Coopcar

My 2003 TL-S is now 2 weeks old. The car I turned is was a 2001 A4 Quattro. I was somewhat worried about the Acura in the snow living here in Michigan. Boy was I wrong.

old A4 1.8T: stock 16 inch rims. winter tires: Dunlop Winter Sport M-2s (205/55/16). Sport Package. 170 hp all wheel drive

new TL-S: Stock 17 inch rims. stock tires. (not sure of exact size but lower profile than Audi). 260 hp front whell drive with VSA

With the Audi, it was a thrill in the snow. The snow tires hooked up quick. It would break lose if you gunned i about 4k RPM when the turbo kicked in. Cornering was nice. The one problem, that I quickly learned to love was the ability to slide the ass end out around corners (not when traffic present) and still be in total control.

With the Acura, it is not quite as fun, however, being 30 and having a kid and one on the way, I am much more sensible and more concerned with safety. Cornering in the snow was amazing. The front wheels kept the car on its line and it never hinted at slipping (I am sure I could lose it if I really wanted to, but then again, I am more responsible now). At stop lights, I would accelerate quickly and the VSA kicked on instantly...sort of a reverse ABS. The car was very qucik to match tire speed with the road, and continue its acceleration. Braking: Extremely impressed! Purposely with plenty of room stomped the brakes knowing ABS would kick on...it did, and even with stock tires, it stopped me well short of where I ever thought it would.

Just wanted to add my $.02 for anyone in the bitter cold looking for a comparison.

njtls

thanx for the review....altho i dont know why your cars tracks well in the turns where as mine plows even at slow speeds =/

goldendragon576

if you love your car in the snow with the stock tires, invest in better all season tires and you'll love your car in the snow even more!!!

Coopcar

What I was contemplating is this:

Buying a cheap set of 16 inch alloy rims for the winter, mount my dunlop winter sport M-2s on there, and use them for the winter.

I already own the tires...and a cheap set of rims won;t set me back too far.

In the summer time i hand wash mostly. In the winter, it is to damn cold, so I use the car wash (flame on). It's either deal with a few swirl marks which look better after a fresh coat of wax in the spring, or deal with caked on salt the whole winter (no way in hell am I going to hand wash my car when it is below 20 degrees).

i also heard the stock 17's scratch easily from car washes...so I coule get the best of both worlds: winter tires in the winter, and clean rims and stock tires for the summer.

fsttyms1

I bought the new Winter Sport M3's for mine and MAN what a feeling. they ae simply AWSOME in snow. they ae better than any snow tire i have ever driven (which is quite a few) put a set of snow tires on the tl and you will probably think you were in a AWD. that or think you were on dry pavement

blulegend

Hey coop. I'm in Detroit too. I too was contemplating getting dedicated snows for my car being a new driver in winter conditions. Moved here in the summer from California.

I initially bought a set of stock 16" wheels from a TL-P (the 5-spoke ones) for dedicated tires. Was planning on putting WinterSport M3 tires on them too. But I waited and waited and now there's only 2-2.5 more months of bad weather so I decided to get the ContiExtremeContact tires from Tirerack. I felt that it doesn't snow enough for me to get dedicated snow tires and the Conti's are supposed to be amongst the best in All-Season snow traction. Ice is what I'm worried about though. Not sure how much better the M3's would be on ice.

My tires are supposed to arrive the end of this week and if everything goes well, I'll be putting those 16" wheels on the market. I'll use the $750 or so I would've spent on winter tires on a remote start kit. Maybe even come spring I'll put on a set of sway bars.

I'm just hoping and praying that my set of Conti's doesn't have any defects like a few people on this forum have experienced and even a few people on Tirerack.com have experienced. But it seems like there are far more satisfied owners than dissatisfied ones.

hemants

"What I was contemplating is this:"

Hell yes! Doing this will save you money. All the time you spend rolling on $100 per tire rubber will give your $200 per tire rubber longer life.

Plus any winter curb accidents won't hurt your 17 inch gems.

vandy786

Last winter, I was only the second sedan to master the steep and hilly entrance to my old apartment. While going up, I saw every kind of car parked on the side. There were about 50 cars that owners had to ditch on the side of the road and walk the rest of the way up. While a few other residents and I were shoveling the 0.5 mile uphill entrance (because our apartment manager couldn't get a single truck in the whole city to clear the snow and ice), I noticed I was the only sedan to make it up the hill along with an Audi A4 Quattro. I think about 50 people tried the challenge. EVERYONE was impressed. And it wasn't just possible because I have FWD. I tried to get my Accord up the hill too but no matter what I tried it would not go. So the main credit goes to the 260 hp to the front wheels, the VSA system, and some engineers at Acura who figured out a way to harness all that power and put it on the ground even in bad weather. Needless to say, I'm very pleased with my 2002 TLS and I no longer live in fear of snowstorms. BTW, the cars who had the worst problems were RWD sedans. A G35 lost control going uphill and slid back and hit 2 cars, one of them being a BMW 3 series which was also out of control. My parked (i.e. stationary or not moving) Accord was also involved and had a busted headlight, bumper, and hood damage because of them. Luckily I wasn't inside and they admitted they were at fault.

Coopcar

Blue,
I originally bought my 16 inch Winter Sport M-2s the first winter I had my A4. Despite what the world thinks, especially those that live in Cali, Detroit does not get that much snow. My 2001 A4 was a sport model and the Dunlop SP 8000s that came stock on it were an absolute DEATH TRAP in the snow. They got moving OK, but couldn't stop in even the mildest winter conditions. *Sorry to the poor sucker who gets my old A4 with about 45000 miles on the Dunlop 8000s (hope you don't live in the cold).

If I did not currently have access to snow tires, I would just ride on my stock tires. Michigan does a great job clearing the roads (and dumps a boatload of salt too), no to mention the winters are not that bad here, maybe only 10 days when you would even think you might need dedicated snow tires, and knowing what I know now about the TL-S in the snow, dedicated snow tread is a nice to have but not a necessity. The deal is, the TL-S will outperform 80% of the vehicles on the road here in wintry conditions (tons of pick ups and SUVs with 4x4). That 80% slows everyone down to where you can feel safe in a Ford Aspire at those speeds. (Ford Aspire not recommeded) Save your money...

Don't see too many TL-S in the Detroit area. Too many people tied into BIG discounts from the autos. Didn't let that stop me from buying German then Japanese. Keep a Mountaineer for the wife for those sales calls where I might catch some heat.

blulegend

So are you putting snows on this season?

You are right about me thinking I might need dedicated tires. I thought it would be snowing every day. It's because of what we see on the news. I say pics of the Northeast weathering all these bad storms and that was the only time I would hear about this part of the world weatherwise. Same thing for California. Most people are scared of fires and earthquakes and stuff like that. Even people who are affected by them stay in Cali. But for the most part, 95% of people in California are not even remotely at risk in a wildfire and most modern homes can sustain large quakes without any structural damage.

fsttyms1

snow tires will outperfome every allseason tire made. the compound is designed for ICS SNOW and COLD temp's if its in your budget i i would recomend a dedicaed set of snow tires and summer tires. you will be able to get the best of both worlds and your tires will ultimatly last longer

Coopcar

I haven't decided if I will buy 16s this winter, or next. I may wait to find a great deal. As I posted above, I have no worries about my TL-S in the snow righ tnow with the stock tires with only 700 miles on them.

I do agree with the above post that they wil outperform all seasons. It truly depends on budget and need. If money were no object, I would be driving a much more expensive car...not a $30k one with snows. Maybe a new Range Rover.

blulegend

I have the stock 16" 5-spokes if you are interested. They were take-offs from the dealer.

Coopcar

blue,
couldn't send you a pm...your box is full. i may have some interest. where you at in Detroit? I am actually in Troy, but Detroit sounds better.

blulegend

I am downtown. I cleared out some msgs.

boro

My 03 A-Spec is a whiz in the snow! The stock tires, although they have a bad rep-Michelin Pilot HX MXM4-have been terrific in the Toronto snow so far this year. I'm very surprised...this car handles like a dream in the wintry weather.

Vicman17

Did a comparison of the Type-S with my friends' cars:

http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...threadid=69128

What I found with the G35 (RWD) is that you can feel the RWD evident in takeoff but when cornering with a bit of speed, the tail end wants to cut loose. It's easy to get into a spin if you're not careful with the steering. Their TCS tries to cut-in but is not as smooth as the Type-S VSA. We were testing it inside a transit yard close to an airstrip so we just went nuts 'coz we're not gonna hit anything. As long as you keep moderate speeds where you can control it, the VSA is indeed a charm.