BRZ/FR-S in the snow?
 

Hello everyone!

I'm new here and I'm getting ready to get my first car. Once I saw the Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S, I fell in love. However, I live in New York, and this past winter was rough. My parents are worried about the car being RWD, and many car salesmen are telling me not to go with it. I read up on it and it says that the car should be perfectly fine as long as I drive slow and maybe get snow tires during the winter. Would anyone be able to tell me about their experience with their BRZ or FR-S during the winter and in the snow/rain? Thanks!

snow tires are a must. Have driven through 2 winters in Canada with no issues.:cheers:

In before the "I garage my car during the winter" posts

I'm in St. Louis and we've had a few big snows since I got the car. With Blizzaks, I'm fine as long as the roads get reasonably plowed and/or the snow isn't higher than the bottom of the car. I think 5-6" was the magic number for me still being really mobile, and I never slid like I did in my Genesis coupe with all-seasons.

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I live in north east jersey, drove around tri state all winter. This was my first winter in the BRZ, did fine with dunlop snow maxx on the stock wheels. Had no issues going up steep hills, even from a stop. Highway felt fine, didn't have any issues changing lines, braking, etc. Yeah, this winter sucked pretty hard, but survived quite well haha even on cheap winter tires... Absolutely terrible in the dry though haha

A good set of snow tires and you are good to go! :)


Depending on your experience a wide open unplowed parking lot is a great place to get the feel of what the car will do in slippery conditions.


I say go for it!


:cheers:

It's certainly passable during winter with snow tires but by no means is it great. I bought brand new Blizzaks this winter for my BRZ and was disappointed. In light snow it did fine, but if the plows didn't get out fast enough and the roads/tire tracks started to get icy, it became scary.

The car struggled mightily on any kind of incline. During one of the worst storms I was on the highway approaching a hilly section where cars were slowing to a stop. Once I was forced to stop and restart I could not get traction, spent about a full mile opposite-lock.

My advice would be this, if you need the approval of your parents to buy the car, I'm guessing you're fairly young, which I would then assume means you probably don't have a ton of winter driving experience. This is not a good winter car, and if you don't know what your doing, you can easily get in trouble.

I'm in Cali, so no snow advice here.

If I were in your situation though and was looking for something in that price range, I'd get a '15 WRX.

There's a button:

http://www.cars101.com/subaru/brz/brz13-console11.jpg

Although, I have a feeling that it really summons snow...and that's why it snowed so much this winter. People thought it was for something else. :p

Thanks for all your replies! And for the record, I'm 16 years old (my birthday is in October) and I'm driving frequently with my father in his car. Come winter time I'm going to practice driving in the snow, just to get some experience with it and to make sure that I'm ready to take on a BRZ in those conditions.

HONESTLY, its better then my Camaro and Trans Am were in the snow...BUT being your first car...Id be extra cautious

It's perfectly fine (better than almost any car running all-seasons) with a good set of snow tires and safe driving habits. Some people on here will tell you that it's perfectly safe to just drive carefully with the stock tires.... don't listen to them, they're morons. Like most things, it's all about having the right tools for the job. You can grab a set of steelies for very cheap and in the long run, having a dedicated set of snow tires will be no more expensive than just having one set.

It's not going to be as good as a land rover on dedicated snow tires, but IMO, this car on snow tires is better than most cars on all seasons in the snow and if that's the two options (is for most people I would guess), than I still believe this is the safer option in the snow.

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.

The only other car I drive in the winter is a Lexus RX 350 with all seasons. With Michelin x-ice tires my BRZ is significantly better in the snow, so unless your dad's car has snow tires, it will probably be a bit worse (if you end up with snow tires). Just remember that even if you have the best winter tires on an AWD car, ice and snow are still dangerous. If you drive cautiously, you'll be fine.


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Yeah I wouldn't recommend using the stock tires in the snow, even if it's light. We rarely get snow where I live, but it snowed last month, and even in snow mode the car was useless. I actually had to turn off traction control to get the car moving from a complete stop at a light because otherwise I was sitting there with my tail end sliding around with no forward momentum.

Well, I guess that's good for me then, I'm pretty sure my dad has stock tires on his car.

This Car is just perfect in snow condition with the proper tires like others say. I use Michelin x-ice Xi-3 and I love it, very secure on ice and very good on snow too.

Enjoy and take care!

Im in wisconsin... nothing crazy, 6" mainly, our little road doesnt get plowed till after everything else is cleared up. Makes it through just fine with my conti extreme winter contacts. I got 205/50/17 on stock rims. They do very well on ice and stopping too. Dry performance is surprisingly good for a winter tire.
Stock tires... Light dusting and i found out that the road that looks flat by my house is actually a hill and got stuck.

Living here in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Get snow tires for sure. If your area has alot of hills, studded in the rears can help. Up here I've been driving the BRZ to almost -40 which turns everything to just ice. For now I have X-Ice 2s all around but I can still feel the back end letting go a little when I'm going up a slightly steeper hill.

Next winter, I'm going to get studded ones for the rear. Only time it really sucks to have the car out is when we get a couple inches of snow and the roads haven't been plowed yet.

Other than that, if the temps are around -10 or so, regular winter tires are great and will work! The BRZ is sooo much better than the old 89' 240sx I had back in the day. Used to always carry a shovel in the back of the old hatch just in-case :D

But yea just drive carefully to the conditions of the road and you should be fine!

That's never a bad idea - I carry a shovel and a tow strap in my Outback all winter, just in case. It's cheap, easy, and really nice to have for that time that the snow on the road was deeper than you expected...

As a Canadian who's been driving for over 10 years now without any accidents, I'd have to say that this car was the first car I've ever had to drive this slowly in during snowfall. I'd have old ladies in their Corollas overtake me sometimes in the passing lane, but that's what you gotta do sometimes. Better safe than sorry.

Echoing what some others have said earlier, drive until you think you're driving too slow and you're probably going at the right speed. Ease on the pedal instead of having a heavy foot and you'll be okay. Go slow into turns unless you're ready to fishtail. On uphills and steep ramps... I hope you're religious; pray for safe passage.

As a total unbiased opinion, I would have to say this car kinda stinks in the winter. You'll get stuck often and you'll fear more than you enjoy, but the other 3/4 of the year... you're gonna have the best driving experience of your life (so far). So if you're one that's able to suck up 1/4 of the year for the remaining 3/4 (like I am), then you won't go wrong with the twins.

Pretty good advice. Regardless of what car you end up getting, do get some snow driving experience under your belt (go to a deserted parking lot, frozen lake if you have those around in mid-winter, or other safe place and practice driving the car with low grip). Winter tyres help a lot but there are still plenty of conditions under which you'll have little to no grip (unless you have studs, I guess), and all cars are a little tricky to drive when that happens. Do get a good winter tyre. I drove my old car on Blizzaks (LM-60's I think) and they were pretty good. On actual ice you'd still slip and slide quite a bit, but for the most part they made the car pretty grippy. I've heard good things about Hakkapeliittas as well (http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=1...kkapeliitta+R2) but didn't get the chance to try them before moving back to southern California.

Other than tyres the best thing you can do is just be mindful of the conditions and treat them with respect. It sounds totally obvious, but if you're anything like me the hardest thing is to just force yourself to drive slower than it feels like you need to. Leave more room around your car, pay close attention to what you're doing, try and keep an eye on what's happening a good long way down the road, etc. Leave early so you don't put yourself in the position of being in a hurry. You'll minimize nasty surprises this way.

The good thing about winter driving is that you can reward yourself for all your safe daily driving by finding a snowy, empty parking lot. Snow can be dangerous, but it can also be a playground! If I could get my GTI to oversteer on snow, anything is possible on snow :P

Oh, and-- maybe this goes without saying-- in addition to the shovel that people are recommending that you carry, carry a full set of winter clothes in the back (a warm-ass jacket, warm hat, and gloves). If you get stuck for any period of time you'll be super glad you brought them. I used to carry an MRE too (you can buy them at surplus stores) just for kicks. Never did end up using it, but what could be more awesome than a packet of hot food while you're stuck on the side of the road? And they're small-- I used to carry mine in the glove box.

Not sure if anybody has done this, but I carry two sheets of cardboard in the winter. If you get completely stuck, stuff the cardboard under your tires and 90% of the time it'll help pull you right out.

I've heard people use floormats in a pinch, though that's just a last resort :D

Oh yeah forgot to mention, i put 140 lbs of sand and 50lbs of salt in my trunk. An expandable shovel as well just in case.

N dan, you running winter tires? I have no problems in my brz. Stock tires, forget about it, but dedicated winters work well. Ive passed up other cars n trucks stuck on hills. Its nothing compared to my sti with winter tires, but surprisingly better than i thought it would be.

Yup, running on Blizzaks and I have over 10 years of Canadian snow driving experience under my belt. I still fear for my life during snowfall + steep ramps/hills combination (especially when it's not plowed).