2008 Sedan - 2.5L vs. 3.5L

[Berly]

I am looking at buying a new Altima Sedan and am looking for some opinions. I live in South Western Ontario and we get quite a bit of snow. I have read on here about how the Altima's will be in the winter and am satisfied it will be fine. The question I have is the 3.5L vehicles have Traction Control and VDC and I'm debating if it is worth paying the extra money for the larger engine with these features you can't get on the 2.5L. How much difference will they make in the slippy winter weather? Thoughts??Thanks in advance!

[jdshift]

Not sure about everybody else here, I have driven both in snow. The 2.5 held it's own in snow, but the 3.5 with TCS, and also more weight helps. I feel more in control on the road in snow with the 3.5.

[generic808]

No snow here in Hawaii so I couldn't answer. Just wanted to rub it in haha j/k

[cliffy21]

I live in Windsor, Ontario, and i've had my 3.5 SE with traction control since last January. I had absolutely no problems driving in the snow. Granted, we don't get snow quite as heavy as you get, but i wouldn't anticipate any problems.

[SHIFT_2.5S]

No snow here in Hawaii so I couldn't answer. Just wanted to rub it in haha j/k

Not necessarily a good thing. I love the snow. Hate this hot year-round summer that we have in California.

[generic808]

Not necessarily a good thing. I love the snow. Hate this hot year-round summer that we have in California.

I lived in LA for 2 years and I loved the weather there! The days were hot and the nights were cold. Something we don't see very much of here I like snow when I'm on vacation, but I don't know if I'd be able to wake up every morning and scrape it off of my car while freezing my butt off

[SHIFT_2.5S]

Lately, all we've had is hot weather and fires with about 10 minutes of drizzle and 2 days of sub-70 weather.

[MagicM]

Personally i think as long as you have a good set of winter tires having the 2.5 or 3.5 won't matter. Get whatever one that suits you most, and make sure to get good tires.

[gotak]

Personally i think as long as you have a good set of winter tires having the 2.5 or 3.5 won't matter. Get whatever one that suits you most, and make sure to get good tires.

The best answer so far!

Get winter tires. If you go with the specials on the Goodyear nordic with Canadian Tire you can save a bit of money and people say they are decent. Or you can spend slightly more and get tires people say are really good. Like I did with some Gislaved Nordfrost 5.

People who say you don't need them haven't tried to haul a car down from speed when it gets a bit cold. My stock 17 inch conti never made a noise before and suddenly one day when it was 5 C out it did when I brake hard for a yellow. Just a week earlier wouldn't have been an issue. Show how the cold can effect the rubber in an all season making it harder and less grippy when cold. Now imagine if there's snow and ice on the road.

[Berly]

Thanks for the input!I ended up buying a 3.5 SE with everything but Nav in Precision Grey today. I figured if I'm debating it so much spend the extra money and not be left with the "what if" down the road. They have to order it or locate it or something so we'll see when I get it! Odds are I'll still get winter tires and rims once it arrives but we'll see how she goes!Thanks again!

[jdshift]

Very good, hope all works out for ya!!