i live in winnipeg - so you hopefully living in victoria, bc, canada you know what i'm talking about. we have about 5 month long winters...usually 4.5 months. We get snow atleast once a week (3 inches) and its -25 right now.

With that said, the G is ok in snow, keep the VDC on, put some Bridgestone Blizzaks on a set of crap rims or something, and you should be good. There may be a few days here and there where you cannot drive, that will suck, but you have to deal with it.

 

as a fellow BCer

i reccommend you park the G, if we have another winter like last year...

 

I live in Chicago and have Toyo Proxes 4 tires mounted. I have no problems in the snow at all. Almost as good as dedicated snow tires.

 

i put 2 of my 19's in the trunk. rolled on stock 350z wheels with michelin pilot all seasons. still no luck.

 

I have Blizzaks on my G and it does just fine in the snow. Granted, 10 inches might me a problem. Traction control keeps the car straight if it looses traction. I sometimes enjoy turning it off though.

 

No G (nor most other passenger cars) are going to clear even 6" of accumulated un-plowed snow.

Our coupes, at their lowest point have about 5 inches of clearance above the ground, and that is the non-sport package.

Fortunately in populated snow-belt areas like Chicago, main streets and suburban side streets get plowed every 3 inches or so.

This past Monday through Tuesday night we got 14" of snow in the north suburbs of Chicago. But the main roads never had more than a few inches on them due to the plowing and salt.

My coupe rides on All-Season M+S rated Goodyear Eagle ResponsEdges and the car keeps up with most FWD Altimas and Camrys out there.

Even with winter tires you simply cannot stomp on the gas in deep squishy white stuff and expect to get dry pavement control. Tests performed by Car and Driver proved that the advantage of winter tires driven on packed snow over M+S rated all seasons is about 1 car length from 50 mph to a dead stop.
With winter tires the Cadillac CTS being tested still needed over 230 feet to come to a dead stop from 50 mph on packed snow. On dry pavement the G can stop from 50 mph in about 120 feet.

Of course dedicated summer tires simply will have no traction on packed or slushy snow.

 

^ indeed!

We had a snowstorm over here in Dec, the fuse in our home's heater popped, so first thing in the morning, I made my way to Home Depot in the G (with Blizzaks). I'd estimate 4-5 inches on the ground at that point, still coming down. On my way back, another inches or so fell, so I'm sure it was 6 inches. Only other cars on the road were SUVs and 4x4 pickups, I must of got some crazy stares that morning, but I made it and saved my family from freezing to death ;-)

My average speed was probably 10mph. At that speed, braking wasn't a huge issue. But accelerating was tricky, a RWD car with almost 300hp, bad news. I turned VDC off because as the wheels lost grip, the VDC would reduce the power, causing the car to go no where and even stall. The tire spin coupled with the Blizzaks at least got the car moving. Again, slow and easy is the key. Often started in 2nd gear. The front bumper was clearly "plowing" the fresh snow. It is possible, but i wouldn't recommend it unless it was life or death.

 

05 G35 Coupe here, living in Halifax, NS. The car handles wonderfully in even the worst conditions with Toyo Garits and VDC turned off. Probablly one of the better cars on the road, especially if you know how to drive!

 

I understand that you like your car(as do we all), but your statement is clearly biased and pretty far from accurate. The mere fact that we have very low ground clearance is something that no snow tire can account for.

Sure, you might be able to drive through snow with the right tires, but a G35 Coupe is worse than about 70-80% of the cars on the road in snow/ice, assuming those other cars that you're comparing it to are equipped with similar winter-rated tires as the G. Try driving up an ice or snow covered hill in a G35 Coupe with snow tires on it, and then try driving up that same hill in a FWD car with the same tires on it... the FWD car will go up that hill much easier in the majority of the cases, and if you try to turn on a slippery/snowy road, the front wheels will try to pull you in the direction you are turning, rather than the rear wheels trying to keep pushing you straight in the same direction you are already going.

My last 3 consecutive cars I've owned have all been RWD, and although I love them and enjoy driving them in snow/ice for the fun/drift factor... If I ever got into a life or death situation, and had to pick one or the other in snow/ice to get me out of that situation(driving through a blizzard, etc)... no questions asked, I would take the FWD car with snow tires on it over the G35 with snows on it. If you don't agree, you either don't have enough experience in snow with RWD cars, or you're biased by the fact that you like your current car too much to admit it's shortcomings.

 

Ok, I had 1" of snow today and I couldn't get out of my driveway... it was a but slushy underneath and I think that was the problem.

Anyway, my question is, is it better to get snow tires (I have all season), or try and add weight in the trunk?

I'm just not sure if snow tires will do it.

Here's what I experienced: the tail of the car wiggles left and right when I accelerate. Also, the slip light turns on. I drive with VDC on.

 

If you had to pick one or the other, you're much better off getting snow tires instead of putting weight in the trunk... but if you're getting snow tires, there's no reason why you can't also throw some weight in the trunk too. Just be aware that extra weight in the trunk is also going to add more momentum to the car for when it comes time to stop. If you keep your speeds down though, it won't make a noticeable difference unless you plan on carrying 200+ pounds in the trunk. Honestly... you should be all set with just snow tires and no weight added at all.

 

Yeah these are cars are def no fun in the snow. like mentioned before the low ground clearance is bad. not much you can do except drive careful and be smart. Im from Delaware and we have had tons of snow btw

 

please don't put 200 pounds in your trunk. just 100, maybe 125. remember, your car is only rated to cary about 800 pounds of extra weight ontop of its own weight so if you happen to have 200 pounds and 3 passengers with you, and possibly a bit of luggage you are really weighing the car down.

its bad for your suspension to have 200 pounds in the rear.

^^^edit....constantly, i don't care if you do it once or twice every year, but for 4 or 5 months straight, thats pretty rough on it.

 

Anyone know if 205/55/16 rims/tires will work on a coupe?

 

i live in toronto and last yr when i had my toyo garits winters tires...i had no problem driving around in the snow..so it is doable just like what everybody else says easy does it