No Winter Driving Problems
 

What an amazing car to drive in the winter!
Of course winter tires and some extra weight in the back are a must, but everyone knows this would help ANY car in the winter!!
The set up is perfect, Subaru of course know what they are doing as they have made amazing all wheel drive cars since they first existed, Toyota should be grateful they partnered with such a well known, rally bred company. The same way Subaru should be happy with the design.
I cannot believe the all around balance, precision steering, and fun factor this car exudes, it truly is a car for all seasons!
The grip it has on slippery roads is second to none, with RWD control mimicked by nothing else. It slides when you want it to, and catches and grips when you don't want to slide. It over steers at such manageable times and speeds, that anyone with even less than race car driving skills can handle this car!
There is no need to go into torsen this, and mu that, and use "big" words on how the car was built or what type of "toe" angle the front tires are set at....blah, blah blah......it doesn't matter because this car is perfect!! It works like it is supposed to in wet, dry, slippery, dusty, windy, snowy, hot, chilly, humid, sleety, foggy, misty, etc.... Let's all praise the greatness of this car and enjoy the privilege we have every day to drive such a wonderful piece of automotive engineering!
Enough said!!!!!

I'm not disagreeing with you that it performs well in the winter with proper tires. I run the general altimax Arctics. Proper aggressive snow tires are not a choice but a requirement on the twins. Is extra weight needed? I don't think so. Can different alignments help handling, yes.

Everything comes down to proper tires and knowing how to drive. I feel much safer in my old beat up impreza in a snow storm then I do my BRZ. It has a solid feel in the snow.

People need to be realistic with this car. Some grade it low and some over praise it.

In before he-who-must-not-be-named...

I confess to being curious, but since the Spoilsport household has one solid AWD Winter vehicle per driver, there's really no particular need for me to equip and subject the Breezy to Winter salt.

A lot depends on your requirements. One of mine is getting up the hill on the road that leads to my house. On this road, it's not terribly uncommon to see the snow plow make the ascent *backwards* so he can drive over his own salt/sand mix. The failed attempt going forward that precedes this is often fairly exciting to watch. On those horrid days, FWD cars don't stand a chance (unless equipped with studs), and I am confident in saying neither would the Breezy.

I agree. My first RWD in snow and I feel pretty confident with it. I came from a suv with winter tires. Not as confident as I am with the suv but pretty darn close.

My only complaints for this car in the winter are:

1. Windows easily fog up/ice up
2. I usually get stuck after parking my car during a snow fall(as expected)
3. Leg warmers are none existent. I don't feel any hot air going to my legs even at full blast. Does anyone feel this way too or am I doing something wrong??

Other than that, the car has been perfect. I drove through yesterdays "snow storm" about 5-8cms of snow and no issues. Had a lot of fun sliding around corners with full control.

I find the "warm legs" setting really efficient, actually. Better than the "warm face" setting. Do you ever use that? My car is basically almost always on "warm feet and window" setting.

I find the "Face warmers" a little too much powerful lol. I only leave it on for a few seconds. I usually have it on window & legs.

On my previous cars, I could feel the warm air blowing on legs but for the brz, I don't feel anything at all. Does anyone know where the vents are for the leg warmers? Hopefully, my car isnt defective.

I had an 05 tC to drive around when the weather was nasty. Just sold it recently and have had to subject my poor FRS that has been garaged for almost 2 years to the likes of rain, snow, and salt :-(. Although the tC felt less planted on the road during sub par road conditions with All Season tires compared to the FRS with the factory tires. So, I feel okay about driving it around as my DD for right now. I will be buying another car in the next year to use during poor road and weather conditions. That way I can put my baby back up.

To the OP: glad you are doing well in the winter and really enjoying it. This is definitely a car that can be driven all seasons.

It does make me feel better when I see others driving their BMWs/Chevrolet/Ford/Mercedes sports car during the winter. I love my car and it convinces me to believe that it is of high quality and integrity. It feels like a car to keep for years. Drive on!

Suberman to the rescue!!

@Suberman The hero this city deserves!

Yesterday in Mississauga we had a solid 5-10 cm of snow and the car was absolutely flawless, not only was I getting better traction from the lights than most other cars, i also had amazing turn in compared to everything else on the road!

I had a guy in a F150 trying to keep up with me down a twisty bit of road and when we got to the bottom he said he was astonished at the grip i was finding in a little 2wd car compared to his 4wd pickup that had massive notchy tires…

I also love how easily the car can just hang its tail out, nothing ridiculous, but its quite fun holding ~15 degrees of opposite lock around a 60 kmh corner when no ones around… shhhh :burnrubber:

yes, i agree
this car is such fun to drive in the snow with proper winter tires.......don't agree with the weight in the back though
none needed :)

to avoid getting stuck, try finding spots for your rear tires that have very little amount of snow, or even go out, take the shovel out of your trunk (i carry a small one with me), clean two patches where the back wheels will go, and park
also avoid parking up on hills

as for warming up the legs, no problems here.........but i wear heavy duty snow boots so any heat would make my feet melt

BTW for Suberman, this diff is not from anything like a WRX STI.

The diff is one of the rare things actually stamped with a Toyota ID tag/sticker.

First time I left my TRAC off for just regular driving today.
As long as you're not dealing with uneven snow and high speeds, the car is very predictable and fun (found a nice subdivision with empty, unplowed side streets - had a blast).
However, I did take my sandbags out of my trunk one day for a drive - and it was a noticeable difference - I immediately put them back in.

Drove BRZ up to Newmarket yesterday, and on the way back down (in the middle of a big snowstorm), had no problems - did get nervous when I took a hilly road (Stouffville) and there was a line up though (kept my fingers crossed that the guys in front wouldn't stop and force me to claw up the icy hill).

BTW - does anyone notice that the heated seats don't really seem to heat up much (or quickly)?
And the front vent (on the dash for occupants) seems to be poorly-designed - the single horizontal slat doesn't do much to direct air up or down.

I'm tempted to take it in to the dealer to get the seats checked (my wife likes heated seats on cold days, and complains that they don't get very warm at all).

Many people have said that, but mine get up to temperature very quickly and are definitely hot enough to keep my back and butt nice and toasty. Way faster than my IS, G35, and GTI.

I agree it doesn't feel their is sufficient piping to feet area, barely feel a draft.

Another complaint of mine is that no matter how hard I shake the snow and water off my shoes, I somehow end up with a puddle of salty water under the gas pedal. Now this is normal, but I think due to the driving position sitting very flat, the bottom of my pant legs and socks become soaked. I've ruined pairs of pants and shoes because of the salt damage. Might be the OEM winter mats that pool the water in that area.

^^ Get some weathertech mats, that should help.

As for the leg warmers, I find if you put your right leg in the wrong place you block the outlet entirely.

I found with my weathertech mats that when the water build up from all the snow melting and I accelerated the water would flow over the back edge and onto the carpet so I had to prop the back edge up a bit to prevent that from reoccurring.

I find that just about any car does fine in the snow with the proper snow tires. I have a set of winter wheels and tires for my SRT-4, firestone winter force 205/50/15, and the car is like a tank in the snow. I've never gotten stuck no matter how much snow. It was a whole other story before I got a set of dedicated winter wheels for the car and drove around on my summer tires year round like a moron. The car was basically undriveable if there was at least an inch or more of snow.

I've driven the FRS once this winter in a few inches of snow because I took it to work and didn't know it was going to snow and it wasn't the worst car I've driven in the snow.... but... on the stock shitty tires it was far from optimal. Getting up my driveway, which is a hill, wasn't very fun at all. If I had the same snow tires I have on my other car on the FRS I'm sure it would have been a breeze.

That's because it takes forever to warm up leather seating. Cloth works fastest, and the Alcantara seats on this car ain't too slow with the setting on Hi.

I find that for the heated seats, I always put them on the highest setting first (push the button up towards your dash), then turn it down once it get's heating (which is fairly quick, I have had both faster and slower seats in cars past).
I also found what Wparsons found, that your leg may sometimes block the vent.
I did also find that putting weight in the back does make a difference (sorry brzr ) :)
My grip and control were greatly increased while going up a steep, snowy/slippery hill. (I did it both ways one right after the other to compare).

I find the heated seats to be just right compared to my previous cars. My other cars, the heat would be unbearable to the point where I need to turn it off and on. I do agree that it takes some time.

On the leg warmers. I will try to adjust my legs. Where exactly are the vents located for the legs?

Oh and another thing that annoys me is the trunk design. The very first time I opened the trunk with ice/snow still on it. The snow just fell right into the trunk. Have to carefully open it now or brush it off by hand before I get my scraper.

Too bad he was banished to parts unknown.

I would agree that every car with descent tires should be ok.

But I'd have to say, driving an automatic car on snow, especially those with the CVTs = I got no idea what the wheels are doing. With a proper setup (*cough cough, 3 pedals), you can easily accelerate, engine brake or remove power to the wheels, best things ever in snow :D

Yeah I def prefer manual in the snow. Hell I've never actually owned an automatic car lol

Village justice served?

.... SAID NO ONE EVER! :D

Village Justice indeed.:cheers:

We may yet be graced with slip-angle, friction circle, and mu tutorials since his banishment could only be a temporary time-out.

While it's not an "ideal" snow vehicle, I think it does just fine around populated areas that get plowed.

As long as it's not too deep (or moderately deep frozen slush) it's a fantastic winter car. Makes snow driving much more exciting because the feedback and predictability are top notch. Proper snow tires make all the difference.

Hard packed snow is AWESOME!!!

If Suberyouknowwhoman had continued on his rant regarding the twins the result might have been people reading his drivel while Googling the twins winter drivability. He would be a car un-salesman.
I think most people with common sense understand there is some compromise in driving this type of car year round but definitely worth it none the less. And, if you do have a winter beater more power to you.

I like how you mentioned number 2. Do you think that it will affect all of our cars, because I am going away for college and I am bringing my car. The only thing that scares me is during winter my car might get snowed in even with snow tires and extra weight in the trunk. That is why I am considering trading it in for an awd.

I've only been stuck in total about 3 times and this was during the ice storm in toronto and 10+ cm of snow days we've had so far. I don't find it much of a problem and usually laugh it off. The first one, I had to dig out of using my feet while the other two I just went forward and backwards really fast. Not a huge issue for me as the positives out weight the negatives.

Well it snows often in the Midwest so I hope snow tires will help me throughout the winter, after hearing many peoples reviews on tires I just might try it out. That or trade it in for a ralliart.

I have no weight in my trunk, first winter in a RWD coupe, just learned manual, battled 15cm of snow, with blizzaks ws70, me and my car laughed at snow and ice while I do tenths of deliveries around the city in all conditions.

The only thing that would and did stop me was the height of snow. Once it reaches a certained height, we are screwed regardless.

Alright cool, this made me a lot comfortable about depending on snow tires.

Like I wrote on his deleted thread, when summer rolls around he'll start a thread on Summer Driving Problems complaining about his higher load rating all season tires with stiffer sidewalls on stock suspension being all skittish on the wet. :D

Our snow banks are like 6 feet tall right now, and I haven't gotten stuck this winter at all. I got stuck once last year, but it was in an unplowed parking lot after getting about 18" of snow that day. There were SUV's stuck in the same lot, but I managed to get out by carefully rocking back and forth, then backing out the tracks I had come in.

Kelby, you gotta get winters. Only the foolish and wreckless dont get them here. It's night and day. Or like life and death, really. Just remember that the car won't handle quite the same

Got it, I will get snow tires this year!

I have yet to put any big weight in the back and have no complaints about it. Does it really make that big of a positive difference?