How many TL owners will be putting their TLs up for the winter months?
For those of you that will be driving there TL this winter, are you putting snow tires on your it, or running the stock wheels?.

 

Running 4 Dunlop Wintersport M3s on OEM rims. I'm actually excited for snow.

 

My TL did fine on the stock Turanzas last winter in suburban DC. I think that the driver and driver experience are far more important than the tires (within reason).

 

varanelli,
Thanks for the reply, most winter cars I drive here in NY I put snow tires on.
When we get snow, we get feet of it, specially off the East end of Lake Ontario. So I feel snow tires are a must!

soljc,
Any concern with have a 270 ponies, in the wet stuff. If the VSA works like they say it does, do you think the front brakes will make through the winter. It's hard not to spin the tires on dry payment, not speaking about snow. I have a 6sp, so she connects the road very firmly, but again it how you run the clutch also.

I drive a Honda CRX SI with a big 108 ponies with 4 tires in the winter. I find under powered front wheel drive machines work extremely well in the snow!!

 

you have 270 ponies but you are not applying all of it everyday are you? when you drive in the snow you are controlling your throttle somewhat and the rpm's are relatively low. unless you like to keep it hammered at drive in the high rpm's all day long it would not be a factor. the tires would be the biggest component when it comes to traction. so doesn't matter if the car has 100hp or 500hp, its how you control that and put it to the ground.

 

[QUOTE=Whiteowl] most winter cars I drive here in NY I put snow tires on.
When we get snow, we get feet of it, specially off the East end of Lake Ontario. So I feel snow tires are a must!

Fair enough. I should have seen your "location." Not much rivals upstate NY snow.

 

Fair enough. Even as a native New Englander, I know that not much rivals upstate NY snow.

 

I'm going to run the stock tires. If it gets too awful out for that, I'll stay home or drive my truck.

Last winter, I test drove a TSX after a snowstorm. I took it to a parking lot and floored it on snow covered ice. The tires slipped a little bit, then the car just started crawling forward. I know it wasn't a TL, but the VSA worked very well.

I've found that a good set of tires is all you need. If your tires are worn, they are no good for winter, but a good set of all season tires work almost as well as snow tires. I haven't been able to justify the cost and hassle of snow tires.

Good luck with your decision and drive safe. I hope I don't see any TL's in the ditch this winter.

 

caball88,
I agree that your not using all 270 ponies at every moment of the day, and throttle control plays a big part. But I think there a big difference between 100hp and 500hp. At a given low RPM, the torque is considerably higher on the 500hp motor and the chance of the wheels breaking loose is alot higher than the 100hp motor which delivers the same torque (if it can) at a considerable higher rpm. For what it's worth!!

 

I'm with Varanelli - Delaware usually gets only one or two good snows a year and it's pretty quickly off the road... So I'll rough it on OEM's. (Besides more miles means quicker new tires) ...

If it gets too bad I'll work from home until Groundhog day..

 

I agree completely about an underpowered car in the snow. My VW Golf with Nokian tires was a monster in the snow. Same goes for my old Integra with 4 snows.

Yes, I am slightly concerned about the tremendous HP with the TL, but I don't have another car, so I'll have to make the best of things. I figure I can turn off VSA, if needed, and my snows have a very aggressive tred, so hopefully the snow won't be a problem.

 

OEM rims, Pirelli PZero Nero M+S tires, will be getting 19s for the spring

 

I basically got my TL to be our daily driver, and it will be seeing snow duty on stock tires. I can only see maybe 2-3 days being rough. I drove RWD performance cars year round from 1992 - 2001.

 

Let the traction control do its job - it could throttle back that 500 Hp engine to 100 ponies in no time. And depending on the engine type anyway, it might have practically no torque down low - like an F1 engine. F1's do their work up high, through many gears ratios.

 

Put the car away No way! This baby was meant to be sunshine, snow, or rain.

 

I'm going to put my TL up for the Winter on Dec. 1. I still have a 1993 Accord so I'll beat that up for a few months. The road salt is a killer here in the Rochester area.

 

I'm driving my TL. I will probably only keep the TL for 2-3 years. For that short a period you are just keeping the car nice for the next owner.

Now my Mustang, well in gets tucked away with cover and sleeps until spring.

 

MSF2,
I guess you have to live here (Rochester) to appreciate why we take are babies off the road in the winter. Salt does Kill big time!!! I drive my 90 CRX, great winter snow fighter!

Vanwall,
If I only planned on keeping the car for 2 - 3 yrs, I'd drive it also, I'm going for the long haul! By the way, what year is your Stang?