This morning was the worst commute so far this year. It has been snowing all night and about an hour before leaving for work it changed over to sleet and freezing rain. The roads had been plowed somewhat, but there were numerous mini snow drifts that the plows left over, and the roads were still snow covered. The RL came through with flying colors. The ride in was rock solid all the way. I kept the speed at about 45mph on the short highway run and the secondary roads. Other cars were nudging along at about 20mph.

When I bought the car last April, it had the OEM all season tires on it. We had 2 separate snow storms in April and the RL was virtually all over the road. This winter I put on a set of good snow tires and the difference is night and day. The car now handles like a snow cat. SHAWD -

 

Yep, exactly. Snow tires transform the car to being amazing in the snow. The OEM michelins blow and were an accident waiting to happen. I slid sideways twice with the OEMs going in a straight line and not going quickly. Talk about junk tires.

Those that have the OEMs and think it handles well in the snow really need to throw on a set of snows and see what great snow handling really is.

 

I've never had the OEM 17" Michelins. I had a set of Pirelli Pzero Nero M+S last winter on my 2005 RL and they were fine in the snow. On my 06 I have the PAX tires and so far through several snowstorms here in New England they have been fine as well. No all-season tire will perform as well as dedicated snows, but many perform perfectly well in the snow.

 

Note of caution for snow tire users.
The improvement of snow performance with snow rubber is undenyable, however, don't get overconfident. On ice they perform just as badly as anything else, the fact that the car gets going with alacrity doesn't translate into better stopping or better direction control in icy conditions!
I live in Wisconsin and as is obvious we've had tons of snow this year, even with the less than great all season tires the RL outperforms my previous snow tired TL in all aspects in the snow. That was my original reasoning for getting the RL in the first place, to keep me from swapping tires every season! The addition of snow tires for the RL makes most sense in very hilly terrain, in flatter lands the RL's AWD will handle everything except very deep snow >6 inches. What may be a better idea (and much cheaper too) is to change your tires more often so your all- season tires have good tread depth when winter comes around (about 1/2 way through the tread).

 

I totally agree with RobL, I got religion real quick when I slowly pulled away from a stop light and the car just started sliding sideways into the opposite lane. Luckily no cars were coming in the opposite direction.
just the width and tread design of the OEMs made them act more like skiis than tires

 

The few times I've been in snow with my PAX, they have done very well, including last night's ride home in snow/freezing rain. They are also pretty sure-footed in the rain.

Too bad they're being orphaned.

LL

 

We had freezing rain, about a 1/4 " of ice over night. The PAX did fine on the way home. I did have some mild slipping, but nothing of any consequence, especially considering how icy things were.

 

I got caught in horrendous weather yesterday when I left the office. Blinging rain and tornadic wind. Standing water on the road along with ponding.

The RL never felt it was drifting and any slippage from hydroplaning was very controlled. I was driving at 45mph, effortlessly as most traffic was rolling behind me.

Though the senses felt the RL was not working much at all, I toggled the MID to the SHAWD display. I was amazed to see the torque dancing about between the 4 points....very impressive!

I'll take this type of 'performance' over the benchmarks typically used to criticize the RL in it's class.

 

I used to live in St. Pete and commute over the Howard Franklin bridge to Tampa every day (this is when the bridge only had 2 lanes each way).
Those afternoon thunder boomers and torrential rains were as bad as driving in a blizzard IMHO.

 

[QUOTE=robarsan]I used to live in St. Pete and commute over the Howard Franklin bridge to Tampa every day (this is when the bridge only had 2 lanes each way).[QUOTE]

Ah yes, the 'Official NASCAR Bridge of TampaBay!'

Do you ever wonder how a sofa winds up in the middle lane?

 

Absolutely...in fact, l worked late one day last week and drove home in a nice steady late night rain (not like the mush we had last night). One particular road is nice and smooth, with has some gentle curves and hills. It was late, the road was empty and I took it a bit faster than I usually would have (fast enough that I'm sure my wife would have been screaming had she been there) and the RL did what it does best. The SH-AWD MID display was doing it's dance, the adaptive headlights were lighting the way around the bends, and the PAX tires were holding tight on the wet road while soft music played in the background. Just a nice, relaxing drive.

LL

 

Have I mentioned this week that SH-AWD is the shiznit?

I still haven't gotten religion about snow tires yet. Perhaps eventually, but not this winter.

I drove a total of almost 70 miles yesterday in the a significant snowstorm, traveling between hospitals and my office. I hit a couple of slick spots on secondary roads but SH-AWD and the traction system were useful then, and I was able to hold my own on the snow-covered freeways.

This is with UHPAS tires, by the way.

 

Another Acura advert suggestion:

Camera pans over RL driving through treacherous weather....

Driver is relaxed, confident and serene music plays from DVD Audio....

SHAWD display is superimposed over screen showing torque dance...

*voiceover*

"Get a grip on your senses with SHiznit AWD and redefine the meaning of performance..."

"Acura Advance"

*fade out*