Well, I thought that I had experienced "everything" with the various traction control systems that Volvo has offered in the past but last night, during a snow storm that dumped about 6" of fairly dry snow in the Philadelphia metro area, I really got my eyes opened and learned something "new"!

We closed earlier than normal due to the inclement weather and by the time I left the dealership we already had more than 4" on the ground and the highway that I normally take was a parking lot. So, I decided to "brave it" and take the back roads knowing very well that I would encounter far more severe conditions with unplowed roads and steeper hills but I would not have to worry about "spending the night" in company with the hundreds of poor souls that were already stuck on US Rt. 202.

My demo has been a 2001 V70 2.4T equipped with the 17" Amalthea alloys and the (now extinct) Pirelli P6000 Sport Veloce all-season tires. Anyway, the first few miles were uneventful as I had almost no one in front of me and I kept steady speed ranging from 15mph to 40mph. I climbed hills and descended them with no apparent problems and the STC was working (when needed) wonderfully! But a few miles away from my house I koined some residual traffic which included the typical idiots who find it "useful" to break on a hill...I tried to keep my car as far as possible away from the car in front of me (I had a SIlverado Pick up truck behind me, obviously w/ 4x4 since he never seemed to hesitate) and I was feathering the gas pedal in order to keep moving ever so slightly (the hill was probably, and I am guessing, between 8 and 10 degrees; nothing bad but not flat either..lots of unplowed snow on the road)....the STC kept me going until, of course, I could go no further and we came to a complete stop. Well, that is when the "trouble" started! I could barely get started again! The wheels were spinning too much even with me just barely touching the gas pedal, the STC kept cutting the power off...I managed to get started twice but the third time the car started UNDERsteering and as long as I kept the power on (even with the Winter mode engaged), it was turning to the right and I was going to the side of the road. I corrected it twice by reversing a few feet and trying to steer to the left but I just could not really progress forward! You can imagine my surprise when it started to dawn on me that....I might get stuck and never make it! Never happened to me! So, I just (out of desperation) tried out the ONLY thing that I had not: TURNED OFF STC!!! Guess what? By using excessive wheel spinning, I made it out of my predicament, the understeer all of a sudden disappeared and I finally emerged out of my "grave"!!! I was very surprised so i do have to ask...Has anyone of you guys experienced such thing? Driving the last 4 miles to my house, I did reaffirm that as long as I was moving, the STC was useful. When I was starting from a complete stop, it did contribute to understeer and I had to be extremely careful or turn it off completely because the lack of power was compromising me. By switching it off, wheel spin was able to "dig" through and move me forward.

Yannis