FRS in the Snow..

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by Frishkorn

No, I meant if you buy snow tires. I have done it on all season tires as well with past cars, but my driving is so sporadic in the summer (different road trips, multiple jobs) that I don't know if it helped with longevity of the tires in summer or not but rain grip increase was marginal. Grip increase is the most notable on ice.

First year I went with snow tires I had studded snow tires no sipping. Would slide coming to a stop if not careful about pumping brakes.

Second year I went stud-less with sipping, and the improvement to stopping was remarkable!

Pretty sure that most, if not all snow tires come sipped already.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by GreenMonster

Now we just need someone to bump the "junk in the trunk" thread!!

Could be wrong and too lazy to check but I do believe Dadhawk has it on the sig line!

[chaoskaze]

Originally Posted by ZionsWrath

Where are the summer tire warriors.

"Ive driven to the peak of mount everest on stock tires. You just need experience and skill."

A friend of mine have winter tire on all year in Vancouver Canada ever since he drove his STI off the sea to sky highway during a winter ski trip lol.

So ..... winter tire warrior?? Check.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by chaoskaze

A friend of mine have winter tire on all year in Vancouver Canada ever since he drove his STI off the sea to sky highway during a winter ski trip lol.

So ..... winter tire warrior?? Check.

Oh that would suck! Winter tires in warm weather can be the squishiest, noisiest and most horrible thing to experience!

[chaoskaze]

The funny thing is he is doing all that with the 2010 Cayman he owns now. (The STI he totaled was 2013) Quoted directly from him, "Thanks God we have ICBC!"

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by chaoskaze

The funny thing is he is doing all that with the 2010 Cayman he owns now. (The STI he totaled was 2013)

He does realize he cut his performance by a massive percentage right?

[chaoskaze]

Ya, everyone in the friend circle makes fun of him now. lol I dont know but I think he got really scared. lol

[Frishkorn]

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

Pretty sure that most, if not all snow tires come sipped already.

Some do, Firestone's I know are sipped from the factory. But there are some that aren't (can't remember the Chinese brand that my first set were). It's easily identifiable however. Still, I get blank stares when I mention sipping every winter to folks. Figured it was good food for thought for anyone thinking of buying snow tires and something to look for.

I still highly recommend having it done on all-seasons for your normal daily drivers for the winter. On ice it just can't be beat.

[rmbstyle]

Im just trying to figure out which Blizzak would be best. The studless ice & snow or the performance winter & snow?

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by rmbstyle

Im just trying to figure out which Blizzak would be best. The studless ice & snow or the performance winter & snow?

You always lose a little something with a performance winter tire but for your needs it would probably be suitable. You won't give up as much handling as I do with the monster truck things I have been using.

[navanodd]

Jeez, I even felt nervous on the Primacy's when the temperatures dropped to freezing and the roads were dry before I swapped over to my X-ice's. Can't imagine how terrible it would be trying to drive through any accumulated snow with these hockey pucks.

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by Frishkorn

Some do, Firestone's I know are sipped from the factory. But there are some that aren't (can't remember the Chinese brand that my first set were). It's easily identifiable however. Still, I get blank stares when I mention sipping every winter to folks. Figured it was good food for thought for anyone thinking of buying snow tires and something to look for.

I still highly recommend having it done on all-seasons for your normal daily drivers for the winter. On ice it just can't be beat.

I'll admit to not having done my research, but I believe sipping tires does decrease tread life since the tread tends to squirm a bit more under load.

[etherdude]

I use the Blizzak WS70 in a "-1" size (205/50-16) on my FRS. Works great in the snow and cold weather. However you lose a LOT in handling compared with a regular tire (even the Bridgestone Turanza EL400-02 OEM tires). The WS70's have less directional stability, feel "slushier" on turn-in, and have much less dry grip compared with the OEM tires. My 2012 Yaris SE 5-speed had the same tires (in different sizes) as my 2015 FR-S, and I would make the same comparisons.

[STV3]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

Calling it manageable is probably misleading to people reading this thread if I'm understanding you correctly.

You said you barely made it up your driveway in 2" of snow. Imagine if you were going downhill on a public road surrounded by other cars and needed to stop to avoid a collision. Sliding down a hill with your foot on the brakes with stock tires in the snow is not really a manageable situation.

Nor is crab-walking up a hill at 1mph sideways with cars coming the opposite direction and behind you.

Is it doable without hitting other cars or getting stuck? Possibly with some luck. But a manageable situation? Not really.

I am not advising to run them in the snow, but if you have no other choice its manageable, with proper technique and precaution of course.

The only reason I had trouble getting up my steep driveway was because the entrance is very narrow and there is a bump at the foot of it. So I have to slow down to a crawl when entering it making me lose any momentum I would have used to get up it.

As far as sliding down a hill, that is avoidable. You could either, take an alternate route avoiding the hill all together, or go down if very slow(10-15mph) in 2nd gear and keep plenty of distance from the car in front of you so you have plenty of time to react if need be.

Again I'm not saying "oh the stock tires are fine in snow". There is nothing better than a good set of snow tires and I always preach to use them if you are going to be driving in snow.