rehab_pain

Snowed for the first time since i purchased the acura tl. The car handled great, felt very solid and had only minor slipping. I specifically got this car because my is350 was ass in the snow, even with snow tires. The TL was great and made me feel very confident on the way to work.

PetesTL

If you think it handles good in the snow now........wait 'til you put some true snow tires on it. My Dunlop Wintersport M3's has turned my TL into a billygoat.

bmode

Man I envy you guys. Here in LA, the weather really got bad today, the high was only 68, however the wind is blowing something fierce. This is why I got the FWD, AWD is just not applicable. My neighbor has an Avalanche, and I laugh every time he rolls by, he never gets to play? You guys are just rolling around in it!

PetesTL

I lived in LA for a few years, I know it, bmode. I envy your weather but not your traffic and pollution. When I was out there, I was surprised by how many SUV's I saw despite the great weather. My theory is that it's more of a "status" thing in LA.....people there buy these SUV's as a status symbol, not for their utility or anything. I would see all these crazy women in Beverly Hills wearing those hideous Ugg boots in 90 degree weather in July.

Hey bmode, if you want to play in snow, just go up to Big Bear....only a few hours drive from LA.

ssmtl2nv

iTrader: (2)

sweet, do you plan on color matching your grill???

(Cj)

How abominable

S2000 Driver

Alright, I go off my backside and ordered a set of 4 state-of-the-art Dunlop Winter Sport 3Ds.


http://www.dunloptires.com/catalog/winterSport3D.html

I had a set of 4 Dunlop Winter Sport M3s the past few winters on my last TL and was very pleased so I can't wait to see how the latest technology has improved the Dunlop Winter Sports!

PetesTL

Those treads look almost exactly like M3's. It's weird but the older M3's are actually still a little more expensive than the newer 3D's (at least at Discount Tire where I bought them).

S2000 Driver

What pushed me to the 3Ds was the better survey results than the M3s at tirerack.com.

The 3Ds are more expensive than the M3s at tirerack.com.

Either way, you can't go wrong with the Dunlop Winter Sports!

pokin

Big +1
I have had these on my 3G for 2 winter/spring seasons and man! they are superb. Also, move tons of water in the rain and sticks on wet pavement.

S2000 Driver

pokin,

Great to hear!

I had them installed this afternoon.

So now -- and I never thought I would be saying this --

Let it Snow!

tlinsc

you lucky folks with all your snow. i gotta head to the cabin in the nc mountains for mine, and won't be able to get there this winter i don't think.

JD23

I'd pay a lot of money to be in SC right now, as it's -9 with a wind chill of -32 here in Illinois.

tlinsc

yeah i hear you! its a freezing 53 and sunny right now. but with the windchill it feels like 52....

PetesTL

I rather be where Colin's staying.....in beautiful, gorgeous Hawaii!

(Hawaii is one of those rare places on earth where you can have 3-4 climates within 20-30 miles......5 years ago, when I was in Maui, it was like 85 degrees on the beach in Kapalua and then you take a short drive up to Mount Healeakala, an extinct volcano, and it's like 20 degrees on the summit!)

5o9

On dry roads, is the power to wheels like 40/60 front to back?

With a 6mt, this might be my next car.

The local dealership is now painting the snouts to mach the car color, or is this just on the fancy tl?

darmok

The SH-AWD front/rear torque distribution is computer controlled. It varies from 90/10 when tracking straight ahead, to 50/50 when cornering, to 30/70 under acceleration. Beyond that the left/right torque distribution from the rear differential is also computer controlled which allows 50% of the total torque to go to the outside rear tire when cornering.

There's a lot of good information on the Acura site: http://www.acura.com/index.aspx?init...ivetrain_SHAWD

Bottom line is that it's the most sophisticated AWD system on the market right now.

Grill color matching is dealer paint right now. Who knows, Acura may decide to start offering it as an option... I personally like it unpainted!

S2000 Driver

Left/right torque distribution % for the rear difrferential can be 100/0 or 0/100 or anything in between.

Given that the maximum total front/rear torque % that can be tranferred to the rear differential is 30%, the total maximum torque to either rear wheel is also 30% not 50%.

crxb

SH-AWD® operating parameters include:

* Up to 90-percent of available torque can be transferred to the front wheels during normal cruising.
* In hard cornering and under acceleration, up to 70-percent of available torque can be directed to the rear wheels to enhance vehicle dynamics.
* Up to 100-percent of the torque sent to the rear axle can be applied to either rear wheel, depending on conditions.

found above at this link:
http://www.hondanews.com/categories/733/releases/4679

S2000 Driver

Whoops, you're right -- I accepted that darmonk got the front/rear torque split correct but that was wrong, too.

Therefore, the maximum total torque per rear wheel is 70% -- not 50% or 30%!

crxb

that's okay - I mean what can we expect on our own w/o a certain "excellent automotive industry analyst!" - just replace the word 'kmart' w/ 'jets'

S2000 Driver

:devilgrin

darmok

Hey, don't shoot the messenger. I was copying off the Acura site (... which just got redesigned!)

So, don't blame me for the conflicting information!

PaulNY

The FWD TL actually handled pretty well in the snow up here in NY, no problems at all. My only issue wasnt with snow, but with the ice storm that his us about a week ago....backing out of a sloped driveway wasnt fun at all.

It was pretty funny, as soon as I started reading this thread, the SH-AWD TL commercial came on TV

S2000 Driver

UPDATE REPORT: The New England weather continues to give me plenty of opportunities to test the snow-handling capabilities of the Dunlop Winter Sport 3D tires installed on my TL SH-AWD and, in a word, the performance is

AWESOME!

I highly recommend these tires.

BackinBlackTL

wasnt exactly a bad question...color matched grill makes most (especially your ugly ass color) 4th gen TL's look 100x better

TLevation09

I've had these for a week here in Ohio and so far so good, plus very minimal road noise.

nyl

so if i'm understanding majority of people on here bought a new tl, but immediatly replaced the tires w/ winter tires or all season tires? are the tires that are on my new purchased 09 sh-awd crap? can someone please explain to me tires basic 101!

S2000 Driver

Here you go:

"Do I need summer tires, winter tires, all-season tires?
Do you drive your car only in sunshine, or also through rain and snow? Do you drive your light truck on the road, off the road, or are you the one responsible for clearing the land to build the roads? To successfully meet each of these driving conditions requires a different type of tire.

Ask yourself these questions to determine which performance category you should choose from:

WHAT IS THE WORST DRIVING CONDITION I WILL ENCOUNTER?

If you use more than one set of tires and wheels (for example, summer tires in summer and snow tires in winter), you can select tires that exactly meet your diverse needs. If you use one set of tires for every season, you may get good performance under many conditions, but you will compromise your vehicle's performance when the conditions are at their worst.

So the important thing to do is to select your tires so that they match the worst driving condition you expect to encounter. When you're stuck in the snow or in the mud because your tires don't have the appropriate capabilities, you'll curse their limited performance in your worst driving condition...and you'll quickly forget how smooth and quiet they were at other times!

WHAT ARE THE TYPICAL DRIVING CONDITIONS I WILL ENCOUNTER?

If you only drive around your neighborhood and a "long trip" is one that's just down to the corner convenience mart, almost any tire will do. But if you drive your vehicle on congested city streets and expressways during rush hour you will be better served by more responsive tires. If you drive extensively on the interstates you will want quiet, smooth riding, long wearing tires. Or if you like to drive quickly on twisting roads or through the mountains you will want good handling tires. And if you drive on the track or in autocross events, you will want the best competition tires available.

BALANCING THE REQUIREMENTS OF YOUR DRIVING CONDITIONS.

If your worst driving conditions and your typical conditions are similar, one set of tires will be all you need. If you live at the edge of the snowbelt and infrequently get snow you may want to select an all-season tire. If your SUV is used as the family's station wagon and driven on the road all of the time, overly aggressive light truck tires aren't for you (unless you really like the "look").

If your worst driving condition occurs frequently (you drive through snow all winter) and is dissimilar to your typical driving condition (you commute to work on the expressway during the week and spend your weekends at the beach), you may want to consider selecting two sets of tires for your vehicle. Each set will be designed to master the specific conditions without compromising your driving satisfaction at the extremes. While purchasing two sets of tires may appear expensive, the set you're not using won't wear while you are using the other set, and combined they'll provide longer total wear than either set could individually!"

Source: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=31

PetesTL

If you live anywhere near snow, it's best to drive with dedicated snow tires in winter. It's not that the stock tires suck....but all-seasons are at best just a compromise...... to take full advantage of AWD and for highest safety, snow tires are highly recommended for driving in winter-time. My 19" summer tires and wheels are in storage.

JD23

I've been able to survive in Illinois with a FWD car and all-season tires, so I think AWD with all-seasons would be even better. Obviously, snow traction will be improved with winter tires, but some people, like me, don't have the space to store an extra set of four tires.