Which Blizzaks?

Get a set of winters and for someone like youself go to a skid/driving school. That should help with your insurance rates as well.

Blizzak WS70's are very good...cant handle 5+in of snow that we were getting. but <4in as long as you keep moving you are good, <2in you can stop and go at will.

The 2nd gear start for manual, the winter button in automatic helps with getting rolling.

Edit: Since you don't have many winters under your belt. I plead you to go really slowly, at least 20 less than posted. Because even with snow tires this car can and will kick out on you, At least once per drive and you will need to get used to that very quickly. Do not take it out with summer tires on it, you will slide a lot even in light coverage. (summer tires != all seasons)

I use snow tires.

The car has done so well that I didn't even bother swapping my snow set onto my awd vehicle, it's sat all winter while the frz was driven for the extra mpg and fun.

Snow tires and driving slow will get you to where you want to be a vast majority of the time. If you're wondering if you're driving slow enough, you're probably driving too fast. If you're wondering if you're driving too slow, you're probably going at the right pace.

Truer words have never been said.

Is your dad's car RWD? Snow tires are a given, don't be like a friend of mine who gets stuck in her own parking lot because of stock tires! I've had some issues on inclines from a standing start though turning TC off helps a lot (then again I'm somewhat new to manuals). Overall it's pretty good in the snow as long as you respect it. Take it slow and easy until you get a good feel. The VSC is actually pretty good even in the snow, and when it does come loose it's pretty easy to manage. Highly recommend some parking lot practice in snow to see what an "oh s#$!" moment is like!

About 6 years ago I was trekking through some deep snow, doing about 45 on the highway. This BMW blew by doing about 60 and I thought.. "damn he's brave"

Literally 1 minute later I passed him as his car was facing the wrong direction against a guard rail. I thought about turning around and going home :D

A lot of cars that are forced to stop on a snow covered hill will have a problem! It is not specific to the twins.
It's all about maintaining momentum!

:cheers:

LM-60's

VERY true...if you stop on a hill youre going to have a problem

Thanks to all of you again for the advice. As for my dad's car, it is (unfortunately for me) an AWD. Although it'll be much better driving in the snow, it'll at least give me some kind of experience. And for the BRZ, I'll be practicing A LOT with it in a snowy parking lot before I even think about driving around with it on the streets in the snowy weather.

That explains it. The WS-70s are much, much better in the snow (and similarly worse in the dry). The LMs will get you through a few snowy days just fine, but they wouldn't be my recommendation for someone who lives in an area with significant snowfall.

You're right, just my luck that my first year with the car was among the worst in history in terms of regional snowfall. Tire Rack had the LM's on clearance, and the description as more of a winter performance tire seemed appropriate for the tri-state area where there is typically only a couple of snowfalls per winter. Hopefully next winter is more of a return to normalcy.