PSM and snow

[David Newton]

Anyone have comments on whether or not to leave PSM on or off on snow or ice? Even Porsche says you can improve performance by turning it off.

Taking the plunge on snow tires anyway, but I'm left confused?

[Bill Lehman]

A few years ago I got stuck trying to get up a hill and reach my driveway.  After going to H-D and buying a bag of salt and spreading it with my lawn spreader and waiting a while for the salt to work, after several attempts I made it up the hill and powerslided into my drive.  PSM was off on the successful attempt.  Your snow tires will help more.  My Cayman no longer leaves the garage when there is snow on the road.

[Marty Kocse]

David Newton wrote:

Anyone have comments on whether or not to leave PSM on or off on snow or ice? Even Porsche says you can improve performance by turning it off.

Taking the plunge on snow tires anyway, but I'm left confused?

For all of your normal daily driving, ALWAYS leave PSM ON and never shut it off. Snow tires will certainly add to the winter driving experience.
Marty

[arena]

David Newton wrote:

Anyone have comments on whether or not to leave PSM on or off on snow or ice? Even Porsche says you can improve performance by turning it off.

Taking the plunge on snow tires anyway, but I'm left confused?

PSM is basically your safety net... if you make a mistake, the PSM will keep you from spinning. Therefore, DONT turn it off when you are street driving.

... now, doing donughts in a parking lot are a completely different story...

[TwentySix]

Marty Kocse wrote:

Snow tires will certainly add to the winter driving experience.

Did you say winter driving experience? Looks like that Cayman is hooked up! I always wanted to do one of these schools....

Camp4 Canada at Mécaglisse, Quebec

http://www.porsche.com/canada-pde/en/yourcamp4/

[ccm911]

I drive an old BMW 525 and live on a steep hill. With Traction Control on, I can not make it up the hill. With Traction Control off, I can make it up the hill.

Your results may vary.

[David Newton]

Ooops. I think I may have lost a post somewhere, but I'll try again... It seems there is a mixed bag of answers here, so I'll keep the PSM on for now, chains in the boot for emergencies and snow tires as the next step. Anyone have any stock 17" Cayman wheels they want to unload?

[emayer]

Actually, both answers are right!

PSM should be kept on almost all the time.  The circumstances in which it should be disabled are when starting off in deep snow/ice conditions.

Since PSM works by selectively braking a spinning wheel, you can see that in those circumstances you'll essentially be shutting things down when most needed to get bite.  Once moving, PSM should be turned back on.

Over the years, I've had the opportunity of driving several 911 variants during the winter in Germany.  With snow tires they did great except in the really deep stuff.

If pricing winter tire/wheels you may want to check with Jack Williams.  I've gotten really nice packages for even less than Tire Rack.

[David Newton]

Good to know... thanks!

[Marty Kocse]

emayer wrote:

PSM should be kept on almost all the time. The circumstances in which it should be disabled are when starting off in deep snow/ice conditions.

You only need to disable PSM if you can't get going with PSM on (in deep snow/ice) and have no other options, otherwise it should always remain on.