Winter

[Tt3Sheppard]

that is true although I was doing some math and the cost of steelies might offset the extra price of the 17s. Plus I don't know if I could look at steelies for 6 months. Hopefully I will get lucky and come across some nice 16'' wrx rims

[was385]

Originally Posted by 2forme

16" steelies with snows and some weight in the trunk

This, I'm just mounting some blizzaks probably on steelies with a couple bags of sand in the trunk (also useful if I get stuck). Beyond that, I'll just avoid crazy storms like any driver should. With a manual car, a LSD, and some common sense this should be fine to drive on the road and a TON of fun in an abandoned parking lot.

[WRXGuy1]

Studless snows on the stock rims.

[Turbowned]

I'm not convinced that anyone should be adding weight to the trunk of this car. It has a perfect weight balance from the factory; adding weight would only serve to throw off the car's balance and make it less responsive. Modern snow tires have a silica compound which effectively "bite" the pavement, allowing for more grip in slippery conditions. I feel like you'd be more prone to breaking the ass end out by creating a pendulum effect with the weight in the trunk. I never put weight in my E30 BMW's trunk and it did just fine with snow tires. My MR2 is a different story given that the engine sits over the drive wheels.

[Shizuma]

Originally Posted by Turbowned

I'm not convinced that anyone should be adding weight to the trunk of this car. It has a perfect weight balance from the factory; adding weight would only serve to throw off the car's balance and make it less responsive. Modern snow tires have a silica compound which effectively "bite" the pavement, allowing for more grip in slippery conditions. I feel like you'd be more prone to breaking the ass end out by creating a pendulum effect with the weight in the trunk. I never put weight in my E30 BMW's trunk and it did just fine with snow tires. My MR2 is a different story given that the engine sits over the drive wheels.

It doesn't have a pefect weight balance though, it has a near perfect 53-47 weight balance, adding 165.6 pounds in the back would make it have a perfect 50-50 weight balance.

But yeah, personally I wouldn't add any weight to the back of the car for the winter. The only vehicle I ever added weight in the back on was my 2000 Dodge Dakota 5.9 R/T because it was a RWD pickup with a V8 and thus no weight in the back so it needed it.

[gily25]

No matter what you decide to do...snow tires, weight, etc. your best bet is going to be picking an empty parking lot beforehand (streets will probably be plowed already) then head there when there's some snow on the ground and really finding out what the limits of the car are for basic winter driving. Learning to control a skid in a rwd car and resisting the urge to brake (downshift instead) are key to winter driving (aside from tires). No matter what tires you have if you slide a little bc you brake and slide you're now going to have to deal with the packed snow you created.

Keep in mind...you could be the best driver in the world...it's other people you have to worry about.

[jflBRZ]

like others have already mentioned, studless winter tires and you are good to go.

I've gone through 5 winters with all-seasons on 18's on an E46, this will be a piece of cake as long as you don't go crazy on the road when it's snowing/icy.

[FRiSson]

Originally Posted by 2forme

16" steelies with snows and some weight in the trunk

I heard a convincing argument against putting weight in the FR-S/BRZ' trunk. The car is very well balanced, with the weight placed as close to the center of the car as was feasible. Therefore, as much as possible, the car pivots around its own center. In addition, the car is biased in such a way as to lose traction in the rear first - for drifting purposes.

So, if you place weight in the trunk, you are putting mass away from the center and over the least stable end of the car. If the car starts to turn due to loss of traction, the weight will tend to boomerang the car off of its intended path. Whereas if the weight is centered in middle of the car it is much more likely to turn around its own center axis and stay on the road.

So, top-rated snows on all four wheels and keeping the weight distribution the same is best alternative.

If you feel that there is not enough weight to cause the tires to cut through slush and snow to the pavement, you have two additional alternatives. The best alternative is to use narrower tires to decrease the tire patch size (the part of the tire in actual contact with the road) - thereby concentrating more weight per square inch of tire patch. Or, you could add weight to the center of the car - front seat, rear passenger floor, etc.

[M-17]

Originally Posted by FRiSson

I heard a convincing argument against putting weight in the FR-S/BRZ' trunk. The car is very well balanced, with the weight placed as close to the center of the car as was feasible. Therefore, as much as possible, the car pivots around its own center. In addition, the car is biased in such a way as to lose traction in the rear first - for drifting purposes.

So, if you place weight in the trunk, you are putting mass away from the center and over the least stable end of the car. If the car starts to turn due to loss of traction, the weight will tend to boomerang the car off of its intended path. Whereas if the weight is centered in middle of the car it is much more likely to turn around its own center axis and stay on the road.

So, top-rated snows on all four wheels and keeping the weight distribution the same is best alternative.

If you feel that there is not enough weight to cause the tires to cut through slush and snow to the pavement, you have two additional alternatives. The best alternative is to use narrower tires to decrease the tire patch size (the part of the tire in actual contact with the road) - thereby concentrating more weight per square inch of tire patch. Or, you could add weight to the center of the car - front seat, rear passenger floor, etc.

You pretty much read my mind on this topic and the narrow tires makes sense. I've never heard that since just about everyone I know uses their trucks, suvs, or jeeps in the winter and just add some weight to the rear with their big ass tires to get through the bad snowy conditions. Anyway this seems like a logical solution, but don't forget to add winter tires as well.

[Tt3Sheppard]

Do you think our cars can use 195/50/16's? Saw a set of 4 rims with snow tires for $500 on Craigs list.

[FRiSson]

Originally Posted by M-17

You pretty much read my mind on this topic and the narrow tires makes sense. I've never heard that since just about everyone I know uses their trucks, suvs, or jeeps in the winter and just add some weight to the rear with their big ass tires to get through the bad snowy conditions. Anyway this seems like a logical solution, but don't forget to add winter tires as well.

Yes, good points. Trucks have a totally different distribution of weight, and there is too little weight in the bed if it is empty. That's where weight can be helpful, if placed over the rear axle.

[Mobius357]

Originally Posted by Shizuma

It always confuses me why people make it out to be that bad driving in snow, especially with this car since it's not like it has a ton of torque to break loose the rear end that easy anyways, I drove my Dodge Magnum on ultra high performance all season tires in the winter for all 8 years I owned it with no problems, and that was a RWD car with a V8 that had 390 ft-lbs of torque. I honestly have zero concerns of driving my BRZ in the winter.

I've always driven small 2wd pickups, and I never could figure what all the fuss was about. How often do you see 2wd pickups off the road though? It's always the big 4wd's stuck in snow banks.

Anyway, yeah, the car's gonna be a garage queen for the winter, if only 'cause I don't want all the winter grime on it. With 500lbs of sand in the back, not much stops my little Colorado.

[Sony]

Originally Posted by Mobius357

I've always driven small 2wd pickups, and I never could figure what all the fuss was about. How often do you see 2wd pickups off the road though? It's always the big 4wd's stuck in snow banks.

Anyway, yeah, the car's gonna be a garage queen for the winter, if only 'cause I don't want all the winter grime on it. With 500lbs of sand in the back, not much stops my little Colorado.

Only because 4WD drivers think they are invincible...not because 2WD is better in the snow. Sorry, but your little Colorado would never make it through some of the stuff my 4WD Tacoma would/does. It's all about not being stupid and trying to drive through a 4 foot snow bank...or knowing when it's appropriate to use 4Lo and having proper tires. Most people just think OH I HAVE 4WD, LET ME DRIVE OVER EVERYTHING WITH NO CARES IN THE WORLD.

I two years ago I drove home 2 hours in that huge blizzard we had in January at 3am before the plows had a chance to clear it. There was a least 18" of snow on the highway and I was able to comfortably drive 55mph home in 4WD for 80 miles, I doubt your 2WD Colorado could have done that without fishtailing. I'm not trying to criticize your driving ability, but your observations of 4WD vehicles getting stuck more often than 2WD has nothing to do with the vehicles themselves...but the drivers who drive them and their mentalities. Having 4WD leads people to have a misleading sense of safety and capabilities, for example someone with 4WD is more likely to attempt to barge through a large snowbank and get stuck because they thought "I HAVE 4WD I CAN DO THIS" than someone with 2WD looking at the same snowbank. 2WD is not more capable than 4WD...if this were true than every single off-road vehicle in existence is doing it wrong.

[Ionian32492]

Yeah, mine's getting locked away in the garage unless we somehow get as mild of a winter as we did last year (doubtful). No second car for me (and no money for snow ties + steelies) though, I'll be abusing the MBTA, and my feet, December onward.