Anyone drive their TSX in snowy conditions yet? If so, are the oem all season tires any good in snow. Also, how effective is the VSA and Traction control?

 

Its not winter yet, but its coming soon. I do plan on driving my TSX in the snow. The tires should be fine and I would keep the VSA on at all times on snowy roads just in case the car decides to slide.

 

I have been waiting for this question/answer I hope it does ok especially with the VSA. I know it isnt awd, but I hope it is better than nothing.

 

shabaaz, for meeting up with sudden blizzards and other extreme weather in your area regularly, you should already know that even though they call those tires all-season, they are not suited to Canadian winters, you should be driving on winter tires.

As for the VSA, I have no doubt in my mind that it will be very effective. I have tried it on a few occasions in gravel and it works awesome. I also found that it doesn't seem to be a fun killer. Discreet enough, yet the little help you need when you get into trouble

 

We'll all know soon enough. Our Canadian friends will probably be the first to give real accounts of their experiences. Won't you?

 

I plan to wait for the first snowfall to see if i'll need to purchase snow tires/snowblower. My guess is I'll be buying snow tires shortly thereafter.

 

anybody that lives in an area where there is snow and I mean snow not D.C. quantity of snow... New England, Northern states, and Canada... you should really consider investing in a set of snow tires and when your all season tires wear out you should think of replacing them with a summer tire (very good in dry and wet conditions). That way you get the best of both worlds. All season tires generally suck in all categories... or if you are an optimist, are average in all categories. They are designed for mild winter type climates and should be advertised that way.

 

My only worry about the performance of the TSX in the winter will be its apparent lack of sufficient braking power. Im just worried about skidding.... and im going to have to account for this in my driving style (ie NOT FAST)

J.

 

Not necessarily true on the tires - it really depends on which tire you buy... to get performance all-season you need to do some research and fork out a little $$. As for winter performance - all-season + FWD work fantastic on a few inches of snow and/or compact snow, but not as well as winter tires in that or worse. OEM all-season tires? Different story! :-)

 

OEM all seasons I would not expect to do well in light snow. In the rain they suck, and I would think that adding frozenness to the environment would be even worse.

 

Would braking power affect ability to brake in snow? I would think that it would be limited by the ABS as they continually lock and unlock the wheel, and that traction would be rate-limiter. Our brakes aren't THAT bad, I hope.

 

In the snow... it's all about your tires... and little to do with how well your version of ABS brakes work.

 

Having driven through the last 17 Canadian winters (Montreal and Ottawa) I've learned that performance style driving is not going to work with snow on the ground -- no matter what you drive.

For regular driving, however, the TSX should be more than adequate, especially with VSA. Snow tires are probably advisable, but I've always managed with all season tires...

 

I'm amazed that people living in snow areas seem to forget how to drive every winter. The reason I don't like all seasons is because the all season tires that i have are OEM... on my Integra they were the Michelin XGT... they are the most expensive in it's size and are the worst tires in every condition. I once had my car (after parking it) slide down my driveway and wedge itself at the bottom (engine weighs more so front started to slide faster than rear) of my driveway between two huge piles of snow. I got blizzacks the next day.

on my hybrid, i just ordered another set of snows. the current oem all season tires are crap. they suck in the rain, they were terrible in the snow... they are ok in the dry and are very quiet on the highway. So when they wear out, i'll be replacing them with something that favor dry/wet conditions in the oem spec size... leaving winter driving out of the equation.