Today my fair little college town got hit with a snow storm still in progress. By the time I got home there was already about 5-6 inches of snow on the ground. Be it in Indiana, I guess their road clearance crew was lost in some corn field somewhere. The problem was that I had to drive across town to Fedex, and OMG was it a scary drive. Coming down a tiny hill that curves left, going 20MPH, my car slid left and right and almost hit an incoming truck. Everytime I took a turn I pretty much lost traction and had SLIP flash in my face. What's worse? Braking! I gently braked everytime and early, but sometimes need called for hard braking, and damn....ABS kicked in quick, and the pedal felt like some was hammering away at it.

Cliff notes = do not drive on un-cleaned snowy roads with stock tires.

 

I get ridiculous understeer on my stock tires so I've had to pull the ebrake on the streets a few times.

Stopping is the scariest part, I feel my ABS just hammering away, but the car doesn't really slow.

 

Stock tires? Your stock tires should be an All Season tire. With good tread, your stock tires should be much better then your performance wheels and tires.

My stock Sport A2's drive just fine in the snow. The stock tires on my BMW do just fine in the snow also. Although it doesn't drive as well as the Max in the snow, it does go through it.

If your FWD Maxima doesn't go through snow so well, I think your stock tires need to be replaced.



Or maybe it's the driver...

 

I dunno, I have no problem driving through snow. You just have to go real slow.

 

What? When I said stock I meant factory tires...as in tires that came with the car. The treads are fine on the tires, but when the treads are filled with packed snow, the car drives as if the tires were bald.

 

Let me assume those are the Potenza RE92s. Brand new, on dry roads those tires suck.

 

Disagree, I bought my car several winters ago with brand new "stock" Potenza RE92s and it sucked in the wet and snow. I switched to some Falken 512s on the stock 17s and the improvement was immense in both wet and snow. I believe most people around here will say the same thing about those stock tires.

 

i have continental all seasons for winter, they friggin rock, i tried driving with my 18's and i just wasnt havin it so back to ugly stock wheels for winter

 

worst tires ever...

 

I got rid of my RSA and got the Avon Tyres and what a world of difference, they are pretty good in the snow and for the price....you can't beat it....

 

i have no abs...
no traction control...


and im on high performance summer tires and i made it to work and back

 

I made the same switch last winter and came to the same conclusion back then. Never had a problem plowing through deep snow last year. But this morning, the Falkens did nothing for me in about 2-4" of slushy snow. I only have about 3k mi. on them, so I don't understand why they would suck now. While I'm on my rant, does anyone know how to bypass the brake-shift interlock? It makes rocking my car a PITA. Thanks.

 

Excellent, you are the person I’m looking for. I got almost no thread left on my tires so I’m buying new tires probably within the next 2 – 3 months. I do not want to spend money on designated winter tires but I really want to have summer performance tires. Could you please describe how it is like to drive summer tires in snow and just in cold weather (under 40)

 

Snow tires boyeeeeee

 

..........

 

I know most on here agree that the Potenze RE92's suck, I have to agree.

But, my mother baught a new 5th gen Maxima with RE92's on it. She never complained about driving in the rain or the snow with those tires. Her commute to work and back was over 35 miles out Rt 80 and back.

Makes me think, ya know?

 

But keep in mind that in Jersey the roads are cleared up quick. The roads around here AFTER plowing is an inch of packed snow. I guess the city workers are better at plowing corn fields than roads

 

Well, I won't say that the RE92s in wet and snow were completely useless, but they still sucked relative to other tires. You really needed to be extra cautious with em. With the Falkens, I didn't have to baby the lower gears from a stop or worry about hydroplaning at higher speeds.

And yes, I have experience in the snow because I used to live in Michigan and never had a problem with the Contis I had on the '97 Golf that I used to drive.

 

Could you please describe how it is like to drive summer tires in snow and just in cold weather (under 40)

hmm, im running 235/45s on my stock rims, in the snow its like a baby deer on ice, i just slide everywhere, the max is being reduced to a lawn ornament along with my SHO till winters over, no money for winter tires and im moving to a warm climate in a month or so.im driving a 95 super-base model(no power anything. its "rugged" and i love it)sl1 saturn, it handles snow very well, last night my area got its first big storm, everyone was avoiding the road, me and my best friend(also with a saturn, but he has power steering so he thinks hes cool) were liek the only ones haveing fun, doing big slides and shizz all over the main roads,just having a blast. even ad to go rescue a wrx driving friend at almost 3 am. good times. he didnt think b4 trying soemthing something

be safe all, screw people honking at u for being slow. just make it home safe and get the chance to do it tomoorow!

 

snow tires, dog. no problemo. I seek out snow and ice



for more info:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=444547

 

well i have tread on my tires...i just take my time if snow is on the ground and im good. my summer tires still have alot of tread on them. bald tires are bad no matter how u look at it

 

that was some feat with that max going 7 hours in the snow that deep.. good job man

 

hey irish, have you gone through multiple sets of winter tires to come up with a favorite? My parents use the Dunlop M3 tires, but they are $$$ for a college student.

 

i dont like ABS in snow... but that's a personal preference i guess. good thing my car doesn't have it.

just dont hit them hard enough to lock them up, that's all.. i guess having a 5spd can aide you in bad weather too!

my tires work great though, i've got some all season bf goodrich, never lost traction once in the dry or wet, and have slid in the snow, though it was to be expected in the situations when it occured..

 

Yea, that is one of the times I miss having a manual trans is in snow and ice. The ABS doesn't really help in panic stops on ice or snow IMO. You are going to slide either way.

 

lowering tire pressure helps in the winter

 

Snow tires make a world of difference. Nokian makes awesome snow tires, yes they're better than blizzaks, it's been tested. http://www.snowtire.info/

 

Funny I didn't have any problem in the NE storm last week.

 

You have AWD too

 

I didn't have any problem last weekend in PA either. And I had to make lanes up as i went from DC to Harrisburg. Of course it took me 3.5 hours going 35mph... but that's as fast as anyone should be going in blizzard conditions.

 

And i have Aquatreads up front... no fancy snow tires

Of course I came from South Bend, IN where I had a 240SX for a year-round car... I'm pretty good with ice

 

It seems that half of that city came to IU Bloomington

 

snow tires make a big difference on my rwd G35 which is undriveable with summer tires even with a dusting of snow. but i've had dunlop sport A2s and BFG traction TA when i had my maxima. no probs. btw, anyone in nj/pa wanna buy my S14 16" rims? =P