weighing down the rear for winter driving
 

This will be my first winter driving the BRZ in ice/snow conditions and was wondering if those been doing it for few winters now comment on how much weight do you add in the trunk, if at all? I've got Blizzak WS80 on 16" steelies already. Thx.

It's my first winter driving mine too. No need for weight in the trunk. This car is so stupidly easy to control in snow it isn't funny. It's not as good as my A4 but no surprise there.

I've never done that with any of my vehicles. Have you noticed any traction or handling issues?

I haven't seen any need to. The snow tires will do the trick pretty well, if you also do your part.

When driving a pickup truck with a huge front end weight bias hen you need to balance it out for traction. These cars are not pickup trucks and are damn near perfectly balanced. No weight in the trunk needed. It in fact can cause issues if that rear starts to head south on you and you have extra weight to give it some more momentum.

^^What he said. In a front heavy car you do that to try and balance it better. This car is already so well balanced that it will hurt more than it will help except for initial acceleration from a stop. In a corner it will start the rear sliding more quickly and you won't be able to stop the slide and under braking unless the road is completely flat the rear end will try to follow the crown of the road and spin you right off.

So far it's been fine and I continue to be amazed at how balanced the car is. I find the BRZ with Blizzaks ws80 on par with a FWD with a decent all seasons. The only issue is clearance if I'm on an unplowed residential street with fresh snow and no cars been over it yet.

A little harder to gain traction if I start in 1st gear but starting in 2nd gear (snow mode in AT) with throttle control gets the job done. All TCS on of course.

Just wanted to see what others who DD their FT86 in icy/snowy condition do... with or without added weights in the trunk...

I've been fine with continental DWS06 all seasons so far. The only time I have trouble is on ice and they slip a bit. Haven't been unable to get moving yet which has happened a few times in my previous FWD car (same tires just the previous model). Weight in the back is just the spare tire and tools.

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Yeah, snow mode is a nice feature.

The only thing that bears repeating as often as possible for casual visitors to the forum is that the stock Primacys are downright hazardous in any depth of snow/ice.

The stock tires are dangerous on cold dry pavement.

Back a few years ago, there were a few threads...
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51065
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77321

Anything under 40 degrees.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md...l0to10_400.gif

Going on 3 years in Chicago winters. I've never added any weight in the trunk, even with all my fun wintertime shenanigans:

http://seriesblueadventures.com/tag/snow

And don't even try to drive in the rain. Holy shit. Those Primacies were terrifying.

I have about 20K miles driven in the rain without a single issue. Guess it is what you are used to. If you are driving to conditions the tires on the car make zero difference.

Yeah, they are fine in the rain.

But approaching freezing temp they stiffen up significantly and get pretty slick.

The nanny aids make it unnecessary. If you turn them off, some extra weight over the drive wheels would be beneficial, but as previously stated, this car is pretty easy to drive in crappy weather with nanny aids and proper tires.

Drove with them in heavy rain a couple times. Didn't go over 60MPH. I don't want to end up like those cars spun out on the freeway...

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If you truly feel the need to add weight for traction then do NOT just throw the weight in the trunk.
This increases weight on the rear wheels but ALSO increases polar momentum in the most efficient way possible.
Once the car starts to spin, it is HARDER to get it back under control.

So if you feel that you MUST add weight, then add it to the back seat where it increases total car weight, but does not disproportionately increase polar moment.

You shouldn't have to "drive to conditions" in the event of a mild rain shower. Any respectable summer tyre should feel pretty much like you're driving on dry pavement. I can go pretty much WOT in first gear on my Super Sports with no wheelspin in the rain. With a worn (but with several mm of tread remaining) set of Primacies, driving on a wet road felt like trying to drive summer tyres on snow. I've never felt anything so horrifically slippery. Cars set up for skidpad demos don't feel that slippery. The Primacies are really bad in the rain.

I'm not saying it's an excuse for people to crash (I certainly didn't), but you shouldn't have to drive at or below the speed limit with tiny throttle movements just because a road is wet. No way.

I didn't say slow down I said drive to conditions. You always have to drive to conditions. I have zero issues with the stock tires and I rarely drive the speed limit.