Hows the FRS/BRZ in the snow compared to other RWD cars?
 

Hows the FRS/BRZ compared to an M3, 370z, S2000, Mustang, Camaro, Miata, Genesis, etc?

I don't have any experience with the specific RWD cars you mentioned, but I have lots of experience driving other RWD, FWD and AWD cars in the snow. The Twins are livable in the winter as long as they are on good snow tires. The main issues I found are the lack of ground clearance, which was an issue in the couple of big storms we had last year, and the lack of weight in the back. I put 50lb of sand in a sports bag in the trunk. Initially I had the sand right after the back and I found it compressed the rear suspension too much and made the car shift into oversteer in nearly every corner. I finally moved the bag forward, capturing the webbing handles in the RH latch for the rear seat. That seemed to be a good compromise between ride, handling and traction.

Driving my BRZ in the winter was a good refresher in clutch and throttle control. Driving WRXs for six years had made me lazy! :)

I drove an e90 335i for 3 winters. It was great in the snow. never had an issue. It was more stable in the snow (probably due to the weight), where as the BRZ felt a little bit looser. The BRZ wasnt terrible though, and I felt much more confident in it than my GF's fwd Cruze. Just make sure you get proper snow tires and you will be fine. I had hankook snow tires on the BMW and Blizzaks on the BRZ

ive driven in snow just this past winter, it gets slippery in heavy snow so just go slow. I have an auto with snow mode so with reduced torque its somewhat manageable.

Trac control helps a lot. With it on you cant even slide the car intentionally in like 6cm of snow at safe speeds

I found that the FR-S drives about the same on snow as the miata.

Just get some good winter tires and drive slow ....... the biggest problems are the jerks in front of you ...... :eyebulge:


humfrz

Hows it like in the highways around 60mph in a couple of inches of snow (1in-5in)?

With good snow tires ...... no worse than any other vehicle.

Personally, I wouldn't drive ANY vehicle at 60 MPH on snow covered roads ..... :confused0068:


humfrz

Compared to my 90 miata it drives a whole lot better I would say. Even with studs on the back of the miata I could only do 35mph on snow. If I tried to accelerate any more it would start fish tailing lol. I found the FRS did pretty well with good snow tires on it. I put 225/50r17 studless snows on it and I never got stuck. The taller tire helped with ground clearance issues. Heck my current street tires are 235/50's and it makes it like a truck lol I really need to put my lowering springs on..

Also side note. Macho driving man BS aside.. The traction control was actually very helpful while driving in the snow. As much as I hate to admit it.. It was kind of nice.

While I did drive a Miata year round for 10 years, it is hard to make a direct comparison due to the advances in traction and stability control that have taken place between 1990 and 2013. The Miata has no electronics and no ABS.

Would I drive the FRS in winter after doing the pedal dance to disable all the nannies? For some reason I cant see myself doing that. The car feels a bit more tail happy than the Miata.

Would not (could not?) drive all winter without snow tires.

I had a RWD Mercedes C-class wagon before the FR-S, and the difference between the two is much like you'd expect - the Benz had a bit better straight line traction and straight line stability, and the '86 is a bit more nimble, but looser feeling. I drove both all the time with all the nannies turned off (including ABS in the Benz, which unfortunately you cannot do with the '86), which makes them much easier to chuck around. The Benz was also an auto, which did nothing to help the situation. As long as you get a full set of good snow tires, you'll be fine. I run 205/55-16 on 16x6.5 steels for winter. I'd get skinnier if I could find them, but I can't. Go find a parking lot, turn off all the idiot-override controls, and learn how to drive a car like everyone should.

They are fine.

It's not moving...

It was I assure you!
Not a single snow day even with my 3 day a week commute to Woodstock and my 2 day one to Windsor.
Mind you 3 1/2 inches of clearance with 14 inches of snow makes for a spectacular show when you are the very first car going down the road.