Does Off Road Mode provide more grip in snow

[Tee82]

Hi All
Had a bit of snow overnight and I need to get off my drive this morning which has a bit of an incline and I would have to reverse.

Never driven my EV macan through snow before. I could spend hours clearing the drive but I can’t be bothered as I’m going away for a few days and it will have melted by the time I get back, it’s not overly deep probably 4-6 inches. Should I put the Off Road mode on to help? Will it make any difference?
Thanks

 

[taycanstuff]

Hi,

You beat me to the question when I saw the snow here this morning. I did a search in the online manual and nothing comes up about snow, but may be hidden away. I would presume that offroad road raises the suspension and may hold it on lower gears, but hopefully more experienced forum members maybe able to chime in.

I couldn't see an obvious snow mode or antislip mode in the menus if the Macan gets stuck.

Cheers.

 

[taycanstuff]

Just saw you are also on an incline - worth trying hill assist as works in forward and reversing gear:

Porsche Hill Control is an assistance system that helps the driver when driving slowly downhill, e.g., on steep slopes or wintry mountain roads, both when driving forward and reversing. The system limits the speed by applying metered braking action to all four wheels. ABS remains active to prevent the wheels from locking.

Adjusting Porsche Hill Control

Activating Porsche Hill Control via the instrument cluster

1. Press button R(Fig. 1) repeatedly until is Porsche Hill Control selected.
   Porsche Hill Control is selected.

Activate Porsche Hill Control in the central display

1. 
   AssistanceModePorsche Hill Control

Move Porsche Hill Control into readiness position

1. Pull the control lever to position 4 (Fig. 1).
   Porsche Hill Control is on standby.

Use Porsche Hill Control

• Porsche Hill Control is on standby
• The vehicle is traveling at more than approx 0 mph and less than approx. 18 mph
• The downhill gradient must be at least approx. 7%

 

[colorpaulporsche]

At a minimum, Off Road mode will raise the suspension so you’re not plowing snow. Not sure if it locks in the AWD

 

[W1NGE]

Hi All
Had a bit of snow overnight and I need to get off my drive this morning which has a bit of an incline and I would have to reverse.

Never driven my EV macan through snow before. I could spend hours clearing the drive but I can’t be bothered as I’m going away for a few days and it will have melted by the time I get back, it’s not overly deep probably 4-6 inches. Should I put the Off Road mode on to help? Will it make any difference?
Thanks

Not really - more for descending step slopes where the brakes are automatically applied and the vehicle height raised.

Your car will be just fine as is but would recommend using manual recuperation to modulate speed when traversing slippery roads - avoids having to apply the actual brakes and uses the electric motors to perform the braking - works really well on descents when lying snow is covering the road.

 

[taycanstuff]

Been out on UK snowy roads, the Macan handles great and is predictable.
I set to offroad mode which raised the suspension and also activated the hill descent mode for good measure.
Just go easy on the throttle.

 

[PanameraFrank]

Off Road does alter traction control through PSM and throttle mapping. Now whether that helps or hurts on snow is debatable.

Sometimes the off road modes are actually a bit worse for snow, as is the case in my Rivian.

With that said, the eMacan has grip for days and I've found Porsches AWD exceptional for snow so I have zero concern. Winter tires > everything else.

 

[ColdCase]

Snow capability is more about tires than hardware or software.

The Macan 4 AWD (its actually like 4WD as the axles are independent) will use brake traction control and throttle modulation to control wheel spin. Driving technique can help prevent wheel spin, so start out slowly and build speed if you can. Fluffy snow without ice should not be dramatic. Dunno if the Macan has similar traction control as other SUVs where you just mash the throttle and let it work. You can always get the shovel out later

 

[Tee82]

Thanks everyone. Some really interesting feedback there. I’m pleased to report I successfully got my macan off the drive without having to dig my way out, the roads around me were atrocious and I was really please with how well the Macan dealt with them. I didn’t in the end change any settings I just left it as-is and it was fine. Another gold star for this exceptional little car

 

[bbmertz]

Glad to hear you made it out okay. What tires do you have and what size wheels?

 

[ColdCase]

Just a reminder, do not become so overconfident with the Macan go capability as none of that affects stopping. It is a heavy car.

 

[Tee82]

Don’t worry Coldcase, I drive slower than a snail in poor weather conditions. I learnt the hard way a few years ago binning my ford fiesta into a hedge when there was bad snow.

 

[dgkhn]

As they say, unlike winter tires, in slippery conditions, AWD may help you go, but it won't help you stop (nor in many cases keep you from sliding sideways or spinning, either).

Another thing to keep in mind: at least in my Macan 4, under normal circumstances, Normal Drive mode only drives the rear wheels. I assume once slip is detected, the fronts start driving also; I don't know how long that might take (milliseconds? Tenths of seconds?)

Remember, in the Trip view on the PCM, there is an animated graphic showing both power distribution and energy recuperation. Interestingly enough, one thing you can see is that changing to Sport mode starts driving all 4 wheels. I haven't played with this at all but I assume Off Road mode would also drive all 4 wheels, and slippage or hard acceleration would do so in any mode as well. I presume that someone who wanted to play could see all this on the PCM view.

 

[W1NGE]

As they say, unlike winter tires, in slippery conditions, AWD may help you go, but it won't help you stop (nor in many cases keep you from sliding sideways or spinning, either).

Another thing to keep in mind: at least in my Macan 4, under normal circumstances, Normal Drive mode only drives the rear wheels. I assume once slip is detected, the fronts start driving also; I don't know how long that might take (milliseconds? Tenths of seconds?)

Remember, in the Trip view on the PCM, there is an animated graphic showing both power distribution and energy recuperation. Interestingly enough, one thing you can see is that changing to Sport mode starts driving all 4 wheels. I haven't played with this at all but I assume Off Road mode would also drive all 4 wheels, and slippage or hard acceleration would do so in any mode as well. I presume that someone who wanted to play could see all this on the PCM view.

Pretty sure (99.99%) AWD is active all of the time and never 2WD. No different to Macan ICE or other AWD Porsches including the Taycan.

Drive distribution will vary depending on drive mode selected and prevailing conditions.

Historically, the Taycan at launch in 2020 through 2022 shutdown the rear motor when in Range drive mode but this was software updated to always have the motor engaged and be RWD biased. The Macan EV will be no different.

 

[PrudentOcean]

I would not use Off-Road Mode for driving on snow and ice, just let the traction control handle wheel slip should it occur. In your driveway Off-Road Mode may not make any real difference, but on the road it could cause problems because it could lock the left and right wheels together so they turn at the same rate, which can interfere with steering. The last thing you want in a curve on the road is understeer into a ditch or oncoming traffic.

From the manual:

The special control mechanism of the terrain ABS permits controlled brief lock-up of the front wheels so that they can dig into the loose surface more effectively. Locked wheels slip and can no longer be steered.

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