KJW73

I've heard several people complain about the TL's tires in the snow and I'm curious to find out if the Michelins are so bad and how it was remedied?

My personal experience is very short.
In Harrisburg we received our first measurable snow fall over Saturday night and are forcasted to get more tonight (Monday) into tomorrow. Sunday morning I went out for a morning drive to test my tires and they didn't do bad at all; I was tracking through slush without any problems (granted I wasn't driving like an idiot either). And also, our city and PennDOT are pretty good about having the roads cleared as soon as it's possible.

Just curious about anyone's experiences in the snow with the TL....?
Thanks!

ttliang

you are absolutely right. they're very good for normal driving. we were b*@ing about Bridgestone EL-42. something 05 owners with Navi never have to worry about. 06 are all Michelins.

AKR

the michelins on my 06 tl handled ok in the snow up in vt this weekend.

a steep hill with 4 in of snow unplowed did thwart it, but otherwise we
were ok on flats and less snow.

still the most important thing is to drive sensibly

meathead

i have whatever stock tires came on the 04. I'm not sure if it's the tires or the car, but it sucks in winter imo.

AAP

I have a steep driveway and live in an area called the 'Snow Belt' ... we had about 14 inches of snow this weekend ... I was driving through 6 inches ... it handled well ... you just have to know that the car has a decent amount of HP, so do not press the gas too hard.

On my driveway ... which is an insane incline ... I had problems going down in reverse ... but that happens with my dad's SUV ... and my mom's Passat (even with Snow Tires) ... have problems going down.

If you want to get better winter traction ... you will need to get Winter tires ... but that is only if you get lots of snow ... in 5 years of driving a 1999 Chevy Malibu in tons of snow ... I can tell you that the TL is 100% better ... and I will not be wasting my $$$ on snow tires ...

Rodney

I think the Michelins suck in bad weather. They are horrible in the rain, so they won't be getting a chance in the snow. I also had the Michelins MXM4's on a stock Jetta and they also were sub-par. In the cold weather they just turn into cold bricks.

Last week I purchased dedicated winter tires, the Bridgestone Blizzak WS50's. I tested them out in the few inches we got yesterday and they are outstanding, a truly noticeable difference. As you stated tonight we will be getting more snow and I will test them further. I figure I should get 3 winters out of them. I also figured that its silly to put a price on safety. If your strapped then skip it and just hope you get by, which you probably will. But I would recommend just dropping some cash and getting some dedicated winter tires. The peace of mind that you have good tires is priceless. If I get 3 winters out of these it will have cost 200 bucks a winter(tires were 600 bucks). I myself love driving in the snow. I can't stand being couped up like a rat. When the snow is falling Im usually out cruisin in it!!

drdamian

i love driving in the snow also. although i hate the a**holes that drive like a**holes, and risk smashing into my baby. its snowing here now, but its not sticking. i have the michelins on my car now and i am sure that i will find out tomorrow morning when i take my car to the dealer that is 30 mins away how the tires will hold up.

xavier25

06 are all Michelins??? Is that 06 with Navi are all Michelins? I've got an 06 without Navi with EL42's... hopefully I can convince the dealership to replace with Michelins or I'll try to contact Bridgestone CS.

HiTEC

Tirerack rates these stock tires pretty bad in all categories. They are rated very low in the snow category.

dug-mac

In my experience these tires possess very average characteristics across the board when new and decline quickly from there when you've put approx. 20K on them. Surprisingly, I found their snow performance to be one of their strengths - relatively speaking...

johnny--2k

It amazes me how people complain about snow driving, and they have to have snow tires or 4WD/AWD vehicles.

What do these people think others were doing 30 years ago when snow tires, 4WD and front wheel drive never existed? Neither did traction control, VSA, TCS....blah blah blah.....

All you got was rear wheel drive, and maybe some chains if you really needed it.

Sometimes we dont realize how much of an advantage we have now days. Either we have become extremely lazy, or extremely stupid and dependant on technology that others got along just fine without some time ago.

massr1

i bet someone said the same thing, when cars came out, being grateful that they didnt have to worry about one of their wood wheels breaking off their sleigh during a long journey into the village.

Adobeman

I'm not a pup nor an old fart but I can always remember snow tires being available for those that saw the need. What amazes me is how people will complain about snow driving on their mostly used up, warm weather performance biased, all season tires and then be too f&#king cheap to get snow tires. All in the same conversation where they say something idiotic like "all <brand x> suck in the snow" or worse say "snow tires don't make any difference" Then tell me all the money they spent on something else instead which completely invalidates their "I can't afford them" excuse.

But...

I have to agree with you completely on the basic premise that knowing how to drive in bad conditions is above all what is important over technology alone. But how can you really argue anything that supplements that skill with increased grip?

johnny--2k

I'm not arguing anything about snow tires, its just the lack of common sense in people out there. We got about 5 inches this past weekend, and I was truckin along just fine and all I see are people in 4WD vehicles in the ditch and one rolled over. People just get stupid when it snows, and dont know how to drive.

Adobeman

Got it.
Think of it this way. Simple physics (friction, mass, velocity, momentum) dictate all of this. How many people do you know who understand any of it ? Much more important to know how to dial the cell phone, and do their hair when driving. Some really slick marketers told them it is better to have 4WD so they take it as "truth" spend thousands of extra $$ and still end up in the ditch. There is little you can do to help them, they don't care to listen.

dragonlord

I've had my car almost 1 year, and the Michelin's do a good job in the snow here in Detroit. Last year I drove ALL day in 10 inches of snow, never got stuck, never had a problem. Snow was deep enough for the front air dam to plow. They're not Blizzaks or Ice Guards- but they are good otherwise, except for rain-they suck. In the summer I can't wait to put back on the g-force TA's!!!!!!!!!!!1

HiTEC

So true. I always laugh the first couple snow of each season when the ditches are littered with 4WD SUV's and Trucks. They watch too many SUV commercials and it goes to their head and they think their manly vehicle is unstoppable. I reality they find it truely is unstoppable when they get it going to fast and try to stop or take a corner. It's unstoppable right into the ditch! Cell phone talking soccer moms are just plain clueless, but SUV ego inflated guys must be disappointed when their man inflating SUV just got stuck in a ditch.

Can you tell how much I like SUV's?

Pro Stock John

The problem is that the stock tires are wide. I'm sure a set of 205/16's and the car can go anywhere.

sontipheap

I have a tl 04, when will you use VSA? Can you switch on the VSA while your driving if you think you need traction control instead waiting for VSA kick in automatically when the car thinks its needed?

johnny--2k

vsa is always on unless you turn it OFF. It has traction control incorporated into it already.

frenchnew

Adobeman, you forgot to add that since they paid the extra thousands $$$ plus that added gas consumption, they can't afford snow tires!!!

Even worse, talk to them about snow tires and they'll tell you that they do not need snow tires as they drive a 4WD.

Best regards from a snowbound area in Canada

frenchnew

frenchnew

Especially true if those are snow tires, look at my sig at the bottom, 205/60-16.

Wide tires are very good on dry pavement but do a terrible job on deep slushy roads.

frechnew

Actuary

Michelin MXM4 on my TL NAVI 5AT accels, handles, stops about 3 times better than Motomaster SE on Mustang Convertible I drove all year around in Canada.
Those motomaster tires were literally about $50 each, you go figure the quality. My tire spun on dry road with those Motomaster tires when temperature dropped below freezing point. Ice traction was zero by the way.

Now, EL42 is crap I heard.