHES OF SNOW. TOOK ME 25 MINUTES TO DIG OUT OF IT. MY 03 NEON MADE IT IN AND OUT OF MY DRIVEWY TWICE THAT DAY WITH BFG ALL SEASONS. WILL REPLACE THESE TIRES ASAP. SO FAR THE ONLY THING DODGE MISSED ON THIS CAR WAS THE RUBBER. KUHMO REP MUST HAVE BEEN A GREAT SALESMAN.

Edited by dodgeservice
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I was just curious how the FWD handles in the snow.

So far it has been very good, I really can't complain too much.

We have had an abnormally large amount of snow and VERY cold weather out here in Western Canada. I have a 2010 Journey R/T and so far the 19" Kumo Tires haven't been an issue with me or my car. I have checked this size of tire is now more readily available here.

I do agree the Kumo rep must have been a hell of a salesman. :D

Terry

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