Tire cables or chains
 

Hello,

I live up in the mountains and commute down to a valley every day. Where I live, tire chains or cables are often required by law. Where I work, it hardly ever snows, so most of my commute is on snow/ice-free road. Right now, I currently keep the FR-S in the garage because my street is an icy/snowy mess, but would like to take it out sometime this winter. Even if the weather looks good when I leave, it could start snowing while I'm out and then I'll be stuck away from home.

My street is steep, and there's no way this car will make it safely up or down without real traction devices.

Has anyone used traction devices on the twins? I know what the manual says, and I've used THULE brand 12mm link chains on my other vehicles with great success. I plan on buying their 9mm versions for the FR-S, but wondered if anyone had any first-hand experience.

Thanks!

I will never use cables. Had a cable break and destroy the fender on my old WRX wagon. Stick to chains. A lot of owner manuals specific too, but I haven't read for the FRS yet

Are you actually required to have chains or will dedicated snow tires suffice? Not sure if Subaru recommends the use of chains for our cars, but if I had to do it, I'd probably consider something like the Shur Grip Z: http://scc-chain.com/Traction%20Pages/Trac_SGZ.html

Snow tires are allowed most of the time. When things are very bad, chains are required (maybe 3-4 times a year). My experience with snow tires on my '99 Corolla was that they'd work really well until I was about 200' from my driveway, where it's just too steep and often icy. Those were, admittedly, some old tires, though. I hesitate to buy dedicated snow tires when only 2 miles out of my 35 mile commute ever has snow.

Thanks for the recommendation. I will look into those. I am also thinking about these: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UNPVKQ/ref=s9_simh_gw_p263_d0_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf _rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0M65S0JQ7E3B4N51PWY4&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p =1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846"]Thule 9mm CG9 Premium Passenger Car Snow Chain, Size 090 (Sold in pairs) : Amazon.com : Automotive[/ame]

I have the 12mm version for my other car and they work very well.

Amazon sells the Shur Grip Z's as well, just make sure you get the right one based on your tire size if you go that route. The main reason I recommended the Shur Grip Z is because it complies with S.A.E. Class "S" requirements. Since Subaru doesn't recommend using snow chains on our cars due to clearance issue, the best they'll be able to do is advise you to stick with a traction device that is S.A.E. Class "S" compliant, and not to take their word as an endoresement of said product. In other words, they don't want the liability associated with recommending an actual product. That said, I know that other Subaru owners have reached out to Subaru and they've specifically used this product as an example of one that complies.

You could also consider autosock. The parts guy at a Subie dealership told me about them. Google it. Neat stuff. And about the same price as chains.

Cables. Just keep some cutters with you in case they do break. But they are safer than a chain. But you really don't want to have to use either. Hit a bump with chains and they can tear up the fender liners pretty good.