fish008

+3 for WS 50s

hamsup

i dunno bout you guys..but i think the TL sucks in snow..my teg and accord were 10 times better...this thing..feels like I can't stop...even in the littlest amount of snow..feels like the breaks always wanna lock up and slide...
i hate my TL in snow..i'd rather bus or drive a beater..don't feel like totaling my baby

Adobeman

Auto or MT ? 4 Snow Tires fitted ?
Well it may very well suck in an auto/stock tire setup but it's pretty unanimous that an MT with good snows it does not "suck" in the snow.

Either way a beater is usually a good choice in the snow too. Something with good ground clearance, FWD or AWD, 4 snow tires and not much HP will go places many others can't in the snow.

playa4real

iTrader: (3)

pops moved my car when the snow plow guy came and he ended up putting into some snow.. took me a good 2 hours to get my baby out today

so i think it sucks (j/k)..wheres the SH-AWD when u need it?!?!

WantTwoRun?

no traction at all nothing Zero nothing no traction lol

MR. C

Try turning the VSA off and keep the revs low. Use 2nd gear if you have to. That should let the limited slip do it's job without the braking system slowing your progress.

I got caught in it last week. I've got these tires on the 17's and made it through 6 - 8" without any real issues.

I have a 500' driveway with a 15 - 20% uphill grade, unfortunately the freezing rain earlier in the week built up 1" of black ice that was still under the snow. I made it through the pile at the end, around the first bend and partway up the slope about 200' total before it stopped. It was plowing snow all the way.

When I got out and tried to walk the rest of the way up the hill, I fell no less than 5 times. I'm still sore a week later. I'd say it does very well in the snow with good snow tires.


Due to the forementioned driveway, I ALWAYS leave my truck home with the plow on and ready to go. If i take it to work and come home to 4' drifts, uphill, then I've got a problem


-mc

MR. C

These tires = http://www.nokiantyre.com/en/tire_ha...?season=winter

fish008

Mr. C said turn the VSA off. I would advocate leaving it on. If you were spinning like crazy I would imagine that you had it off. The TC does a really good job of limiting the amount of power so that it doesn't overwhelm the grip the tires can create. That gets me up some very icy hills without a problem. Something to consider would be snow tires, which I have, and trust me they make a huge difference. I would still advocate leaving the VSA on.

TzarChasm

I have been extremely pleased with the snow performance of my TL. I had a SAAB convertable before and I was a little worried that the TL, with more power, and no snow setting, would have a tough time in the snow. Turns out the TL was great, better than the SAAB, probably as good as my old AWD Stealth R/T. I only have 5k miles on the stock tires, so I'm sure that helps. They might not be as good next year, so it will probably be time for some snows.

MR. C

Just to clarify, I leave VSA on for everything but seriously icy hills or when it's just about stalling the engine.

If he is spinning his tires he probably did have VSA turned off. He needs to slow it WAY down to limit the slippage. VSA will do that, but in my experience it also limits forward progress to a significant degree.

Most of my family has cars with the same / similar feature. They cannot make it up my driveway when it's icy with that feature enabled. Watching them try, you can actually see the system stopping the wheels, losing forward momentum.

My old Nissan Altima, 5MT, with limited slip, no VSA made it up every time. My experience with that car in the winter made limited slip a requirement. Nissan discontinued the limited slip in it's cars saying that traction control was just as good. In my experience that is BS. So now I own a TL 6MT with limited slip. When my friends with new Maximas with traction control come over they call me from the bottom of my driveway and I go pick them up in my TL.

I'm thinking about salting the driveway...

-mc

blkcou

So far my 07 TL handeled real well. I was real pleased. But keep in mind I live in the Bronx,NY and we really have'nt had a heavy snow yet!!!

mickey3c

as I am sure people have read in the past, it is best to get a set of tires dedicated to winter traction. 235s are fine in the snow as long as you have a tire (all season or not) that can handle the snow. Not all all seasons are created equal.

fant0m_TL

i just got brand new tires put on - yokohamas (sp too lazy to look up). for the longest time i couldnt figure out why my TL sucked in the snow... it was pissing me off sooooo bad - i couldnt start from a stop without getting stuck/not moving.... then i turned the VSA off and OH EM GEE it is such a big difference! (this is my first year in the snow with the TL) so i didnt know the VSA was preventing me from moving--- makes perfect sense... now it works great!

Acuraboy7

My TLS have been fine in the snow no problems, and my 05 was fine in the snow as well, tho on my 05 I changed the summer tires that came with it to p-zero's all season. the TLS came with all season.

3rdGenHybrid

Yeah Those Stock Michelins Really Suck...period...snow...dry...warm Cold...they're "ok" Tires...i Need To Upgrade For The Winter...i Want Steelies...but I Dont Know If Anyone Makes Steelies With Tpms Compatabilty, I Would Drive My 05at Tl In The Winter...but It Sucks Compared To My 07tls...so I Just Deal With The Tl-s Getting Snow Dumped On...its Str8...i Park It In A Garage..so The Snow Melts Every Night Though...

binhsterbinh

I 2nd that! Traction control/VSA screwed me over last night on a snow covered hill. It was 15-20% grade and covered with an 1" of fresh snow and some compact snow and ice underneath. I ascended the hill at about 20mph and just when I realized that I needed to be going faster or else I would get stuck, low and behold the traction control turned on and stopped all forward progress. Once stopped, basically every time I gased it, the car would slide backwards towards an embankment on the right sideways which scared the $hit out of me.

Lucky for me the gf was driving behind me and was able to help me turn my car around to go back the other way. By the time my car got to being perpendicular with the road, every time I reversed at that point, the nose just slid down towards the bottom of the hill which was actually helping but scary at the same time because it was also nearing the edge of the road again.

I'm running a brand new set of Good Year Eagle F1 A/S's. My GF behind me was running BF Goodrich Winterforce Studded tires(Costco) on a '01 Protege. There was a clear distinction between her snow tires and my tires last night. At a stop, she had no troubles starting up again and moving up the hill. She ended up turning around anyways because she was scared of more to come but her car could have made it for sure. Turning the Protege around with snow tires on it was a breeze and there was no slipping once so ever like my car did with the nose slipping. I guess the moral of the story is that even some of the best A/S tires can never match the grip of a dedicated snow when the going gets tough. Also next time I see a hill like that, I'll for sure turn off VSA and just speed up.

avs007

actually an open diff with traction control IS the same as a limited slip diff. The only difference is that in a LSD a spring loaded clutchpack is slowing the spinning wheel, allowing for the inner gear to rotate about the outer gear, providing torque to the other wheel equal to the amount of torque it takes to overpower the spring loaded clutchpack.

In TCS, the ECU brakes the spinning wheel to cause the inner gear in the diff to rotate about the outter, sending torque to the other wheel equal to the torque it takes to overpower the brakes. If TCS is not allowing you to ascend a hill with one wheel spinning on ice, the ecu is not braking the spinning wheel hard enough.

If you go youtube you can find a bunch of fifth gear videos demonstrating tcs and how it helps you to ascend icy hills.

subinf

Seems to do ok. Doesn't do well when the road is iced over. Probably need to get rid of the summer tires

lando77

Today was the first real snow, I had no problems driving to work, but I do live on top of a hill, it was covered in snow and I felt the Traction control. Other than that, It runs like a charm.

I toyed with the Idea of getting a winter beater, but what I was willing to spend would have gotten me RWD, No Airbags or heated seats. So I decied to winterize the TL-S.

What kinda irks me though is the lack of "steelies" for the snow tires. Tire Rack did not have any rims availible that would support TPMS, so I went to a local shop. The guy told me that my all seasons would be fine in Germany. So I have the stock all seasons on the 17 S rims (slathed in Wheel Wax).

I am new to winter driving, I learned that waher fluid will freeze, and it is always wet. Weather Tech protects the interior, the Prestone Winter washer fluid protects the windows and I wash it religiously weekly.

Lando

AZN.M3NACE

my 2gen TL cant handle the snow anymore... i think i need new tires. i am on yokohama all season.

BEAR-AvHistory

Need a winter beater, give me a break. Half the full size 4X4 pickups here cost more then an Acura.

mu1980

Unless you're taking a sports car out in the snow/slush or don't have any tread on the tires .. the driver him/herself matters more than the vehicle they're driving.

If you're driving like an idiot in the winter, no amount of technology and no particular car will save you from getting in an accident or getting stuck. Some idiotic things to do in winter driving:

- Driving too fast: when the roads are slushy/snow-covered, guess what? You shouldn't be going the speed limit or faster.

- Eating, talking/texting on the phone, etc. while driving: this is not smart even when the roads are dry, but it's even worse when the roads are slushy/snow-covered... for hopefully obvious reasons.

- Following too closely, especially at faster speeds: I don't care what vehicle you have, what technology it has, or how good of a winter driver you think you are, following too closely is just stupid.

Ice? Forget it.. nothing but chains/studs or *really* good winter tires and extreme caution is gonna be of much use. 4WD or AWD? Sorry, buddy.. you'll lose it too.

My TL has been great in snow.. but so was my 04 Accord, my 2000 Intrepid, and my 1995 Intrepid.. and both Intrepids didn't even have anti-lock brakes! Who would've thought... smart driving is more effective than relying on technology.

darksky

Very true. I always chuckle when some moron in a 4x4 goes screaming past me in a snow storm because I'll often see the truck in the ditch 5 miles down the road. 4WD and AWD are both outstanding for getting a vehicle moving but they offer no benefit in stopping the same vehicle The best defense here is to slow down and leave more distance between you and the car in front of you.

mu1980

Yup.. you kinda feel sorry for them, at first anyway.. but no education is free.

elkayem

I can barely barely get it sideways VSA off or not. Even with the handbrake.

lusid

My Snow experience this year was pretty good.

My OEM tires Mich MxM4's did very poorly in snow / wet conditions, did well in dry conditions.

My current tire which is the Bridgestone Potenza RE960 A/S are average in snowy conditions, excellent in wet conditions, and very good in dry conditions. We got probably 8-10inches in two days starting xmas day. And it had no problems with most of it, the issues come on steep hills or sharp corners while trying to gain access into a HWY or a county road. Not enough traction and I tend to fish tail, with VSA on or off. But i've adapted and I do manage quite well.

Overall the TL does well for the type of car it is. Maybe in a few years i'll find some rims and slap some real winter rubbers on it. But for now it's been nothing but good.

New Car TL-S

so far I've been in two snow storms and two ice storms. I got where I needed to go safely, but there is a huge difference between my traded Pont GP GTP and the TL-S. wouldn't say its awful, but its not confidence inspiring.

DMZ

.......................................

Even on normal dry road conditions, I can be in the left lane of a highway doing 10-25 MPH above the speed limit and some jerk will still crawl right up my ass even though there's traffic to the right prohibiting me from getting out of his way.

Has anyone else noticed people getting more and more agressive than ever on the roads these days?

donc

I didn't like the OEM tires so at 12K miles I changed to Michelin PA2s for my winter tire and will install 255/40/17 PS2s on second set of TL-S rims for warmer weather.