I'm considering buying a G35x for use in Northern VA. Here, we tend to get ice and slush more than packed snow, i.e., warm enough for the snow to melt and cold enough for it to freeze again. There a few small hills and twists and turns around where I live.

Is the G35x going to be a good performer with A/S tires? I'm concerned the RWD bias might be slippery around here. I currently drive a 2000 Maxima 5spd (Michelin Pilot Sport A/S) - it's FWD is okay, but starting from a stop on hill in slushy/icy (or heck even wet) weather I tend to spin a tire (no LSD).

I'm looking for some reassurance that this car won't give me problems in winter driving with A/S tires (I'd rather not purchase and store winter tires).

Thanks in advance for your opinions/advice.

 

I personally think that the Eagle RSA tires that come stock on the X are absolute garbage on slush and ice. I would recommend a good set of winter tires or at least better rated A/S. The X performs like a champ, but AWD doesn't help you stop if you don't have traction.

 

The car is amazing in the snow. But winters are always recommended. I agree the stock RSA's are not a great tire.

 

I had no issue at all last winter. The car performed awesome.

TG

 

Get winter tires, if you have ice, snow, slush, it is a no brainer. Besides giving you better traction and turning, winter tires give you much better braking abilities (awd will not help you with braking only good tires will do that in the slippery stuff)

 

The OE Goodyear RSA A/S tires are hopeless on packed snow/ice when it comes to stopping or turning - my X was downright frightening on such surfaces last spring.

Winters are a must IMO - just had mine installed (Michelin Pilot Alpin2). These tires are V rated and intended for cold and ice but not so much for deep snow. That's where the AWD comes in.

 

While I don't have any experience with my X in the snow yet, I would agree that goods tires are CRITICAL for getting around during the winter.

My dad used to have a Porsche Cayenne which he expected to be great during the winter because it had AWD and was a big heavy truck. The first snow storm he slid through every red light and almost got killed every time. The reason . . . he unwittingly got it with the sport package which equips the car with summer tires.

I'm disappointed to hear that the tires which come with the X are bad in the snow. The reason I went out of my wax to buy a car with AWD was for winter traction.

 

The X is good in the snow with the stock tires when the tires are new, but it still can't stop in the slippery stuff. You need to purchase winter tires that specifically have the compounds and siping that greatly enhance the braking and traction on ice. You must remember that summer tires and all seasons do not use these advanced compounds because they will wear out rapidly as soon as the weather gets warm.

 

Not this again

<- love this smilie

The Eagle RSAs are JUST FINE in our climate. I live in Northern VA and have a 60 mile commute every day and not once last year did I have a problem with the car or the RSAs. Not one loose end not one spin out. I drive backroads from Alexandria to the beltway to 66 to 7100 every day of the week and never had a problem anywhere. Yes we get a few ice storms a year - last year there were exactly two - but on those days no one is driving anyway. Having lived in New England for 20+ years before spending the last 11 here I consider it a joke they even call January and February "winter" down here. Hell it was 50 degrees into January this year and I played golf in shorts the 2nd week in January.

If you read past posts on these tires you'll find most of the bad winter comments are from Canada where they deal with actual cold weather and packed snow/ice conditions - also known as a real winter. Again, this is not a finger pointing thing so dont jump on me, just a recognition that we deal with different winter climates. No month in Virginia averages a below freezing mark for the high so we don't deal with packed snow and ice for more than a day or two. By March the average high closes in on 60 degrees -with lows in the 40s - so "winter" here is pretty short. By contrast I have friends in Canada that have to use engine block heaters for their cars for months on end and we've had reports from Canada on here of the hard drives in the Gs failing it was so cold. I mean we just deal with different climates thats all.

In a climate without a hard cold freeze like Virginia AWD and snow tires are overkill in my opinion. You will be fine driving on the snow one morning but two days later - or hell that afternoon - when its 45* and you are driving on dry pavement at high speeds you are going to start to shred through the winter tires. I had them on my Z so I know from experience (I'll throw out a recommendation for the Dunlop Wintersport M3s).

Yes the car will perform better and I would never try to talk anyone OUT of snow tires if they were hell bent on them. So dont get me wrong there, if you want to buy them and store them by all means do so. But the need for snow tires in Northern/Central Canada just isnt the same as the need for them in Virginia. It just isnt. There is a massive difference in a winter (and tire requirements) where your average temps differ by 20+ degrees. The average low in Virginia in January is something like 30 degrees, average high is 42. The averages (in F*) in Calgary is 4/25. Those temps alone dictate the necessity for a different compound in your tire. But by February the average high in Virginia is back up to 47 degrees. We just dont have snow or icepack that lasts for weeks or longer.

And yes as an avid skier and yearly visitor to Canada our lack of winter pisses me off.

 

I agree too. The stock X tires are not the best and mine did ok, or at least much better than most cars that I've seen skidding around here. But if u do get the sports, chances are u'll need winters tires. With the X you've a speed limiter of (130??) though which the sports doesn't.

 

Well said

If you live in a location that has accumulated snow/ slush all the time, you should definitely get dedicated winter tires. Just like what someone has mentioned, AWD is good for PUTTING DOWN POWER, but it makes absolutely no difference in the braking department.

 

dcmidnight, what do you think about summer tires on rwd? all-season, winter, or keep the summer during the "winter"?

 

In this area I would never, ever keep summer tires on during the winter.

The compound in summer tires will freeze in cold temperatures and become "hockey pucks" - IE they will have no grip whatsoever because the compound is frozen and it will be as if your tires were made of hard plastic - summer tires are made of such a compound that it will just freeze/harden like that. Its suicide IMO to drive a RWD car with summer tires in the winter. At minimum I would go with all seasons.

I went my first winter with my Z with Kuhmo Ecsta ASXs. It was a decent all season and frankly I could have lived with them but bought a set of the Wintersport M3s the next year and loved them. Highly recommend them for a true RWD car.

 

dcmidnight, thanks for sharing your experience. good to know that for RWD, winter tires are better than all season in DC region.

 

thanks dcmidnight, and everyone else, that's exactly the info i was looking for. i should be a new owner within a month.