We are having a decent snow storm today. I live in Minnesota, and have driven in blizzards for nearly 40 years and they are nothing new to me. I got through one 24 inch snowfall in an RX7 on sport tires so I can drive in snow fairly well. I have only had the Macan since last February and we had a mild fairly snow-less winter so this is my first real experience driving it in challenging weather.

I was on my way to the freeway, getting through the poorly plowed suburban streets with lots of greasy unplowed snow and the car slid and squirmed a decent deal but nothing that scares me. It could use slightly better tires, but the all seasons are acceptable for an experienced and cautious driver. I got to the freeway and it had light traffic as I guess everyone stayed home. Those in the snow belt know the standard look of a freeway covered in snow, but exposed pavement in the lanes, or two tire-tracks of pavement in the lanes so that you have decent traction as long as you stay in those strips of exposed pavement. So I get up to speed and 53 mph was about the maximum speed that felt safe for the conditions.

I was humming along in the lane with no other traffic and the car has the oddest sensation of swaying back and forth very slightly going down the road. While the snow was coming down at a decent clip it was not windy so it was not a cross wind that I could tell affecting the car. It was something I have never experienced in any other car ever, it felt like a car that had a frame going straight down the road, but the body rotating back at forth very minutely on top of the frame. It felt like the body would twist back and forth ever so subtly as I drove down the road. I swear I could even notice as my vision went back and forth across the lane slightly as the car wiggled as it went. Like the car was an excited puppy furiously wagging it's tail as it went down the road. I supposed it could be lots of snow buildup on one rear wheel throwing things off, but it was not super deep snow, just the greasy/slippery kind, and I noticed nothing in the wheels when I finally parked.

While the road was incredibly slippery, the car seemed to track straight as long as you stayed on the exposed pavement, but felt like the body was wiggling back and forth. Is this some odd behavior from pulsing to different calipers from the car detecting wheel slippage? Has anyone experienced it before? I had no problems keeping the car going down the road, but having never experienced anything like it it was a bit unsettling. The alignment is right on, and tires are well balanced, and drives like a dream otherwise with no odd behavior. It also has standard suspension, no modifications.

 

I used to live in WI and have a Macan S. I had similar experiences with snow vs my other car (Lexus GX on all seasons). I suspected it was slipping and the driver aids were coming on but I never figured it out. I will say with no snow or ice mine seemed fine. With a more than an inch or two it got squirrely at times. Since the Macan was driven primarily by my wife, with my young son in the car, I just picked up a set of wheels and Blizzaks and put those on in the winter. With those the Macan would go anywhere...

Good luck

 

With wide tires (I have 20" 295s in the rear on mine), the Macan is not your vehicle of choice in the snow. I got mine in May and I'm not likely to drive it in the snow.

 

However this car as Michelin Alpines

 

Probably tram-lining in the ruts.

 

 

Yes, that is my thinking too.

 

Tramlining, wide tires and sounds like tires need replaced/worn.

 

..

 

The best way I can describe it is riding in a golf cart on zoysia fairways. That cart will wander all over the place, almost like you're constantly giving slight L - R - L - R steering input.

 

Are you using off-road mode?

 

OP I drove on generally the same roads and conditions yesterday and didn’t notice anything untoward. But then I’ve always loved rain and snow driving

 

I’ve also noticed some stability problems on slushy roads. Turning off traction control seems to help a lot. I suspect the nannies have trouble trying to react to traction variations. I have the same snows on my Mercedes and it does not exhibit this behavior.

 

No ruts here. Smooth pavement. No motion in steering wheel. Not worn tires, they have 5,000 on them.

But after the roads were plowed the behavior disappeared. I am going to have to chalk it up to rare oddity.

 

Along with the possible tramlining with wide tire comments, 53 mph sounds a bit high for "greasy/slippery snow" conditions...especially with all-season tires. Give me a break.