I'm looking for your guys opinions on how the TL reacts to snow, storm, long winter situations, as you all own one. I'm interested in picking one up for myself as my daily driver/winter driver, as I already have a summer car, but somewhat leary of its winter abilities. so i'm looking for opinions??

is its good choice, or should i stick with just getting another suv, thanks guys

 

I drive an 02 CL type S and it does just fine....TL should do about the same....driving habits = success or failure in winter driving..........

 

..there are no winter capabilities for the 3G TL LOL
except, VSA off lol

fishtail FTL

 

Just buy your car two sets of rim's and tires! I like the Blizaks for the winter. Eagle F1's for summer. It make my drive safe and predictable.....

 

I do have a 04 6MT. I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada which have a shit load of white powder for more than 4 months per year. Im doing 80% highway 20% cities to get to my job for a total of 60Miles per day. Last winter in the TL was a real charm. The car is heavy enough to stay on track, does react to hard wind and VSA just give the edge. I was running on pretty width tire which probably didn't helped me on highway (235/45/17). But I never felt insecure driving in storms.

My only complain, the VSA need to be desactivated sometime to get out of local road that has not been cleaned up in the morning. The VSA was almost stoping the car when driving through snow pile...

Have fun !

 

FWD cars FTW. The TL runs fine in the snow

 

it's all in the tires, the car is fine. night and day with snows. 6th car and I've never had snows before so i know it's not my capabilities.

 

I live in VT and with the stock Bridgestones my 6MT TL was the worst car I have ever driven in the snow. For the first time ever I went out and bought snow tires...Night and day difference...With 4 Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi's the TL provides handling that lets you drive beyond the road conditions if you choose to...I typically find myself slowing down because my brain tells me I am driving a little fast for the conditions not because the car tells me I am.

Bottom line...With the right tires the TL is a great winter car.

 

the only issue with the TL with real snow tires in the snow is the ground clearance.

 

6MT's also have a limited slip differential which can be a major help in winter conditions over and above the VSA.

 

Here's my .02c

Living in MN and having tons of snow every winter, I'm going to say the TL is Par to Sub Par using non-winter specific tires. The ground clearance isnt great and to get the max benefit I think snow tires is the only way to do it correctly.

 

Judging by your name, I assume you are a fellow Canuck. I'm in Toronto, and if this winter is anything like last winter: Get yourself a good set of winter tires.

Don't listen to anyone who says you don't need them. you do.. I'm sure if you're lucky you can get by on all-seasons. Lord knows I have. It's that one time where inches mean hitting something or braking in time, that you'll be glad you had winter tires.

Don't forget that it's not just about snow. In cold temps, the rubber on all-seasons gets too hard, reducing braking and handling. I put my first set of winters ever on last year, and I couldn't believe I was driving without them all these years.

 

My TL does fine on the limited snow we get in the DC area. I did drive it to Mont-Tremblant and Ottawa during January 2006 and had mixed results on all-season tyres, Pirelli PZero Nero M+S (recognizing that for me to buy snow tyres would be a waste of money living in the DC area). In general, it did pretty well on hard-packed snow of the sort shown below in the first picture, which I took right after attempting to turn a donut in the large empty car park shown in the picture (it's at the base of the Versant Nord at Tremblant). I didn't succeed in turning the donut because Ms1995hoo was in the passenger seat and started berating me, although the car didn't skid either.



Likewise, on the snow shown here atop the unpaved car park at the condo where we were staying, the car did fine. However, I had to be selective about where I parked. We got 25 cm of fresh snow the first day there and I ran into trouble when I parked in a space that wasn't already cleared out. I imagine snow tyres or chains would have solved this problem, but as it was I put Ms1995hoo in the driver's seat and I then pushed the car out.



Driving following the 25 cm of snow required a little care before the plow came through. The condo car park's exit was right at the base of a hill and the TL would not go up the hill on all-season tyres (not enough momentum). It did fine when I went around in the other direction (the road through Village-Mont-Tremblant is basically a long loop) because the momentum at 50 to 60 km/h was sufficient to carry the car up the hills.

My overall impression was that if you live in an area where snow tyres are the norm, then the TL will do fine IF you put snow tyres on it. If you live in an area like DC where we get the occasional big snow dump every couple of years but otherwise generally get mild dustings (that nonetheless fuck up the traffic for hours due to the idiots on the road), all-season tyres are fine as long as you (1) know how to drive in the snow and (2) are prepared to recognize the car's limitations in heavier snow and know how to work around them.

 

I do agree, however most people think winter tires are only for snow. This is false. Even if you get no snow, but the temps go below 5 celcius, you need winter tires.

Like I said before, everyone has stories of how they drove through blizzards with all-seasons, and they were fine. For me, it's an insurance policy. Last year someone pulled in front of me on the 401 (second largest hwy in North America) and hammered their brakes. I credit my winter tires for giving me the grip required to avoid rear-ending him. There was no snow on the ground, but the temp was around -2 celcius. I have no doubt that if I had all seasons, I would have been sitting in his trunk.

You can't put a price on safety. Especially now that I have a son. I'd spend money on Winter tires any day over cosmetic mods, CAI's, etc etc.

 

BTW... chains are illegal here (at least in Ontario, not sure about Quebec)

 

1995hoo- That is crazy amount of snow where you live. To the OP can do what I do park the TL in the garage for the winter lol.

 

Not quite! Those pictures were taken at Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, which is about 140 km northwest of downtown Montreal. I live in Kingstowne, VA, which is about 12 miles south of Washington, DC. The pictures were taken on a ski vacation in 2006. We seldom get anywhere near that amount of snow here in the DC area, although we did get 20 inches dumped on us over the Washington's Birthday weekend in 2003.

 

Yeh, my reference to chains was more of a general comment for those people who live in an area where they might be legal and who might need them in a pinch. I'd never use them unless I had absolutely no choice in the matter.

 

Yep.. That part of Quebec get's dumped-on in the winter. Although last winter in Toronto was RIDICULOUS.

I bought a snowblower for the first time.

 

Ahhh gotcha, but wow 20 inches thats crazy.

 

I drove my car on hankooks radial K106 (they were on the car when I got it) and now some arizonians silver editions and I have yet to encounter any problems in the winter........the car handles well and as long as you drive safely, you will not have issues

 

Pfffft! You guys in T.O. don't know snow....

Come to Ottawa, if you want snow!



As far as the TL's handling in snow....no better or worse than any other FWD sedan. Definitely better with a set of dedicated snow tires...that is a must! I wouldn't even think of running AS in Winter here.
But if I had my pick between a 4WD SUV and the TL in Winter....I'll take 4WD...hands down!

 

Thanks for all the replies. I should have mentioned where im from im taking after reading the posts, from Manitoba, so yes I know all about what a real winter is, with lots of snow so i have my winter exp. belt already. Winter for me like those pics shown of Ottawa, thats what our winters are like.

I've been in this decision making stage for about a month now, and the lists slowly keeps getting smaller of choices to replace my current daily. I'm quite loyal infiniti owner, so the FX series keep catching my eye, but besides that its down to the TL, MDX and FX's now as others have been removed. awd is not the most important thing to me, as driving style is more important i believe but it doesn't hurt also where i live.
I defn won't be doing much modding to it besides few cosmetic things as my summer ride takes up that extra cash. An uncle of mine owns a TL and he seems to have done well with it out here, and im pretty sure he just uses A/S tires.
It's becoming quite the complex debate around here on what to get, as fit into my lifestyle is most important factor as well as gas mileage. Won't be going brand new unfortunately, most likely an '06 as i would like to save a little in hopes to spring a new summer car if I can get away with that, but that might be wishful thinking

 

Toronto pretty much looked liked that last year as well. Worst i've ever seen here (born and raised - 34 years in Toronto)

 

^ holy crap... just park the tl for that, get a snowmobile

 

Defn. needing something like the TL now, as girl just bought a g35 which in my eyes means im going to be doing the winter driving now mostly.

On another note, is there a way to find pictures outside of the gallery on this forum? I'm trying to track down some pictures of 2 cars i found in a clearing the taillights thread, a really clean and cleared silver TL and what looked like a black, cleared and tinted TL. Pretty much the looks I would want. thanks

 

Ottawa look great !!!

He is the shit load of snow we received last winter near Montreal !!! Near 10 foot of nice snow...

 

Man, that's gotta be terrible on the paint...

 

Winter does suck on paint. I think I'm parking mine this winter. And like everyone said, it's in the tires. As for clearance, I push snow all winter, and that just lets me know I'm in the lowest car that has driven by that area! Not a hard feat since everyone drives SUVs and rock flinging trucks. I live in the city so they plow the streets pretty quick. It really doesn't matter how much it snows because if there is snow, there is usually ice. But, we also have a Subaru with winter tires too. And with that, we can almost go anywhere.