Pghpizzaman

nothing left out of the story. the TL does NOT have snow tires. has hankooks on it. was snow not ice. there was a stopped flatbed in front of her so when the car does not stop what else can she do. so she took it onto the curb, she was taking my kids to the bus stop so she had to drive.
i drive over 100 miles a day for a living i'll put my driving ability and knowledge up against anyone's. i did the same thing she did with the same results. the car just pulsed and did nothing until i hit the intersection that had no snow then the car stopped. watch your tone smart ass
im glad everyone else like the TL in snow, but i'll take my 98 accord any day of the week....

NorCoTL

What sort of Hankooks? If they are a summer specific tire then I would look there. Most summer specific rubber starts losing traction, even on dry pavement, below 40 degrees. They won't lose all traction on dry pavement but you will have less traction than a crappy set of all-seasons at those same temps. She had to have at least some traction to redirect the car and avoid the flatbed (a very good thing), but it takes less traction to turn slightly at low speeds than it does to brake to a stop, especially an emergency stop. What you're describing is a complete or near complete loss of traction which can easily happen with summer specific tires on snow, and yes as soon as you loose traction it can feel like you accelerate as any deceleration is lost and momentum takes over (acceleration equals force over mass, with force being the momentum in this case). Also explains why you were once again able to stop when you hit the dry/bare pavement, the tires once again had traction.

When I bought my TL it had BF Goodrich Sport Comp2's on it. First frost of the season, even as the air temps were rapidly rising past 32, thawing the frost, but still below 40 and the tires would mostly just spin, especially on the frosty surfaces. Made the car nearly undriveable. The next day I put Conti DSW's on it. Lost something on the extreme side of cornering on dry warm days but gained so much more driveability. As was stated earlier, all tires are a compromise. If yours are summer performance tires you have found your compromise as well as the root of the problem. The tires, not the car or the driver.

d1sturb3d119

iTrader: (1)

Hankooks which are what? Hankooks are not seasons specific on their own. Summer all seasons? And they aren't snow tires. What does the brand or make of a car have to do with its traction in the snow?! ABS does not change from car to car. It either works or it doesn't so please elaborate again. All this sounds like is a problem with your tires. No fault of the drivers other than the fact that there is a problem in reasoning here. Your comment makes no sense at all.

fsttyms1

Again, braking has to do with the tires. Dont blame the car. If they dont have traction the car isnt going to stop. Simple laws of physics. Get different tires and i guarantee you will have different results
Oh, and i put on average 1000 miles a week and often 2k, (and have driven roughly 1.4 million miles since i got my license) and have taken many high performance driving classes, auto-x and lapping days and to top it off ice-race so i will put my driving ability and knowledge up against anyone's, including yours.

fsttyms1

And to add o this, remember not all all season perform the same on snow. Many are much better than others.


Just look at the differences/ratings between a high performance snow, high performance all season, grand touring, and summer tire

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

Got to test out my new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's on my 07 Type S 6mt. I hate to say this but I was not impressed with them on untreated roads with about an inch of snow. Even just the slightest tap of throttle resulted in total spinning of the tires in any gear. Braking action was very poor and turning was also poor. It was manageable, but I don't recall my Type S's ever being this slippery with any other tire. I was almost tempted to take my wife's Accord out which has the DWS tires to compare and see if the A/S 3's are that bad, or if it was really just that slippery out.

lusid

Vids I was talking about:
Cooper (BOTTOM OF THE BARREL snow tires) weathermaster st2

1st year:

2nd year:

d1sturb3d119

iTrader: (1)

I saw the reports on the AS 3's and the performance was way better than the DWS. Surprising to hear that. I have DWS's right now and they're doing awesome in the snow so no complaints there. Occasional wheelspin but over all very good!

mvp2765

iTrader: (1)

I agree that not all tires are created equally. was just saying that my kumho LX platinums suck in the snow. there's just way too much unnecessary wheel spin with the lightest taping of thepedal.. I bought the car from the South, so obviously it didn't matter to the previous owner what tires worked well in snow..

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

Trust me I am surprised too. Infact I was so surprised I actually got home then took my wife's accord with new DWS tires out just to see if my new Michy's were that bad, or if the roads were just that bad. It was pretty slick, but I think I definately felt more confident driving my wife's accord with the DWS's. Either way it's not like the car wasn't driveable, but still I felt like I had very little control.

wubstyle

I've been pleasantly surprised with the TL in the snow. This is the first winter in a long time that I haven't had an SUV, and I was worried about having trouble vs the AWD Chevy Suburban I used to own. Even with average all seasons it was impressive. 6MT helps. Before the next big snow, I think I'll be throwing some snows on the stockers though.

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

^^^ that's funny because I thought the exact opposite that 6mt makes it worse. I have had both and my automatic Type s was a breeze in the snow with the original Michelin MXM4 tires. Now my 6mt type s with new Michelin pilot sport AS 3's is a different story. It was pretty sloppy in the snow. Hope it was just icy, but I'm not so sure.

Mr_Cuervo

Did u take it out today? I'm in jersey we got some pretty good white out there. Great for testing

PFloyd

Second winter with my Michelins Ice-2. I think the TL with winter tires does fairly well in the snow. I can't understand people that don't get winter tires with our weather. I went with the 16 inch wheels, though. More rubber is better in this case. The ride is so much smoother than with the OEM wheels/tires.

Mr_Cuervo

I never had snows on any of my cars just never had the need for them. If it's that bad I'm not going out to have some idiot accidentally wreck my car. Lol

fcuked

2nd year on nokian wrg2 all seasons and I'm from alberta, canada the roads are always shit here during the winters.

I really don't see the need for winter tires unless your driving long distances on shitty highways/unplowed mountain roads.

My buddy flipped his mustang and some ladies civic with winter tires couple winters ago.

A good pair of all seasons and common sense = 0 accidents 6 years of daily driving my tl (knock on wood ).

flatlander

Just picked up a 2005 TL. Glad to hear it's a good snow machine when you have decent tires.

wubstyle

Yea I had to drive from NYC to Morris County area with no issues. The further west I got the worse it got, but the TL was totally fine.

wubstyle

Interesting. My 5AT was a bit harder to control up and down hills than my 6MT was. Not sure what the topography is like by you, but Northern NJ where I work is very 'hilly'. 6MT seemed to be a little bit easier to control up and down said hills.

nfnsquared

On my second set of DWS' and just like the first set, they are performing great in the snow. It may just be my imagination, but I'd swear they are even better than the first set. You can ignore the Consumer Reports review panning the snow performance of these tires. They continue to excel in snow!!

alanrmui

I agree. I too was only going 10mph when my car started sliding and the ABS did nothing. And yes, you use to slowly tap the peddle, but not now a days with ABS. They are supposed to do the work for you! So no, you probably didnt learn this when you were 5 yrs old. Can we just show some support for this guy whose wife wrecked the car recently. Why do people become so defensive when people are talking shit about this brand of car? I personally am disappointed in the way this car handles in snow and will probably not buy another. I love it in the dry months, but not winter after what happened to me.

YeuEmMaiMai

your wife was driving too fast for conditions. That's it so quit blaming the car.

the ABS brakes in that car are NOT shit-garbage they are quite the opposite 4 channel with yaw control. ABS trades stopping distance for safely stopping.

I have driven the predecessor to the 3rd gen TL for 9 years of winters and this year I hung up the CL-S for a much better car in terms of winter a Subaru Legacy.

Once you start sliding ABS won't do squat, you got to get OFF of the brakes and then point the car where you want it to go. Also once ABS ENGAGES you do NOT let up off of the pedal until the car stops or you no longer need to brake. the manual even tells you to apply firm pedal pressure and do not pump the brakes.

Tehvine

My TL did alright when I had it. To get home I need to go up a very steep and long incline that is poorly maintained in wintery conditions. I only had to give up once but it was the fault of another driver. I had to slow down and eventually stop when I had caught the driver spinning the tires on the front of his camry. The hill was a complete sheet of ice and as soon as I stopped, I started sliding backwards (not fun). I was able to swing it into someone's driveway backwards to retreat and wait for a sand truck. Always used General Altimax Arctic tires, cheap and great for the winter. I would suggest downsizing the width on them though for better deep snow traction.

I have since ditched the car for a Tacoma which is much better for what I do and also for the winter.

1black_seven

iTrader: (2)

Let me just say this is an issue of having the right tire/driver combination.

I have driven through 3 mid-west winters on street performance tires. Fuck snow tires.
I have unlimited free towing and I use it exclusively. Fuck snow.

Bruce Banner

iTrader: (2)

There is really nothing about the TL that gives it any advantage in snow, it's FWD. It does as well as any other FWD. Tires are the contact point and snow tires will make a bigger impact. If it was AWD, then something can be argued advantage wise, but the general consensus still is, no grip no nothing, so snow tires still make a larger impact.
I've only had my TL stuck in the snow ONCE on local streets, but that was cause the guy turning into the side street with me stopped, which caused me to stop and I lost the momentum to push trough the bank snow pile up.

Timthetoolman

For the few drivers with less experience in driving in the snow (if there are any reading this...): when the traction control light is flashing when trying to accelerate, the best thing to do is apply less throttle--until there is little or no light flashing. You will see better traction (better acceleration), less brake wear and better mileage. As mentioned above, use manual shifting, start in second and also shift to higher gears as soon as the car will allow it (this reduces torque to the wheels and makes throttle position less sensitive).

If the car had less power it would be easier to accelerate on snow/ice (throttle position would be less sensitive), but what fun would that be?

I personally prefer to lightly brake than use the transmission to slow the car. Light braking slows using all wheels where downshifting will slow with just the front wheels and in a less controlled fashion. All wheel braking reduces the chance of the car spinning around.

JETLIFEKC

can't wait for snow

1black_seven

iTrader: (2)

^You're batshit insane, get out.

YeuEmMaiMai

Lol last year was more than a fair amount...

VisualEchos

iTrader: (1)

I use 225 series Dunlop Wintersport 4D, and the car is like a mountain-goat, unless I'm in 10" of snow.

YeuEmMaiMai

^ the Subie keeps on trucking in that amount. The Acura suffers greatly with anything above 9-10" and will not go anymore once you get 12" on the ground... got stuck in my company parking lot back a few years ago and there was 12" according to the ruler

VisualEchos

iTrader: (1)

I'm lucky that we don't get more than 6-8" here, super rare. But I still miss my STi, and will miss that car until the day I die.