avs007

So we got a snow storm today.....

I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but going up the hill by my house, I think I can honestly say that a majority of the cars stuck on the side of the road were Hondas and Acuras. I passed/went around like 4 or 5 TLs on the way up (apparently including the wife in our 05' TL )

There were also several accords and integras stuck too.

I'm convinced it's the lousy tires that Honda uses. This is the second year in a row I had to go out and rescue the wife from the snow. When I got near the top of the hill, I noticed that me and the two trucks in front of me were the only ones that made it up alive, and I was in my lolely Pontiac Grand Prix GTP. (or at least we were the only ones smart enough to not slow down after we passed everyone)

Anyways, later on I went back, and helped push a bunch of cars. That's when I really noticed that a lot of the cars that were stuck were mostly assorted Honda products, with the exception of a Volvo I helped out. There were even SUV's stuck on the side of the road, and I noticed a lot of em' looked to have el' cheapo Store Brand tires. (People around here like Les Schwab for some reason) funny thing tho, was that most of the SUVs that were stuck were Land Rovers... Go figure. Maybe all the folks with Land Rovers moved here from California

I'm liking my Continental ContiExtremeContact tires more and more. Going up the hill, I didn't get stuck a single time, and I had to stop for all the log-jams like everyone else.

Anyways, when I got home, I thought I'd play around in the snow in our neighborhood, and that's when I came to the conclusion that the tires on our TL blows... I backed my G35 Coupe down my inclined driveway, and took it for a spin in the snow, and then came back a few minutes later and parked it back in the garage. I just had to play around with the throttle a little, but I made it up the driveway. (Wearing Michelin Pilot Sport A/S)

This is when my wife called and reported she was stuck, so I went back to help the wife.... When we got back, I figured the G35 made it up the driveway, so it should be no problem. Eh..... Ok, so I figure maybe when I parked the Grand Prix in the side-driveway, it wiped a path for the G35 or something. So I got out the shovel, and spent an hour shoveling the driveway....

After all this, the TL still had problems going up the driveway, and needed a running start I almost wiped out all our decor lighting

I was going to get a set of Potenza RE060 Pole Position All/Seasons, but I'm thinking I may get my wife a set of 4 ContiExtremes instead.

Anyways, I know slushy snow is the worst, but I found it odd that so many Honda cars were stuck on the side of the road. But I think Honda likes to equip a lot of cars with Michelin Energy tires, which my wife got stuck with before in her old 03' TL.

avs007

Just to clarify, I meant that a majority of the *new* cars were Honda/Acura cars. There were all sorts of other junk stuck too.

calgary2800

Yes they do, When I got my car I replaced the michelins with Falkens ST-115 performance tires. Even though the Falkens are summer tires I've had zero problems even in this wild NW winter.

leedogg

while your premise, although true, the oem stocks arent the greatest, is based on the assumption that all those honda/tl drivers still had their stock oem's on. They could have easily been the avg cheapo consumer and picked up cheap tires along the way. I just purchased the extremcontacts too a little while ago too. While not pure 'snow' tires, I've heard good things about them, and my area doesnt see enough extreme snow conditions to warrant pure snow tires.

Vicman17

These "All season" tires need to be re-clasified as 3-season tires. Living in Toronto for the past few years, I actually saw the big difference using after "winter" tires (they're not called snow tires anymore). Winters here can change from dry and very cold to wet or slushy snow and ice in a heartbeat. Winter tires adds to the safety factor and since I had these tires 2 years ago, they have made my winter driving much better.

All season tire compound work well to a certain temperature range. Any colder and these "all seasons" turn rock-hard and could not offer a safe grip despite any advanced tread design. When the temps hit single digits (in celsius) then I notice my OEM Michelins (HX MXM4s) become useless.

Another factor could be the driver's dependence on the traction control. The ones who I typically see getting stuck on snow and could not drive uphill are those with all season tires. Remember that the TCS/ VSA only work while your foot is on the gas pedal, not when you gout of control and slam on the brakes.

onsknth

Anybody read their owner's manual and try to use 2nd gear in the AT, maybe even 3rd in a manual to start in the snow?

Works like a charm on anything I've tried previously, am awaiting my chance to try it on the TL.

dre23

I had no problems with the Michelin tires on my 06 TL. I passed my driveway even there is lots of snow.. Tires are still about 3000 miles..

avs007

Yeah, I tried the 2nd gear start, it didn't do squat. Normally that works when you are on a flat surface, but I don't think it works that well when you are going up a hill. You just need traction....

geekybiker

Contiextreme contact is a nice tire.

Mediocore tires + people not knowing how to drive in the snow= stuck people/wrecks.

Winter tires are a good investment if you are in an area that stays below freezing for more than a week or two.

MikeElmendorf

I had the Contis on my first TL. They were great in snow and rain, but they had the worst flatspotting I had ever experienced. Has that improved? This was back in 2003.

avs007

The car I have with the contis is parked outside, and I haven't noticed any flatspotting in the 2 years I had the tires on that car. Did you specifically have the ContiExtremeContact? I've even left the car out in the cold for about 2 weeks straight while on vacation, and it didn't seem to flatspot when I went to work when I got back.

06WDP-TL

stock tires suck in general for overall safety and comforts.

better tires are the best bang for the buck, and i'm changing out my stockers once it hits 20k.

Kumho ASX and Pirelli PZero Nero M+S are awesome all-season tires from my experience. great treadwear, noise suppression, etc, and even with days at the track! kumho asx's can be had for very cheap, the only negative about them is that their sidewalls are pretty soft. hard cornering may induce body roll. but they last for a LONG time and great for straight acceleration and wet weather.

geekybiker

Trouble with the nero is they have a terrible pattern for snow if that is a consideration.

Adobeman

Vicman17 is correct
All Season = "all seasons except winter"

They vary widely in snow performance. It's not that it is impossible to use them in snow it's just they are so inferior compared to a true snow tire that once you run snow tires you probably won't go back. (+ you will also be able to get the summer tires you REALLY WANT since you won't care about their snow performance)

What really makes me laugh is all the people running "all seasons" in the snow that worn to, or almost to, the TWI and then proclaim with absolute authority, "Boy, <fill in the car brand> cars really suck in the snow". AVS007, I'm not pointing at you here, your just telling us what you saw.

avs007

I understand what you are saying, which is why I actually study a tire before I buy them... I would get dedicated snows, but it doesn't really snow enough here to warrant it. Snows maybe 1 or 2 weeks out of the year. However, it does get cold enough, long enough, that you can't just run dedicated summers all year long. I know, because I've been there done that. The Michelin Pilot Sport Summer Tires that came on my other car, are like rolling ice-cubes when it's < 50 degrees outside and there is any moisture on the pavement. Tire-rack even explained to me that their definition of Summer in respect to summer tires, is average daily temps > 60 degrees and average nightly temps > 50 degrees.

Spring/Fall can be really crazy, because one day it can be 70 degrees, and a week later it can be in the 20s.

Anyways, that's why I run UltraHighPerformance All/Season tires all year round, as opposed to summer/winter tires.

I admit most of my original post was mostly tongue-in-cheek (hence the smiley in the title), as I was exhausted from all that shoveling and pushing... But that's why I pointed out I was talking about new cars. Especially the 4 or 5 3G TLs I passed on the way up. I find it hard to believe all 5 of those TLs had bald All/Season tires on. And the tires on our 05' TL that got stuck has tons of tread left.

Every year, my wife manages to get stuck in the snow with her TL (both 2G and 3G). The first time was when we first got our 2G TL, so the tires were almost brand spanking new, since we bought the car at the end of fall. Those tires came off and Toyo Proxes 4 tires went on.

We traded in the 2G TL, for our 3G TL. I was hoping the Michelin Pilot HXMX tires fared better than the Energy tires, but apparently not. My wife survived the first winter. She got stuck once, but it was on the way to work. This year apparently she got spooked, as she was trembling and said she was scared. She said the car actually slid backwards several times while she tried to move.

My wife said she saw me go around her on the hill, so I drove on the same path she did at the same time.

In my other cars, I've run Goodyear Eagle RS-A, Yokohama AVS db, and Continental ContiExtremeContact, and Michelin Pilot Sport All/Season. Of those tires, only the RS-A left me stranded in the snow. (Another OEM tire). The Yokohamas were marginal, but at least I didn't get stuck, though it took a lot of effort.

I was extremely impressed with the Contis, because I didn't get stuck once, and I passed dozens of cars on the way up that got stuck. (I didn't have momentum in my favor either, because I had to sit and wait a bunch of times for people to stop blocking the street)

But, I know a lot of folks just buy whatever tire is cheapest. My father-in law is like that. He borrowed my car a couple years ago, and he thought he was doing me a favor by buying me the Pep-boys special. To this day, he doesn't know that within a week I replaced all 4 of those pep-boys tires with new Yokohamas. My wife says if I tell him I did that, it would hurt his feelings.

But anyways, I have a lot of friends with various Honda/Acura cars, so I know they all come with the same tires, that's why when I saw all those Hondas/Acuras stuck on the side of the road I jokingly started this thread....