I don't have my G yet... but I bought an old '96 Subaru Legacy AWD for the winter anyway. Just seemed like the best idea. So I use that car when it's crappy outside and I plan to use the G when it's nice and sunny and the weather ain't too bad. My insurance is estimated to only go up another $30 a month to have both cars on it and I'm only 24 yrs old. To me it wasn't worth trying to drive the G around risking the salt, sand, and other new hazards to the road ruining the beauteous paint job, ya know? Granted Long Island isn't known for getting a ton of snow, it still gets it's share, especially the last few winters, this weekend no exception. So for $3000 you can get a nice 4WD/AWD car that conquers snow with ease. Even in the 16-20" we got here, I drove that thing through an unplowed parking lot and it drove like a trooper, and it's a low sporty little thang too. I highly recommend them as a winter/poor weather car.

 

Thanks for the comments. I got stock 17 all seasons but will get the winters for the trip. Anyone drive the winters all year round...how does the car drive?

 

I moved from SoCal to NY in June. I bought the G35C in CA, figuring I would be living there indefinitely, so it was perfectly happy in the warm SoCal environment and nice roads. Well, after my company got acquired and I got laid off and found a new job back east, suddenly my G35 became my daily driver winter car More by default - my Z06 wouldn't make it out of the driveway in snow.

Anyway, I put a set of snow tires on, Blizzak LM22's, and the car is fairing pretty well in the snow. The biggest issue I've come across is clearance in deep snow because the car sits so low. In particular is when you've got a pile of snow in the center of the road in between the tire tracks, that has melted a little the day before then refroze into hard ice chunks - if that stuff hits the underbody of the car, it can do some damage. I've heard some nasty scraping on that stuff this morning, and its making me nervous.

Other than that, my car is hideously dirty right now, inside and out, loaded with salt, sand, dirt, grime, and probably twice as many rock chips on the front bumper than I had before.

Welcome to the northeast!

P.S. - in response to your question, I wouldn't use snow tires year round. Snow tires wear very quickly in warmer weather, plus they are noisier, softer, and don't handle as well. The LM22's I have are "performance" snow tires, but I still notice the softer sidewalls, increased noise and less grip in dry pavement than my Pilot Sports had. Full blown snow tires are even worse. While I love the LM22s now in the winter and snow, I know I would hate them in the summer.

 

You can pretty much tell from the other posts that most don't use their G's in the winter. Possibly due to the road salt issue we have in the North. They make sense but it also sounds like they don't have the "X" as well. I ended up washing mine the day before the second storm just to get some of salt off for a day. The All-wheel works great out here, although we're not driving Humvee's. There are clearance issues when you talk about 26+ inches of snow.

 

Well, unfortunately I have to admit that I am one of the dumba**es that tried to drive in about 3 inches last week on the stock 18s and Pilots. I live outside of Philadelphia and got caught at work when it began to snow last Tuesday (?). It was only about 2-3 inches and I drive mainly highways to and from work (PA TP). My fiancee even called me and asked if she could pick me up in her Explorer, but I declined and said I would give it a go. I made it all the way down the the TP to Rte 100. Once on Rte. 100 it got pretty dicey. I tried to keep moving in the traffic so as not to stop, but unfortunately hit a red light. That was all she wrote!! Trying to make my way up the slight incline, the car got completely sideways and kept creeping closer and closer to the center divider. At one point I had her almost flipped 180 degrees and decided to just stop and put on my hazards. I got out of the car and directed traffic around me for about 10 minutes until a state trooper arrived to "block" traffic for me. He put on his lights and swerverd lane to lane as I slipped sideways up the road. I decided to just park it in the closest hotel parking lot and had the fiancee pick me up after all. All I can say is that it was a learning experience that I will soon not forget. As has been stated many times before..DO NOT DRIVE IN SNOW ON THE PILOTS!!

 

I drove it the day after the snow storm...i got stuck pulling out of my complex lot because they didn't plow the freaking thing.....once i got on the roads it was all good ....regular tires that the car came with (6mt) ...just drive slow and easy...and don't be a freaking idiot....

 

Just picked up my G last friday - saturday I got 18" .. today was the first day Ive had it out since .. I'm keeping my extra beatermobile around til march then sell it - prolly get 17's and snows for next winter.

spring will be here soon!

- pink

 

yep, that's the plan. the RE050's aren't as bad as I expected. drove on several snow covered roads today.