How does the FF in snow? Up and Downhill?

I had an X5M and considered it poor on snow. However I did not run winter tires on it. Unfortunately my FF has not yet been in snow so I cannot make a comparison. Soon maybe.

 

We actually have an X5M and an FF as well....

X5M is terrible in snow with the summer tires; with winter tires (Scorpions) it's actually quite good; the stability control is good, it's the basic X5 system.

We run the FF with Sottozero's in winter, primarily for grip in dry/cold and wet/cold. We have driven the car in light snow; the various electronic controls in Snow/Ice mode work really well. We have not used the car in fresh/deep snow, but on packed snow roads. It's good, but not magic. Candidly we keep our cars pristine, so sometimes we could use it but I am avoiding the post-drive wash down....but it's perfectly usable.

The real factor is the tires; Sottozeros are great for cold, good for cold/wet, and decent in some snow. Scorpions are more aggressive and feel better in real snow.

BTW we live in a lot of up/down/twisty roads, the FF pulls uphill, the 4RM system is really impressive.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f93LgcXjh6k

 

We've used our FF in snow and ice several times, and while I have very little experience in driving in the snow or ice, I found the car to be quite easy to handle and predictable. It accelerates up hills, even from a standstill, with no problems. Its fascinating to feel the different wheels working to find traction and allow the car to move. We have the sotto zeros, and they make a huge difference over the summer tires. I can imagine even more aggressive winter tires would make the car more capable. Somewhere on this forum are a few pics of our first drive in our FF when we spent many days in ice and snow going form Seattle to Santa Fe in a winter storm.

 

I have quite a bit of experience driving the FF in heavy snow. I've always run Pirelli Sottozeros. Even with snow tires, the car can only perform so well give the wide flat size of the 295mm rear and 245 fronts. Having said that, the FF, in my opinion, performs exceedingly well. It really amazes me every time. BTW I live in colorado and travel between the city and mountains. The 4wd system in the FF is a brand new design exclusive to Ferrari, driven off the front of the engine and actuated electro/hydraulically. Ferrari has taken the technology closest related to the rear drive of the 458 and applied it to the front system, such as the way they control traction and synchronization. The only downfall I see is the fact its not full time awd and will cut out after 3rd gear. Ferrari will say it is because you can go 100+mph in 3rd gear and at that point awd won't matter but from my experience, i've been in situations going 60mph while driving through snow and ice. At that point in 3rd gear you're driving at around 5000+rpm (annoying and makes me anxious). All around its a great pleasure to pass suvs in the ferrari and blow through the mountain passes with a cloud of snow kicking up behind you. I recommend it and love the FF, such a comfortable well-rounded car.

 

I live in Toronto, Canada and drive a lowered FF as my daily driver. I have snow tires on and the car handles GREAT in the snow. That being said, my only problem is ground clearance when there is a lot of snow. The car is way too low. On those days I take a taxi

 

Scuderia Fiocco di Neve sells a carbon fiber snowplow kit for the FF. It puts an immediate end to clearance problems in deep snow.

 

Perhaps you could go with narrower rears for the FF? Make it 245 all around? Or maybe go to 265 rear? I wonder where Ferrari comes down on that. FWIW, several friends with winter FF setups the same as the others report the exact same thing. We all live in the north east suburban US so its not deep fresh snow, its a few inches - but one friend took the car out in 8" of new snow before the roads were plowed and they told me the car was great- as long as you drive the conditions.

 

The high gear in the front transmission is engaged in both 3rd and 4th rear gears.

 

my ff with snows is as good or better than my lr4 with nokian wr2s, my range rover SC with pirelli snows, and my escalade with blizzaks.