cudfoo

Coming from an Outback Wagon considering the TSX Sportwagon.

Anyone have any experience with it in the snow.

Is it ok without snow tires?

Thx

Ken1997TL

Mediocre in the snow, you have to be careful at times.

Snow tires make all the difference. My mother had an '06 Outback which I've driven in the snow many times so I can compare

musty hustla

...mediocre compared to an Outback. AWD and ground clearance are in the Subaru's favor.

Ken1997TL

Snow tires make a bigger difference than AWD to be honest. After all, tires help you start, stop and turn.

turning japanese

I agree. Real snow tires even on a RWD car (with some added weight in the trunk for good measure) can be a lot more effective than AWD or FWD with all-season tires. All-season tires are more of a compromise between summer performance stickiness and bad weather traction. We used to call them no-season tires.

fwiw, I used to drive an old rusty BMW 1600 (vintage precursor to the current 3-series) in heavy snow country when I was a ski bum. I put on real snow tires and some sand bags in the trunk. Sand bags added weight and traction to the rear (and the sand came in handy if I ever did get stuck.) Only downside of course was the noise and ride quality when the roads were clear.

PyroDave

2 wheels making good contact is better than 4 wheels making shitty contact. aka FWD with Snow tires > AWD with all seasons. but obviously AWD with snows would be optimal. being in jersey, we get maybe 2-3 semi major snowfalls a year, max. best thing to do is just avoid being out in it. i've driven my sedan with all seasons just fine, seen AWD trucks get stuck, heard over my radio the town tow trucks requesting tow trucks to pull them out cause they got stuck lmfao. also have an MDX with SHAWD if we really need.

long story short, its not the best, but no where near the worst, just be careful. remember that even if you know you can drive well in the snow, others can't, and they can hit you

opboarding

Argued with my coworker a while back who's from Nebraska about fwd winter tires vs awd at tires. Did a lot of reading and car and driver did a really good test. This should answer solve a lot of debate. Skip to page 4 and read the summary if youre lazy.


http://www.caranddriver.com/features...price-traction

WheelMcCoy

Thanks for the link! CD also reviewed Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 (stock on TSX). While no substitue for winter tires, it did surprisingly well for all seasons.

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...mparison-tests

VQPower37

^ thats interesting ... when i had michelin pilot hx mxm4 on my tl ... my car literally would not move, maybe they are better on the tsx cuz its a lighter car

turning japanese

I think the HX MXM4 are fine for those living in wet climates (Seattle) or where it might get below freezing sometimes (summer performance tires turn into a greasy hard block of rubber in the cold.) And also in places of occasional snow (like parts of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.) But in true snow country, I'd definitely swap them out in the winter for snow tires.

Or do what PyroDave says and stay away from those snow days and wait until it's plowed or melted (like he said, it's other drivers that are the real threat.) When I lived in northern New Mexico, we'd get a big dump once in a while, but the bright sun melted it off the roads the following day. There was no real reason for snow tires unless you're up in the high country all the time.

turning japanese

p.s., I live in a year around temperate climate and would rather have some stickier tires. I used to use Michelin PS2 almost exclusively but they aren't available in these sizes (and neither are the new Michelin SuperSports that replaced the PS2.)

Tire Rack says the best options are the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A or the Conti ExtremeContact DW. Any opinions with these on the TSX wagon? I'll search here on the forums, but if anybody has gone to a summer performance tire, I'd like to hear what you ended up choosing. Stickiness, road manners, and less noise are the priorities. Thanks.

ceb

Agreed, but the use of proper winter tires far outweighs the benefits of AWD (with all season rubber) and you shouldn't be afraid of being getting caught in a freak storm - although the advice of avoiding driving if possible is very wise (how the hell did Pyro come up with that?)

A quote from the article caught my eye:

"Acceleration takes longer, but in an emergency, the handling behavior and improved lateral grip of two-wheel drive and winter tires -- in the slippery stuff -- are the safer bets."

For a visual of the differences between the tires, look at these videos.

http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index...=91&tab=winter

http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index...=26&tab=winter

http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index...=23&tab=winter

PyroDave

i was likely drunk, attempting to paraphrase one of your comments, but hit copy paste instead or something =D

i also said the first thing you said =P 2 wheels making good contact (FWD with winter wheels) is better than 4 wheels making shitty contact (AWD with All seasons)

also Conti DW and DWS are some of the most recommended tires on here as all seasons. i like the tread feature with the letters, once the S fades, its only suitable for DW(dry/wet) and then just D(dry)

turning japanese

Conti Extreme Contact DW (the ones I mentioned) and Conti Extreme Contact DWS are two very different tires. The DW is a max performance summer tire and the DWS is a performance all-season.

The DW competes with the Michelin PS2 and the new Michelin Pilot SS, and Conti's own ContiSportContact series.

I'm looking for a max performance summer tire to run year around on a TSX wagon (no winter here.)

ceb

I've always been a great fan of Conti tires even though they've never been that popular in the US except as OE tires on a handful of cars.

I've not had the Conti DW on the TSX, but I did replace the PS2s that I had on the R32 with the DW.

The DW had a similar driving characteristics of the PS2s but had much better tread life and were substantially cheaper.

On a related note, the DWS tires are much better than the Michelins that come with the car.

robpp

iTrader: (2)

what about a limited slip? anyone make one? Quaiffe?


and on the snow tire thing....anyone have any SNOW/ICE tire recommendations?

PyroDave

tires for snow and ice? on a FWD TSX? i suggest something with spikes... lmfao

Ken1997TL

Studded snow tires, what else?

ceb

Don't laugh, studded tires are very common in Colorado.

If you want a studdable tire, then buy the least expensive tire that is studdable, like the General AltiMax - a decent winter tire.

If you don't want studs, then go for a highly rated winter tire like the ContiWinterExtreme. In a place like Colorado, you'll want the extra winter capabilities over the dry handling of something like the Dunlop 3D.

turning japanese

Precisely.

I ran cheap studded tires on a RWD in Colorado when the weather dictated (see my 'ski bum' post above.) But only as long as I also had a set of non-studded snows mounted and ready to swap out at any time. Studded were great on ice (melted and refrozen snow esp in the morning before the sunshine can melt things), and esp for braking. But for me, being able to switch was important. Driving on dry roads at higher speeds with studs was no fun....

PyroDave

also, if you dont want studs, blizzaks are an amazing snow tire

KissesandNoise

God why didn't they make this car with SH AWD? It's such a great car and would give Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and Subaru a run for their money if it was AWD. I'm in Colorado and would own one now if it was AWD. FWD and snow tires are great but so much on steep grades.

BROlando

old thread.

But...I always said that they should have made a type S wagon with the 1G RDX drive train. Those K23's could boogey...and SH is nice.

Then again...the FWD K24 gets much better MPG..and with snow tyres, the car does fine. Not as well as an AWD car. But fine.

KissesandNoise

Ha! Old thread for sure, but it's still being indexed on the interwebs! I'm considering a TSX wagon as a daily driver alternative for my 1988 Land Cruiser. I was curious as to the wagon's performance in the snow and bam - this thread popped up. It just looks like an AWD car. Can't believe they didn't embrace it as an option.