Hi guys,

I was out at a dealership in NYC test driving th G35 coupe, and I it was a great ride. I was sold. I was set to go back and start the negotiations, but a friend told me not to get this car as my only car (which it would be) in NYC, b/c it was useless in the snow.

Now, I have never driven a RWD car before so I am not so familiar with how they drive in snow. I do know that I see tons of G35s out there, even in NYC, and Im sure not all these people have second cars, and Im sure they arent all crashing in the winter. What are the standard tires that come with the g35 anyway? are they not all season?

Now I did see in some previous posts that these cars are fine in snow if you change the tires in winter to special snow tires. Honestly, I will not likely be buying a second set of tires (No room in my apt anyway), or messing with changing them.

Hence, am I dead meat in the winter? Has anyone driven this car with factory tires in snow? what about rain? should I switch to 4dr g35x?

Please help, b/c I loved that car!

Thank you

 

I'm sure people will chime in about driving in snow conditions because I've read people changing out their tires solely for that purpose. As for rain, uh...every car was meant to handle the rain. Here is SoCal, we have the occasional bad raining seasons and the G' handles fine with the OEM 19" tires. Is there room for improvement? Most def...just gotta switch the tires out for some better wet traction.

 

New tires will do the trick if you get the RWD version. If you get AWD, stocks are fine as long as you get the fully loaded one with the Goodyears. The Turanzas are god awful. I got the AWD and don't regret it.

 

Your friend is wrong. It's tires that can make you "dead meat", not drive wheels.
What does he think people did before the '80's? Hitch a ride with somebody that owned an Olds Toronado?
What about all the trucks and RWD SUV's on the road?

Any car can be driven comfortably in winter with a good set of tires.
All-seasons are a good compromise if you don't want two sets of tires.
Any good quality summer or all-season will be fine in the rain.
In deep snow and ice conditions the cheapest winter tire will outperform the best all-season tire regardless of which wheels are doing the driving.

If it's really safety that you're worried about, remember that braking will be exactly the same whether you have rear-wheel, all-wheel or "wrong"-wheel drive.

 

But what about the tires it comes with standard? are those summer tires or all season tires? Can they handle snow or would I need to switch?

 

I have survived many Chicago winters with a RWD car.

RWD is irritating in the winter and when snow is on the ground you have to drive slowly and carefully. If you buy winter tires and throw a sand tube in the trunk it will eliminate almost all of the irritation. I have survived with A/S tires.

On the other hand RWD is fantastic during the summer.

The wheel upgraded package puts summer tires on the car, this forces you to buy winter tires.

If you like the car enough, you can always buy winter tires if your finding the winter driving bothers you a lot.

As for pure safety braking is the same, but you still have to be very careful you don't over torque the rear wheels or the car can turn sideways in snow; although the VDC does mitigate this effect quite a bit.

 

go and buy the car and when winter comes up just go to tire rack and get a wheel and winter tire set up.then you just switch winters to summers.i live in md and thats what i do and like said above the traction is good with winter,s.

 

Depends which package you buy. I believe the 17's are A/S and the 18's and 19's are summers.
With all seasons, you might be OK in New York except on the worst snow and ice days.
With summer performance, you definitely don't want to use them in any kind of snow or ice conditions.
In fact summer performance tires shouldn't be used in cold temperatures (say <50F) - even on dry roads.

 

As far as I know all coupes come with tires that should not be used in the winter. If you want to get the coupe and drive it in the winter I strongly suggest getting another set of tires for snow. Rain would be fine.
If you have no room or just dont want the hassle of 2 sets of tires, either do not get the coupe or do not drive it in the winter. That is what the sedan is for. (or other cars I guess)
I will state this one more time to make sure the point isnt missed
PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE COUPE IN SNOW/ICE ON STOCK TIRES.
Just me 2 cents.

 

I've got an 03 5AT with the stock 17" wheels. The stock 17's are supposed to be all-season. Quite a few owners switch their wheels from 19's and 20's to the stock 17's during the winter and back again. I wish I could do that too, but unfortunately I live in a high-rise (no garage to store wheels).

From my experience, the rain and snow aren't too bothersome. As already mentioned, the weather in NY may be tougher than here in Philly and NJ. Just make sure you leave the VDC on and drive carefully. I've driven countless times in the rain without any problems - no skidding, sliding, etc. As for the snow, I can't say I've plowed through snowdrifts, but I still get some good traction on lightly snowed over roads. Haven't gotten stuck anywhere or slid into any trouble. Just be careful.