How are they in the Snow.
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10-25-2003, 05:03 PM
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10-25-2003, 05:52 PM
#3
10-25-2003, 08:54 PM
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Re: How are they in the Snow.
If you have the summer tires, snow tires will pretty much be required if you don't want the car to slide around like a hockey puck in any kind of snow / ice. If you have the all-seasons, you might get away with a little bit of snow driving.
I live in the Rochester, NY area, and wouldn't think of trying to drive a RWD car in the snow without decent winter tires (we average something like 120 inches per year). I haven't had any experience in snow with the G yet, though. Plus, putting on a dedicated set of rims / snows save your nice OEM rims from salt and other damage.
I just put on a set of 16 inch alloys with Dunlop WinterSport SP2 tires today (225/60/16 will match the diameter of the stock 215/55/17s within 1.2%) -- I don't normally mount snows this early (normally 2nd week in November), but I wanted to put a few miles on the new tires to break them in before the snow really starts.
One piece of good news for those planning to put snows on the 2004 models: It looks like the tire pressure monitoring system completely ignores the fact the OEM wheels with the tire pressure tranceivers are not there when you swap out the wheels -- No lights, beeps, etc. This is good for installing snows, but it makes me question how you know the tire pressure monitoring system is actually working the rest of the time. You would think that the lack of any signal from the tranceivers would trigger some sort of warning as a failsafe.
TurboFish
2004 G35 Sedan 6M -- Diamond Graphite, Graphite Leather, Premium/Winter
1998 Volvo C70 Coupe HPT
I live in the Rochester, NY area, and wouldn't think of trying to drive a RWD car in the snow without decent winter tires (we average something like 120 inches per year). I haven't had any experience in snow with the G yet, though. Plus, putting on a dedicated set of rims / snows save your nice OEM rims from salt and other damage.
I just put on a set of 16 inch alloys with Dunlop WinterSport SP2 tires today (225/60/16 will match the diameter of the stock 215/55/17s within 1.2%) -- I don't normally mount snows this early (normally 2nd week in November), but I wanted to put a few miles on the new tires to break them in before the snow really starts.
One piece of good news for those planning to put snows on the 2004 models: It looks like the tire pressure monitoring system completely ignores the fact the OEM wheels with the tire pressure tranceivers are not there when you swap out the wheels -- No lights, beeps, etc. This is good for installing snows, but it makes me question how you know the tire pressure monitoring system is actually working the rest of the time. You would think that the lack of any signal from the tranceivers would trigger some sort of warning as a failsafe.
TurboFish
2004 G35 Sedan 6M -- Diamond Graphite, Graphite Leather, Premium/Winter
1998 Volvo C70 Coupe HPT
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10-26-2003, 10:21 AM
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10-26-2003, 10:42 AM
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10-28-2003, 06:51 PM
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10-28-2003, 07:36 PM
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#9
11-14-2003, 08:26 PM
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Re: How are they in the Snow.
We've finally gotten our first snow event in Rochester the last couple of days, so now I have at least a little bit of experience with the G on slippery surfaces.
We had a couple of inches of wet "lake effect" snow yesterday, which didn't get plowed on the side streets. It was originally slushy, but froze solid last night, so I took the G out around the neighborhood to check out the traction. It seemed to be pretty slippery -- if I hit the brakes as slow as 5-10 mph, the ABS was doing alot of work, but the car was very stable and predictable.
As far as traction, the combination of the snow tires with the VDC did an excellent job IMHO. At least as well as a FWD car with all-season tires -- probably better. I intentionally tried breaking the back end loose with too much gas for the ice, but the VDC straightened things right out. The car had no problem starting off up the hill I live on. Other than when I was pushing things, the VDC light really didn't come on much - the winter tires seemed to provide plenty of traction without help.
I'm not sure if the mechanical LSD in the 6MT was assisting things on takeoff, so your results may vary with the automatic models.
There's alot more winter to come, but so far I'm impressed with the ice performance. I'll post again when we get some real snow to drive in.
(Dunlop SP Winter Sport M2, 225/60/16 on Sport Edition rims)
TurboFish
2004 G35 Sedan 6M -- Diamond Graphite, Graphite Leather, Premium/Winter
We had a couple of inches of wet "lake effect" snow yesterday, which didn't get plowed on the side streets. It was originally slushy, but froze solid last night, so I took the G out around the neighborhood to check out the traction. It seemed to be pretty slippery -- if I hit the brakes as slow as 5-10 mph, the ABS was doing alot of work, but the car was very stable and predictable.
As far as traction, the combination of the snow tires with the VDC did an excellent job IMHO. At least as well as a FWD car with all-season tires -- probably better. I intentionally tried breaking the back end loose with too much gas for the ice, but the VDC straightened things right out. The car had no problem starting off up the hill I live on. Other than when I was pushing things, the VDC light really didn't come on much - the winter tires seemed to provide plenty of traction without help.
I'm not sure if the mechanical LSD in the 6MT was assisting things on takeoff, so your results may vary with the automatic models.
There's alot more winter to come, but so far I'm impressed with the ice performance. I'll post again when we get some real snow to drive in.
(Dunlop SP Winter Sport M2, 225/60/16 on Sport Edition rims)
TurboFish
2004 G35 Sedan 6M -- Diamond Graphite, Graphite Leather, Premium/Winter
#10
11-14-2003, 08:42 PM
Re: How are they in the Snow.
NOTE: You can't start out in manual in a higher gear. The manumatic mode is a top gear selector, not a current gear selector. If you put it in 3, it will gladly shift between 1, 2, and 3, but stay out of 4 and 5.
Our Canadian and NorthEast members swear by snow tires. I wouldn't know, nobody here in SoCal seems to be able to tell me what this "snow" stuff is. [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]
2003.5 G35 Sedan Desert Platinum/Graphite Premium/Sport/Aero/Nav/Winter
Our Canadian and NorthEast members swear by snow tires. I wouldn't know, nobody here in SoCal seems to be able to tell me what this "snow" stuff is. [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]
2003.5 G35 Sedan Desert Platinum/Graphite Premium/Sport/Aero/Nav/Winter
#11
11-18-2003, 07:58 AM
Re: How are they in the Snow.
I used Artic Alpins when I liven in Cleveland on my 97 and 00 Maximas - great tires in the snow, but they are noisy when it's wet.
They say it snows here in AL occasionally, and when it does, it's best to pull up a chair and stay home as the state has exactly ZERO snowplows....hasn't done it yet since I've been here, maybe this year.
They say it snows here in AL occasionally, and when it does, it's best to pull up a chair and stay home as the state has exactly ZERO snowplows....hasn't done it yet since I've been here, maybe this year.
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