I am curious how everyone's TL drives in the snow and rain? Has anyone had any serious problems? What can I expect? Thanks.

 

The problem would come from the tires, not the car. Obviously it won't be as good in nasty conditions as AWD, nor as bad as RWD. In the rain, my car handles great. The tires suck at gripping the road though (only if you're accelerating hard). Either way, it shouldn't make a difference since normally you shouldn't be accelerating hard or cornering hard in the rain or snow.

 

I was surprised at how bad the TL was in the snow when I drove it in a few storms this past winter (one somewhat bad one and the rest relatively light). This is with the EL42s. I was hoping to be able to live without dedicated winter tires, but it looks like I'll be buying some anyway. That's actually why I decided to go with the standard all-seasons. Boy what a mistake that turned out to be.

I'm guessing the width of the wheels and the tires themselves are both partially to blame (narrow tires tend to do better in snow). The biggest problem I had was getting started (wheel spin and/or VSA kicking in). I'm not sure if it would have been better if I turned off the VSA or not, but it was unexpectedly difficult in any case.

 

The TL sucks in the snow with the OEM Bridgestones. It is downright unsafe. I've drive through a LOT of snow (last year we got over 130 inches of the stuff -- a little over the average) in many different cars. None of the previous cars were close to being as bad as the TL with thos crappy Bridgstones. It doesn't help that they are wide tires but as you'll see, that's not why the TL is so bad.

I gave up on the Bridgestones and swapped them for Michelin Pilot Sport A/S's. The car became a joy to drive. On dry, wet or snowy pavement, the Pilots improved the traction and handling greatly. Do yourself a favor and get rid of the Bridgstones for some real tires.

 

I can echo previous comments that the Bridgestone tires are absolutely dangerous in snow. I had a little more success with the VSA off, but not much. I will certainly get dedicated snows for the winter. Has anyone tried a tire size other than the original 235/45/17?

 

I think the EL42s are also poor in the rain, especially when you've got some miles on them. I used the original EL42s on my car during the last winter (5th snowiest on record here in Cleveland) with reasonable traction--but then again, the tires were brand-new then. With about 10k miles on them, they started hydroplaning, and after a day when I hydroplaned three times on the freeway, I ordered new tires, which have done much better in wet traction. In a few months, I'll be able to tell how they do in winter driving.

 

Just curious. What tires did you get?

 

FWIW, my colleague had a silver 5MT and put Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 snow tires on it. He still couldn't get up his driveway more than once. VSA on or off, he got wheel spin instead of traction. Okay, he lives in Wayne County NY where "lake effect" snow means LOTS of snow most winters. But he ultimately gave up on the TL and bought a MDX.

I'm a skier and lived in snow country for years. I've had both LM-22s and the more aggressive (for snow and ice) Blizzak WS-50. The WS-50s offer superb traction for two seasons, but are a bit squirlly on dry roads. The LM-22s are a high-performance tire that feels great on dry highways and works pretty well in the snow. I'm going to put my friends's used LM-22s on my car this winter and we'll see. But poor traction may not be simply the bad stock tires. Perhaps its the abundant torque creates problems starting out (I'm hoping a manual will offer better control?) This car surely must be better in the snow than the Integra and RSX I had before, simply b/c of its weight and technolgy (VSA chiefly). We'll see, though...

 

Hey! We're almost neighbors!

Anyway, Although the Pilot A/S's I have now made a big diffrence, the '04 TL is still not quite as good as my '03 TL-S was. My guess is that it's due to the wider tires on the '04. Great for summer driving but not as good in the kind of snow you and I are accusomed to. Even so, the A/S's made a huge difference.

 

Heres what you need to do- get rid of the EL42 tires that came with it and buy michelin pilot sport a/s and you will be much better off. The EL42's suck in the rain and snow.

 

Falken ZIEX ZE512 in stock 17" size. Reports on this site indicate they are quite adequate for winter driving.