1000 mile old Sumitomo's in the NE snow storm..
 

Well I'm seriously disappointed in the performance of the Max and Sumi's. I live in a high rise apartment complex and to go into my parking lot you have to go through this semi steep decline. Well me trying to be dedicated and go to work attempted to venture out earlier today. I could not for my life get out of my apartment complex area and onto the street. There were Civic's, Oldsmobiles, Camry's zipping right by me! I'm quite frustrated to see that the Max is this incompetent in the snow. Brand new Sumitomo HTR+ made no difference, I was slipping and sliding helplessly. I really think it's the car.

I've been living in Jersey for 17 years so I do have an idea of how to drive in the snow. It's definately not a good thing to do in a Max.

Evo...AWD, I can't wait.

Re: 1000 miles old Sumitomo's in the NE snow storm..
 

i guess its the max. it handles poorly in rain and snow. i wonder how people with pilot sports are doing in the snow?

imagine the guys in the Potenza's!!! :eek:

they are no longer able to go on the org because they are in the hospital due to an accident caused by the craptenzas. j/k.:D

The Sumis are not that great of a tire. Were they the IIs or just the HTRs?

Re: 1000 mile old Sumitomo's in the NE snow storm..
 

Wow, amazing what differences there are. I have a 2k1 with new sumi HTR+'s and live in northern missouri where we've had solid snow and ice for a month. I think the max and the tires are incredible for it. I haven't really slipped or slided or had to even rock my car out of the snow, just go slow and you're good to go. i have zero complaints from the car or the tire...

They will do ok in like less than 2" of snow, but anything more... forget it. Plus, I don't think any Z-rated 18" tire with a 245 width is going to do too well in snow... :)

Re: 1000 mile old Sumitomo's in the NE snow storm..
 

I run dedicated snows in the winter...I've never tried the Potenzas...but I have had no trouble in the 18+ inched we have received since Friday. Saturday morning at 6:30am, the plows hadn't been by yet. There was 4-6 inches and I could maintain 30-35mph pretty comfortably. I could have gone faster, but there were people losing control all around me and I wanted to be able to stop if I had to. I also have a steep alley to go up to get to my garage, and even in 8-10 inched I made it up. I almost hit my neighbors car, but I made it up :)

Overall, I think the Max handles well in the snow.

Maximam - HTR+, Tirerack did a test with this tire alongside the Pilot Sport A/S and the Sumi's did great in their tests.

Ironlord - I don't know what it is, trust me I tried to take it easy but the car just got stuck.

Everyone else - I understand today was the type of day that one should stay home and not even brave the weather. The one thing that kills me is that the Civic, Camry, and Oldsmobile all managed to do something that my Max with new Sumi' failed to do :bawling:

The main difference with the Max and the Civics, Camrys, etc is power. In my experience, an all season tire is of very limited use in real snow. A 3" storm is no big problem, but the storm we just got this weekend really did a number on the roads. I use 4 Bridgestone Blizzaks on my 03 SE auto and it is a blast to drive. I can go just about anywhere. Of couse, the main limiting factor is depth on the extreme side roads, but let's get a little realistic. All in all, I think the Max is very capable with the right tire.

This statement hit the nail on the head!

NuJerseyDrive: Ok I thought they were HTRs not HTR+ my mistake.

I got old school 15in rims on my ride...with bridestone blizzaks...
i an not havin a problem at all...
I think the ppl with the 17in rims are havin a hard time with the street tires...
My car looks liek **** with the rims...but i can go anywhere with those tires

Let me at them Blizzak's
 

I'm picking up a set during the summer while the prices are dirt cheap and will mount them on my stockers. I've thought about this in the past but since 96 we really haven't been hit this hard. Mother Nature's wake up call..

I have Sumotumo's on my GS400 and I've been very impressed with the tire. Better than the Dunlop SP5000's in both snow and on dry pavement. Super cheap too. I use a 235/45R17.

Re: Re: 1000 miles old Sumitomo's in the NE snow storm..
 

Great. We got 18" (nothin to you NE guys but WAY more than we have had in a few years) but nothing more than 6-8" at a time and I did fine. I have a few LARGE hills to go up and down. Down was cake, up was a little bit of work, but I never abandoned direction. Normal flat road driving was fine.

it's definitely not the car. I thought the same thing until I put dedicated snows on (bought 16" wheels and Semperit snows) and now it handles very, very well. It's not on par with my past three AWD cars (mitsu GSX, honda CRV, volvo cross-country) but it's definitely better than most other FWD without snows.

and this was DEFINITELY the winter to get dedicated snows :eek:

Try starting out in 2nd gear. The max has a lot of torque, and it is easy to spin the tires in the snow if you have a heavy foot.

Re: 1000 mile old Sumitomo's in the NE snow storm..
 

Just last week I slammed into a curb on a mild turn going very slowly. I definitely attribute the lack of grip to the Bridgestones... They are just HORRIBLE (not to mention how quickly they wear)!!! Last winter I didn't get a chance to try the tires out (little to no snow), but this is definitely my last winter with the Craptenzas.

Of course I think things wouldn't be as bad had the limited slip option been available when I purchased my car. That is definitely a MUST HAVE $400 option!!!

By the way, my last car (Eciplse Turbo FWD) sucked ars in the snow with its stock tires, but a set of Blizzaks all around solved that problem.

Re: Re: 1000 mile old Sumitomo's in the NE snow storm..
 

i dont know if it helps 1/2 as much in snow when both wheels are slipping.

i live just outside of boston ... we got about 24" here.

i drive 215/50/17 htr+ and they are a giant improvement over the potenzas. driving this car in snow, however, is NOT easy. it does take a very sensitive touch. she wont lose the back end, thanks to the front wheel drive ... however you will lose directional steering if the wheels start to slip a bit (hey its normal, try turning direction on ice when you are walking or running).

i got stuck in 3" of snow w/ the blowtenzas in my driveway. the sumis get me through much more.

in addition - YOU MUST keep your momentum in higher snow ... you dont and you die.

good luck!

The wider the tire, the poorer it will do in the snow. A Civic on average all-seasons will run away from a Maxima unless the Max is on dedicated snows. I run Pirelli Winter 210's, and I was on the road for a while on Monday and out all day yesterday with no problems at all. I've driven on hard-pack and slush, and everything in between. The only thing that can slow the car down is very deep snow (over 8"). It'll go, but you've got to use some finesse with the throttle and keep it at least a gear higher than normal.

My Potenza's are pretty good in the snow... and trust me - we get lots of snow in upstate NY.

You didn't think I was talking about Re92, right ? RE950 are very nice in snow and rain

I'm running 235/45R17 HTR+s and they've been great in 1-3" snow. They do slip a bit on take off, but they do pull the car thru snow. However I live in Kansas City and we rarely see more than 2-4" of snow at a time and usually it's plowed before I go to work so I have little problem going anywhere. If I lived somewhere that received regular large dumpings of snow I wouldn't waste my time with all-season performance tires. I'd run dedicated snow tires. Period.

You need to remember a few things. Wide tires are horrible in the snow because the tire ends up riding on top of the snow and doesn't bite threw it. The Civics and other cars you mentioned do fine because they have narrow tires. Watch Rally racing in the snow and look at the tires on those 400hp WRXs and EVOs. They're all running super narrow 185 width snow tires.


Dave

maksim2000, 950s ROCK! too bad they didnt make them in the 215 or 225 size (235 only) or else i woulda been all over them.

You learn something new every day. I always thought "Wider is better", blame Pontiac for that :D

The thing is when I got stuck with my tires spinning, the tire was in direct contact with the ground. But anyway, I'm not even going to try to figure it out anymore. I'm just gonna pick up some snow tires for next years winter. Lesson learned....