aditya2608

Hi All,

This is the first year for my 07 TSX of snow. I drove little bit in snow and i bumped onto the divider.
I was at 5-10 mph and slowing down at light on snow. As soon as I pressed brakes, there were huge vibrations in the brake with VSA light blinking. I could not stop my car and had to crash into the divider rather than bumping onto the car in front.
Then just to test this again i did the same thing again on snow and I got the same vibrations with almost brake failure. My car brakes work perfectly fine on a dry surface.
I would like to know if this is normal with ABS or is there something I need to get it checked from the dealer.
Thanks in advance.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

you're locking up the brakes activating ABS. the pulsing is normal.
how bad did you damage your car?

aditya2608

Thanks for the reply.
It's not too bad.. Few scratches near right side headlight

dallison

Do you have decent tires on? If they are 50% or less you will not have much stopping ability.

mrgold35

The OEM tires seem to do better with below 32 degrees snow; I've notice the OEM tires on slushy/icy conditions will light your traction control like a x-mas tree if you are not careful. Unfortunately, you might be S.O.L. during emergency braking with those conditions.

I went from OEM to Bridgestone 960s (A+ 3 season tire) and now I have Conti DWS (A++ 4 season tire). It usually snows and instantly melts into wet and slushy during the day and black ice at night on N.M. roads; the Achilles’ heel of the OEM tires. I had to either change the way I drive or change my tires; which was easy to control. I can’t control the crazy drivers with a +5,500 pound Ram truck trying to stop on dime when the roads are slushy.

aditya2608

My tires are good. Acura dealer had told me not to change them at least for next 15k -20k miles.
Thanks a lot for the response guys.

JPSMAN

The OEM tires are horrendous in the snow....check out the reviews on tire rack for other similar perspectives....

xenonhid

I agree

There is a ghetto trend of pickup truck drivers who drive like they got criminal records and don't care, especially in snowy weather.


@ aditya2608, Just wondering, whats your age and how much experience do you have driving in adverse weather conditions? Hard to gauge whether it was a mechanical/tire issue or a driving technique issue.

1Louder

Yeah - sounds like your ABS kicked in. It just snowed here pretty bad a few weeks back, and if the road is slick enough your ABS won't do much good. It will sound like grinding and you'll feel the pulsing through your foot.

If your tires are good, then its just bad luck. Hope the damage isn't too bad.

But if you live where this happens a lot, then I'd look into new tires. I bet just about everyone replaced the OEM tires before they wore out for one reason or another, so don't feel like you have to wait another 20K miles.

Boulder TSX

It's the tires. I had the same problem until I got better tires and now there is no sign of the ABS behaving like that, in that specific situation.

Aman

In the majority of bad weather situations, tires are the weak link. A good set of brakes will do you no good if your tires aren't up to it. I'd look into getting a set of dedicated snow tires and summer tires, if you'd like.

Boulder TSX

That's what I did; a separate set of snow tires on slightly smaller 16" wheels. (Do a search here on winter tires, and you'll see that many of the people here who live in colder climates have done the same thing.) It is a common thing to do with winter tires; going to a smaller wheel gives you additional traction, since the weight is not spread out as much with the wider tread of the OEM (or in some cases, even larger) wheels.

deepen03

best tires for bad weather.. I would recommend the Dunlop SP Sport Sigs. BEST TIRE EVER. I have gone 70 MPH during light snow and rain.. and I can speed through puddles with no hydroplaning or splashing at all.

DLTSX6MT

I'd say it's the tires. Doesn't matter if the dealerships says they're "good". All they're looking at is how much tread is left. If the compound and tread design aren't good for snow, it doesn't matter how much of it there is. Being that they are considered all-season tires, the OEM Bridgestone Pilot tires were pretty bad even in light snow.

deepen03

yea man.. all these "OEM" tires are pieces of crap. I would request to have the tires replaced when I buy a new car. I don't know how dealers get away with this.. The Dunlop Signature Tires on Honda Accords are better than the crap Acura uses on the TL and TSX. The reason probably is the low tread life.. so the tires would wear out fast and you would get new ones.