Snow and Ice Driving
 

Hey guys. First time i'm driving in snow with any car and all i can say is I can't even get out of my neighborhood. stock tires really suck and the grip is non-existent. I have had it parked for the last 3 days because of this weather. Does winter snow tires really help at all? It doesn't seem like it would for this FR layout. I live in the Gresham area near towards the hills and i cannot see how i would be able to drive the FRS anywhere in this ice lol. Any angle slope and the car would drive sideways in no direction. Any tips for this kind of weather and whether or not its worth investing in snow tires?

Winter tires make a monumental, enormous, absolutely phenomenal improvement over all season or summer tires. That has been true on every vehicle I have ever driven, regardless of drive layout or balance. If you want to use this car frequently in the winter (in a place that gets a fair amount of snow), I would say winter tires are just about mandatory, and once you have them, you should do just fine.

Oh, and get real snow tires, not "performance" snows.

Driving in snow is impossible on the factory tires. Had my friend tow my car from my parents to stark at 8pm tonight. However being the track and drift junkie I am, driving on ice was easy. I wouldn't recommend this to some1 new to RWD but I found driving with VSC/trac off easy in the Ice. I didn't go above 30 or leave second/first gear. Did fish tail a bit and drifted 1 corner but it was all super controlled and maintained my lane the whole way.

I'm on the factory rims/tires btw. Only 12000 miles but that includes 3 HPDE days so they aren't new lol.

I highly recommend snow tires. My fronds 94 turbo legacy was terrible in te snow. We got Stuck a lot the first day. Always got ourselves out but he threw a new set of blizzarks on yesterday and he grips everywhere no problem. Yea it's AWD but the difference was night and day. I'm sure the FRS is the same.

i really enjoy driving this car and i'm so missing out of this snow as well. perfect for some sliding action but my tires just wreak of failure at the moment. I tried to move it from where i parked today and couldn't even get out. Everyone keeps telling me its not worth buying winter tires here because it doesn't snow much. I debated getting some but haven't pulled the trigger on a set.

Yes snow tires make a night and day difference in the snow/ice compared to summer or even all season tires. I drove around all day and the car did wonderful. My snow tires aren't even studded either. You're not going to accelerate quite as well as a car with all wheel drive but everything else like stopping and turning will be just as good.

Oh and I drive my BRZ to the mountain to Meadows to snowboard too with my winter tires.

I'll see tomorrow if i get a set and stick'em on my stockies.

If I had alt rims set aside I would have got snow tires last week when I saw the storm watch. /sigh

I feel ya. I should have got tires knowing this was gonna happen.

In lieu of snow tires, though I too would recommend them, go find yourself a set of autosocks. I'm using them on my summer tires and I can actually get around in them.
http://www.autosock.us/

Well, RedFRS4me, I'd recommend you take alternative transportation to where ever you need to go if the roads are snow covered. If the roads are ice covered, I'd suggest you just hunker down in place.

If your FR-S is your only source of transportation and you MUST drive it in the snow, I would strongly advise you invest in a set of snow tires.

I've been driving on snow covered roads off and on for over 60 years with various rear wheel drive vehicles and find driving the FR-S on snow to be quite challenging, even with my good all-season tires.

I find my FR-S is quick to go off the intended path on snow covered roads .... but it can be brought back real easy. So, what's the problem? The "bringing it back" takes some space and the other cars on the road may not give you that space .... :eyebulge:

Be careful out there .... :)


humfrz - finding snow covered roads not so much fun anymore

The stock tires aren't THAT bad, Michelin Pilot Super Sports on the other hand make it near impossible to even make it out of my flat driveway with snow.

Winter tires are definitely worth the investment if you're ever going to drive on snow or ice. The $800 investment in snow tires + rims is far cheaper than one accident and will extend your summer tire life.