CJams

Long read! Grab a snickers or go to cliff notes at bottom.

If you watched Monday Night Football last night you know that the Green Bay Packers brought “the frozen tundra” to Seattle. Too bad it didn’t help them chaulk up another “W” though. The game was freekin cold and it snowed the entire first half ( afirst for Qwest Field). When we left the stadium and got back to the cars, there was a nice 2-3” of snow sittin on top of my baby. That’s the first time I’ve left her out in the elements like that, so please don’t judge me JK! We chilled for a bit (no pun intended) before enduring the traffic on the way home and I let her defrost. (9:30ish)As soon as I got on to I5 it was a parking lot as far as the eye could see. I5 was a parking lot from North of Seattle all the way south past Federal Way (20-30miles). So my first instincts were to ask “Nikki” (my TSeX) for an alternate route since I have the marvelous navigation system that 99% regret not getting. Bingo!! She found a few. That was here first strike at kicking ass. As I exited at Southcenter to go towards SeaTac and Pac Hwy I passed 2 busses and 2 abandoned cars and that’s the first time the VSA kicked in. Ice!!! As I slowly followed others looking for alternate routes I also viewed the on screen map looking for back roads and found some. I managed to keep moving for a while without anyone in front or behind me (they didn’t have our Nav ) After a while people caught on to my scheme and I hit traffic again in Kent/Des Moines so took more back roads/residential streets. It was a little slick but the 5AT with VSA was workin it. As I was forced back on the Pac Hwy because all the roads I wanted to take had car accidents, I came up upon a stop light with a bunch of cars “spinning their poorly engineered wheels” (Dorkoff). I sat behind a car for a minute wondering what they were doing sitting there. They were spinning! They finally caught traction and managed to move enough for me to drive right around them . As I was at that light a CG TSX pulled up next to me and followed in my path. 4 cars stuck at the light spinning and 2 TSX’s driving right by them laughing. At this point I started to feel semi-indestructible. I managed to get past all the traffic and made it all the way home with the VSA kicking in “a whole lotta times.” I left the game at 9:30 and got to Port Orchard at 1:45am. When I got home I called a friend that left the game at the same time and she was still on I5 at 200th (normally 45 minutes behind, but last night AT LEAST 3 hours+ last night). When I woke up this morning and turned the news on they were interviewing people that left work in Seattle yesterday at 4:30pm and still weren’t home this morning at 8am. MY TSX KICKS ASS!!!!

Cliff notes:

-TSX Nav turned an estimated (by D.O.T.) 6-7+ hour drive in to a 4 hour drive due to alternate routes. (Some people over 16 hours still in route) (GET NAV!!!)
-VSA and 5AT allowed me to not get stuck or slip as much as everyone else in the snow and ice while I drove right by at least 100+ stuck or abandoned cars and 10 Jack knifed busses.
-The TSX kicks ass!!! I love this car!!!

There is a little bit of tragedy to the story though… As I pulled in for gas at Chevron I cut the wheel too hard going too fast and curbed a wheel. The wheel had a little curbage already, but it just made it a bit worse. Just call me “Curb Dog!” Good thing they’re Motegi’s and not Volks!

globlctzn

really? Im in montana where its a beautifull 1 degree and we got 4inches last night from this storm. My tsx was sliding like a mofo this morning. kumho ASXs are not very great in moderate snow :/ my old beater civic with its turd special tires rocked in the snow last year. Might need to get myself a beater again.

xenonhid

Wow, Sound Transit is my friend in this situation Chris. I agree though, that 3000 Lbs weight plus the FWD helps alot.

On the bus ride home from Seattle to Federal Way, It took more than 3 hours on I-5.

Chris, Do you have another daily driver so your TSX wont be in the midst of all this?




FYI= Ron(StreetEffectz) is working on the Z1 right now as we speak!
He said I'm the only one in the States to do this setup!

Let me know if you are going on a vacation any time soon so I can work around that and set up a time with you.

manda

That's some crazy weather and traffic. I was confused by the snow when I caught the game last night on the telly - I thought they were playing at Lambeau until I saw the seahawk midfield.

But yay for the TSXs!

Benz_05_TSX

iTrader: (1)

My TSX is gonna be in storage for the winter!

xenonhid

I just might do that too. Then when spring comes around, time for some major detailing inside and out.

EuRTSX

Where's the fun in that Hyung, go hit a patch of snow or something, then have something worth detailing =)

CJams

I'm going to FL for a week around New Years to see the Hawks play my first football love, the Bucs. Can't wait!

llJrockll

iTrader: (2)

Good to see the TSX holds up well in the winter. I know it's good news for us here in ChiTown.

hrj

iTrader: (1)

my tsx sucks in snow. stuck in front of dep of licensing parking lot at north seattle, I left it there for the night, i wanted to pick it up at 11 pm, but struggled to go uphill, i decided to left it at dep of licensing parking lot again until the ice melt down. I must admit, TSX is still better than any cars i saw on the road last night, but going uphill was impossible to do.. OEM tires are suck

CJams

If you can't do it going forward, turn around and go in reverse with a front wheel drive car! All the weight is on the drive wheels and you get way better traction. And VSA works in reverse as well I tested that this morning before I left the house

I had a buddy with a 4x4 blazer that couldn't make it up a steep hill 4wheeling and put him to shame by getting up the same hill in a 1981 Civic 1500cc in reverse. He never lived it down!

hrj

iTrader: (1)

oh well, i'll try it next time, thanks for the tip..

Tsx536

Haha...good stuff CJams!

I saw that game last night....AND I had Shaun Alexander running for me in my fantasy football league...200 yards...

klas

i confirm that TSX is good enough in the snow. Although I was a bit lucky then anyone else. I had my car at the dealership in Bellevue to get squeaky seat repaired and they called me at 3:30 to tell me that the car was ready. I was there at 4pm to pick up my TSX and drove back home to Bothell. There was already traffic on I-405 right after I got off 520 and I took first exit. It was a breeze to get home using backroads, but by the time I hit Fin Hill area it was snowing like crazy. Luckily I was just 2 miles away from home and made it without any problems.

My wife on the other hand left work an hour later and it was crazy traffic already. I suggested her to dump her car (96 Corolla) and take a bus. The ride took 6 hours from Redmond to Bothell which also included 2-3 miles by foot as bus didn't have chains and couldn't make up the hill. I tried to get out on TSX to get her but I just couldn't make up the hill also so I gave up and ran with warm clothes in one hand and warm clothes in the other.

Brandon24pdx

It snowed in Portland too, but not quite as much as Seattle I dont think.

Drive to work was a little interesting. Snow driving is really the only reason I miss my DSM

Sclass88

When I used to drive my TSX in the snow, it would always perform beautifully.

And I'm part of that 99% of the people who regret not getting navigation. Nonetheless, I wouldn't give this car up for anything, not even for one with navigation

kipsy

i hope i dont regret getting the tirerack.com preferred snow package (blizzak revo 1's and steel 16" rims) delivered last week. i just got my slightly used honda civic 16" hubcap set delivered via ebay for $32 tonight !

mg7726

^^ you won't regret it with blizzaks. i go through the backroads of VT and NH in heavy snow storms and the VSA doesn't even kick in. no problems with hill climbing either on snows...i love winter.

my bro's WRX w/blizzaks is even better with the AWD!

hrj

iTrader: (1)

im one of them too..

drunkenbuda

Dude, i've been staying at home for the last two days. Didn't drive anywhere because of the snow. I miss driving my TSX

klas

This snow storm made me wish TSX had AWD...

hrj

iTrader: (1)

AWD wont help either unless you have the proper tires.. my friend's a4 3.0 quattro was completely stuck in the snow, he has conti sport contact.

Trophyhead

Earlier this year I purchased a set of OEM wheels (take-offs from a dealership) off Ebay for $350. After reading the nightmare stories from TSX owners trying to drive in the snow with the OEM tires, I decided to get a set of snow tires. I bought Dunlop Winter Sport M3 tires. A couple of weeks ago I swapped off the OEM Tires/wheels and replaced them with my winter tire/wheel set. Just in time.

The snow hit Utah yesterday and my TSX handled the snow and slush on the roads just fine. It wasn't too slick...at least it didn't feel that slick. I will reserve my judgment on the Dunlops until we get more snow, but so far, so good.

ChrismanTSX

That's good to know!

Obviously, up here in Montreal, we get piles of snow. I picked up my my Pirelli Winter Carvings (on 16" steel wheels with covers -no sense destroying a nice set of mags in the snow/salt) waiting in my garage for the first serious snowfall.

Does anyone with a 6MT have good experience with their TSX in the snow?

xenonhid

Was it the DMV in Aurora?

tlbkcal

what kind of tires do you have CJams?

hrj

iTrader: (1)

yes.. i live very close to the dep of licensing..

rx280

I bought my ’04 6MT in October of 2003, so the coming winter will be my fourth with the car and the snow tires I bought within weeks of the car purchase. I went with what was the Tire Rack’s recommended package for the TSX at the time: Bridgestone Blizzaks on 16-inch steel wheels ($544 plus shipping). Where I work, you are expected to make it in no matter how bad the weather is, so I considered snow tires a must. Last winter was pretty easy around here, but the previous two were anything but easy, and I never had a traction problem. I doubt that I’d be able to say that if I’d tried getting by with the all-season Michelins.
Also, as ChrismanTSX suggests, and as I pointed out in a post about a year ago, there’s a secondary plus to having snows on a separate set of wheels, a purely aesthetic one. After two or three winters – maybe even just one – your three-season alloys will look better than they would if they had been subjected to all that road salt and sand. It doesn’t take long for salt to begin taking a toll. (I know; my previous car's winter setup was snow tires on a separate set of alloys.)

dereksmalls

Hey ChrismanTSX,
I've got a TSX 6MT here in Calgary, and we've been hit with 10-15 cms of snow over the past 3 days with daily highs of -29degC. There isn't much plowing done in Calgary and absolutely no salting, so the road are either snow covered, or ice covered.

TSX with snow tires (X-Ice) works well, but here are a couple of observations:
- 2nd gear starts combined with VSA tend to give the best results when it's slippery (of course this would be tough at the top of Peel or University streets in Montreal)
- When you're going around slowly in deep snow, the VSA will limit the throttle response. I had the pedal to the floor in 1st and the revs were limited to 2K rpm. If you're used to pumping the throttle to get you moving in deep snow, you'll have to shut the VSA off to make that work. Be sure to turn it on again, because it's worth having otherwise.
- On an standing start, the VSA doesn't always kick in when both fronts are spinning at the same time. Not sure if anyone else can confirm this, but that seems to be what I've observed so far. Again, the 2nd gear start helps here.
- The old handbrake correction works, but the VSA system doesn't like it too much and kicks in when you do it (had to do it twice in the past few days).

Otherwise, the TSX is a gem. Those heated seats are amazing in this weather.

waTSX

I'm not. I'm happy with my 6MT just as is Don't need no stinking nav

CJams

Nitto NT555 235/35/R19

waTSX-I used the nav mostly to get me to Federal Way/ ur neck of the woods. Once I got past F.W. it was smooth sailing all the way to Poor Tortured. you guys got snowed on pretty good over there. What a crazy night to be on the roads.

ChrismanTSX

Why is it that all people with Navi expect us non-Navi's to think we made a bad decision? While the Acura system is one of the best on the market, it doesn't mean that we all want one.

In my case, I chose not to get one, since my experience with a couple of units resulted in either not getting the destination, or getting wrong information (maybe the mapping isn't as great where I am...)...

ChrismanTSX

Great! Thanks for the advice, Derek. I just installed my Pirellis on the car today: by the looks of things, I'll be using them tomorrow! we're expecting 1/2" of freezing rain and 1-2" of snow. then, the real season begins!

One question: I know that the VSA limits the throttle. I assume that it also uses the brakes to limit wheelspin. will that prematurely use up the brakes on the car?

thanks also rx280 for your info!

CurryFishBall

REALLY? haha thats crazy man! Good job utilizing all the nifty features!

dereksmalls

Yes, it does use the brakes. Kind of odd to hear the ABS sound kick in while your foot is on the gas. It will use up the brake pads, but my guess is that the wear will be minimal. It's not a lot of hard braking, just enough to slow the wheel down to regain traction.