NJ06RL

So I will add one more thread to the many that have extolled the virtues of our RLs in winter.

We drove from Hancock MA back to northern NJ the evening of 3/7 during the so called snow storm Saturn. It snowed for the whole 3 hour drive. I-90W, I-87S, I-80E. Snowfall was pretty heavy at some points as we pushed south.

The RL performed excellent. Up to 75 mph in driving snow. Stable as a rock, only one small slip in 3 hours and more due to me hitting the brakes harder than I should have on snowy ground. Nothing to do with the car when that happened - i knew what I did wrong. Always felt confident we were 100% in control and all other gradual braking situations were fully stable and secure. Acceleration was no different than on dry ground and gradual cornering was 100% stable and secure.

We're running 17 inch OEM rims, Hankook Winter Icept tires (which helped quite a lot I'm sure).

SH AWD FTW.

Carbon Legend

i got 12 inches of snow tuesday drove to work at 3am roads barely plowed and sadly i had to pass some people who were idling through the snow. running oem 17 with Winterforce tires. Apon arrival to work i had a huge unplowed parking lot to play in

ichi d

RL with snow tires = beast.

Maintenanceman

^And with Snow mode on

MyKL

As I know Acura RL and Legend in USA version doesn't have Snow mode.
In Russia we have ))))

Mr Marco

This^

Nice work OP. Wish my fellow Oregonian's understood the benifits of snow tires.

MrG4Life

iTrader: (1)

As the OP noted in his post, there must be many threads here on winter driving so I'll just add my two cents to this thread instead of creating a new one.

With an approaching snowstorm in the Northeast today, I decided to use the RL for the first time in the snow. Although my commute home during the middle of the storm featured a lot of stop and go traffic, I was impressed with this car. Before I hit the traffic, I was able to do around 30-35mph and the car drove great. I don't mind driving in the snow but the only concerns I've had were turning and changing lanes. My other car is RWD and has snow tires but I still have a sense of uneasiness. Although my RL does not have snow tires, that SH-AWD really made a difference in my opinion. When I entered my development, there was about 4" of snow on the ground. I drove in and pulled into my snow covered driveway with ease. If the car performed this nicely in the snow today, it must be even better with snow tires. I have no immediate plans on getting snow tires but it is definitely something that I will consider in the future.

NJ06RL

Are you running OEM 17s ? If so, which tires do you have on ? The OEM Mich Pilot HX MXM4s were just no good in snow based on my experience. I've run Mich Pilot Sport A/S which were pretty decent in snow and from my original post, the Hankook Winter Icept did their job perfectly.

BDoggPrelude

I also have Hankook i-Cept Evo's on my stock wheels. They are fantastic in snow and not too shabby when it's warm out, for a winter tire. My wife's TL has Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4's. They put the Hankook's to shame.

It should be noted, for those that only do occasional driving in the snow, AWD is much great for accelerating in snow. It is better for turning in snow, (as long as you are on the gas and not just coasting). It does absolutely nothing for you when you need to stop. In this case, AWD may actually be more dangerous for somebody more inexperienced with winter driving. Nothing worse than combining faster acceleration in snow along with a false sense of security.

EL19

iTrader: (4)

I'm running aspec 18s with goodyear all seasons and had no problems in 6" of snow yesterday. Went right up and down my 50 degree angled driveway without a slip. This cars shines in inclemement weather.

JnC

iTrader: (12)

Stock 17"s with General Altimax Arctic tires, to say the car feels like its on rails would seem just about appropriate The only thing that lets it down is ground clearance when there is anything more than 6" of snow on the ground.

tc5280

Same here with eagle gt's(which I hate).

oo7spy

Sorry, man, but I have to call Your driveway isn't 50 degrees over level (unless I am misunderstanding your description).

getakey

I found his house

http://www.cyburbia.org/gallery/data.../19Homes-2.jpg

oo7spy

That's still no more than 30.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

getakey

that's the same driveway in my link above

tdurick

I live in ND and drive 2k miles/month, facing almost constant ice and snow. The RL is an amazing vehicle. I run Blizzaks in the winter as AWD won't help you stop faster on ice.

The combination of good winter tires, SH-AWD, heavier weight, and low profile make this vehicle among the absolute best you could drive on a winter road. I think the only thing that could make this vehicle better would be a more even weight distribution.

I would love to try the snow mode you folks in other countries have.

EL19

iTrader: (4)

Maybe I was a "bit" off in my description
although not as extreme my driveway is pretty close to that.

One of the selling points of the house

MrG4Life

iTrader: (1)

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S here. Another 2" fell yesterday on top of the 10" we received earlier in the week and I was good to go.

Turning was my biggest concern. Other car had the tendency to fishtail a lot while turning.

TonyCD

Not to hijack the thread, but this is top-of-mind for me in this godawful Midwestern winter:

I got a new set of Serenity Plus(es?) this fall, partly so I'd have full-depth tread in case of a crappy winter. While nothing matches a real winter tire, Tire Rack rated them highly by all-season standards in snow and ice performance. Unfortunately, they've been a real-world disappointment on snow in both cornering and braking. I suspect there's just no way around losing traction with a low-rolling-resistance tire. Sometimes, indoors or out, there's no substitute for more friction. :>)

TheStig1

I have been fairly disappointed in my rl so far this winter. Its better my other fwd or rwd cars but it breaks loose on turns and braking is horrible with any snow or slush. I'm running regular all season bridgestones and would have expected better. I have had 4wd suvs that were much better. I figured with the level of technology and form it would be better in low to moderate snow.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Uh...your tires are the problem. Do not forget that your AWD system is only as good as the traction it is able to provide through the tires. If you have shitty tires, even the best AWD system can only compensate so much.

Also, do not fall prey to the myth of AWD.

TheStig1

My tires are just fine. They are a nice set of all season bridge stones with plenty of tread left. I have had 4x4s so I'm familiar with the capabilities. The car also launches fine. Its not bad, I just expected better precision handling in the snow.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

All-season sedan tires are going to be very different from "all-season" tires on a truck or SUV in terms of the tread, grip, and other characteristics. And I hope you are not assuming that price and tread depth are all that matter in terms of determining how a tire will perform in the snow, especially as the temperatures fall way below freezing.

What you described, in terms of lack of grip when turning and stopping, is a traction issue, not a problem with the AWD. You said yourself that the car launches fine, which means that the AWD is doing its job getting the car up to speed. How well you turn and stop is largely dependent upon how much grip your tires have.

TonyCD

Since owning my RL, I've had it with three different sets of tires (OEM Michelins, General Altimax HP, Bridgestone all-season Serenity Plus) and driven each in winter weather. Your problem is the tires.

A footnote about my disappointment (described above) about my new set of Bridgestones: I know it's easy to overgeneralize across a tire manufacturer's whole stable of products -- after all, Bridgestone made the original Blizzak -- but this is the second or third time I took the leap of faith and bought Bridgestone all-seasons hoping they'd improved on snow and slush, and each time I've been disappointed. Non-OEM Michelin X-Ones (OEM tires of any brand always suck, because carmakers spec them that way for nothing but treadlife and gas mileage), the Generals, and even Kumho Solus KR21's were much better.

BDoggPrelude

Having "Bridgestone all season tires" is such a general statement. That could be anything from their entry level Potenza G019 Grid to the Serenity or Potenza RE970. Pretty massive differences in traction across their all season tire lineup. What you think is "plenty of tread" versus what is an acceptable amount of tread for winter conditions could be a huge difference too. Tires lose wet and snow traction constantly as they wear down. It's just the nature of having deeper voids to expel water and slush. Once tires get under 6/32nds of an inch in depth is where they are not really viable in snowy conditions. Considering most tires come with about 10/32nds and the wear bars come up at 2/32nds, 6/32nds of an inch of tread is basically half of the usable tread depth.

oo7spy

Slow down and you won't have a problem. SH-AWD can't do anything for you if you aren't on the gas. Just like a FWD, if you let the car pull you through, you will be fine, but if you have to use the brakes, you're relying 100% on tires. Slow down and let the car do it's job.

Fixed.

tdurick

I run a set of G019 Grids as my summer tires (came with the car) and can attest to the horrid "all weather" performance of these. I run blizzaks in the winter to avoid the problems the OP speaks of....problem solved.

TheStig1

Guess it might be the serenity's I have on the car. There reviews in snow are disappointing. I was surprised since they are very good in dry and wet conditions. Oh well, new tires next winter I guess.

Braking in snow at moderate speeds is just brutal.

tdurick

I can even say the difference between the very highly rated Continental DWS and my Blizzak LM-60's is very noticeable in winter driving. My wife has the Conti's on her 08' RDX and we take my car anytime winter conditions are a factor. My car is much more stable around corners and holds better on ice. I can surely break loose still, but grip is noticeably better.

Don't get me wrong, we love the Conti's, but just to illustrate the difference between all weather and dedicated winter performance. The DWS are still a good choice for an all weather tire for occasional winter driving, and dominates the Blizzaks in dry handling.

Just don't get dedicated winter tires if your winter temps regularly get above 40F - you'll burn them up in one season.

Here is a good comparison of all season tires winter performance

BDoggPrelude

The best all season tire in the world doesn't even stand a chance against the worst winter tire in the world. It's not a fair fight.

F35PHIXER

finally had a chance to use my conti DWS and SH AWD here in southern MD... Impressed, just have to watch out for all the clueless people around here!!! We have them from all over, being a Naval Base ;-))))

RL-SK8

Love my ContDWS!!!!!!

MSW 6SP

This year is the first season I've driven my RL in snow. My car can not come to a stop driving slow speed. I slid through a stop sign at the bottom of my hill and just last week I could not control my car driving 5mph down a steep hill covered in 1/2 inch of snow. I'm lucky no other car was near me when this happened. It was seriously the scariest driving experience I've ever had.
My brake pedal would get completely hard pressing it down so I thought it might be a brake problem. I just picked it up from a highly reputable mechanic and everything including my ABS works perfectly.

The only thing remaining is that my Bridgestone all-season Serenity Plus tires with 70% tread left is complete shit.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Seems that the Bridgestone Serenity tires are a problem. My guess, from their name, suggests a very sensitive compound that is designed for good fuel economy and better noise reduction, but likely reduces cold weather usability as a result. Seems like new tires or dedicated winter tires might be in order.

EL19

iTrader: (4)

We got an unexpected snow here in southern Maryland didn't we! RL performed admirable again this morning. I believe I have Goodyear Eagle GTs

NJ06RL

Well as i am the OP who started this post and also given how everyone is talking up the Conti DWS, I have a sobering story to tell.

I have been caught in the Atlanta snow storm fiasco the last two days. My SC430 Conv has Conti DWS with perhaps only 7000-10,000 miles on them. I made it through some uphill and downhill sections of the Atlanta area, including some real steep grades while it was snowing. My RWD car is the worst thing you could ask for in these conditions with the V8 motor sitting up front and the drive wheels at the back. My wheels would spin on uphill sections ( no sand or salt on Atlanta roads ). Amazingly, I made it nearly all the way to my friend's place, 7.5 miles in the Atlanta snow storm despite uphill and downhill sections. But I had to abandon my car half a mile from his place cos there was a steep small hill with about a full inch of accumulation near his place and my RWD car just would not make it up. I also tried reversing uphill but there was no way. So my V8 RWD convertible sitting on its DWS tires has been abandoned on a small residential street for more than a day. 20 feet behind me, a BMW Alpina B7; 30 feet in front of me, a new BMW 535i RWD with summer tires, one of which was in a ditch. At least I abandoned my car in an orderly way, sitting properly next to the kerb, parked nicely. I keep thinking if I had my Blizzaks on ( I own a set of Blizzaks for this convertible ), my car might be safely in my friend's garage now. Or if there had been salt and sand on these residential streets, my DWS might have seen me up that last hill before getting to my friend's place. Oh well ....

DWS is pretty good, but not good enough for me this time.

I know I know, I should not be driving in these conditions in a RWD front engine V8. But my two other AWD cars are up in NJ so RWD with Conti DWS was all I had to face the Atlanta snow storm ...

Now if I still had my RL with SH AWD and decent all seasons, I might be OK but that issue is closed. That car belongs to someone else now.

And it is quite humiliating to see Civics and Corollas make it through because they are FWD with all season tires ...

Now if only it would warm up so the ice would melt and I can have my car back, that would be a good thing...

BDoggPrelude

No offense and not to question your driving abilities but I have customers that drive RWD V8 vehicles all winter long on the DWS. The 2" of snow you guys got in Atlanta would be considered a light dusting in Colorado. I used to drive my Prelude around with a race suspension on 215/45R17 Nitto NeoGen's all year. The only thing that ever stopped me was when we would get ruts in the ice buildup on the road that were too deep for my lip kit to clear. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at its tread design and assume it is not a great winter traction tire.

Nitto NeoGen:



Conti DWS:

NJ06RL

Hey Bdogg, I'm guessing CO local authorities know how to prep the roads before the storm arrives ? Driving in 1-2 inches (or much more even) in the NY/NJ area is OK cos we get salted and sanded even before serious accumulation. Here in ATL, there was pretty much zero prior prep of salt and sand so everyone had only physics to help them, with pretty horrific results ... Especially on uphill and downhill sections of roadway.

I think your Prelude would have made it through pretty good with the FWD configuration. That really helped a lot of lighter cars this time around. Saw RWD SUVs stuck here while a Civic would go right by easily.