M35 in the snow

[barneshouse]

Wassup Everyone,

I am fairly new to the M35. Just picked up the base model RWD last month so still getting used to it and full of questions, but my newest question is anyone else have the RWD model and if so how does it do in the snow? I want to be prepared for the future. Thank for any info

[Ilya]

Just get good tires and drive responsibly and you'll be fine. The car is heavy.

[Larz]

Ilya is correct. I don't have X-drive. In FL it's basically useless. We rarely drop into the 60's and S FL has NEVER had snow.
I have, however made many trips to the north (NY, Conn, Pa, Md, etc) in winter including trips whilst they had major snow. I drive on Ventus S1 noble2 ultra performance A/S tires. They did just fine in snow and slush. As long as I drove like there was snow, I had no issues. Previously I always drove Michelin A/S tires and they also served well in the snow.

For the X owners: I'm not saying X-drive is only good for snow. I know there are other benefits but with those benefits come the trade-offs as well. I'm just saying for the generally smooth, flat road surfaces in FL, the trade-off of less driving enjoyment, the slightly reduced quality of ride, and higher cost of repairs is not worth it to me personally. If I lived in an area with roads that were not well maintained or an area that has months of snow, I'd get an X-drive with no regrets.

[seldomseen]

If you live in a region that gets a lot of snow, you should consider a set of snow tires if you wallets can afford them. Or just get a set of All Season tires that have excellent snow and wet weather traction. Your tires will make a significant difference if you're caught in a snow storm. A quality set of All Season tires will also benefit you when you're driving in the rain too.

[bluedevil30]

Wassup Everyone,

I am fairly new to the M35. Just picked up the base model RWD last month so still getting used to it and full of questions, but my newest question is anyone else have the RWD model and if so how does it do in the snow? I want to be prepared for the future. Thank for any info

Where do you live and will you be forced to drive in snow condition?

[barneshouse]

I live in Philly, so yes, a lot of snow during the winter

[barneshouse]

It rained a lot yesterday and my car handled like a champ so that was encouraging

[szh]

I live in Philly, so yes, a lot of snow during the winter

In snow country, with a powerful rear wheel drive car, snow tires in winter are a must. All-seasons will not really be safe enough on the heavier snow days.

Just get some cheap steel wheels, put on some snow tires (almost anything that has a decent load index will be fine!) and change them out in winter. Don't try to swap tires onto existing wheels - the time and money for doing that is needlessly prohibitive and you don't really want to subject good wheels to salt and rocks in winter.

Z

[sin1505]

I have a 06 M35X but I rarely drive it on AWD mode even during winter. I live in Montreal so in terms of snow; yeah it snows a lot.
I run on Dunlop Graspic DS-3 - and always feel safe.

[barneshouse]

Thanks guys for all the info and advice. I'll start with getting the best tires I can afford and take it from there.

[DailyDose]

I have a 06 M35X but I rarely drive it on AWD mode even during winter. I live in Montreal so in terms of snow; yeah it snows a lot.
I run on Dunlop Graspic DS-3 - and always feel safe.

correct me if I'm wrong, but i thought the X models were full time AWD- something that is unable to be turned on or off at a whim.
I drive an X model and have a couple of switches to use during snow, like the snow mode control (which cuts throttle response) and vehicle dynamics control (VDC) which i leave on unless I'm trying to go sliding. However, the car is an awd car- you can't switch between "awd mode" and "2wd mode." in fact, the AWD system defaults to being 100% power to the rear wheels unless it detects slippage in the front.

anyway- at the op- I'm from colorado and couldn't imagine driving a solely rwd car up here in the winters, espcially driving into the mountains on I-70. (about 8% grade both up and down) however, like others have said, snow tires will make a large large difference.

[TXT]

I'm in the middle of making a decision to change cars. I'm in North Jersey now and havent experienced snow yet in my car. It's RWD only and I'm lowered.

I currently have NO space to store my 19" sport rims and Michellin Pilot sport A/S 3 tires.

The plan is to get some cheap rims and some good winter tires but I can't store my current rims and tires.

SO I was thinking of somehow getting winter tires for my stock 19"s and figure out a way to store my current tires somewhere.

I'll also have to raise the car back up. So getting New tires plus switching out the springs will end up being close to 1000 this first time around. All other winters will require just mounting the tires.

This would all be good if I lived in a flat area but I don't. I live in a town with LOTS of extremely steep hills that I am forced to go up to go home.

I was thinking of getting the new Honda Accord V6 Touring. Front wheel drive will do much better in snow.

What do you guys think? Raise car back up and get winter tires? Do I really need to get all 4 tires or will the rear tires work?

Should I get wheels and tires or just get tires to fit current stock sport rims?

[szh]

With hilly snow conditions, a car with snow tires is almost essential - whether it is a front-wheel or rear-wheel drive. If you do decide to change to a Honda Accord, you will still need snow tires anyway ... most likely! So, changing cars is perhaps not the right option.

The problem with just getting snow tires for your existing rims is that you have to deal with changing and re-balancing the tires twice a year and getting the timing of that change right. Snow tires wear faster than regular tires so using them minimally as needed is best. Finally, the cost of twice-yearly remounting can be expensive ... about $80 to $100 each time.

A good set of snow tires (ALL four wheels ... not just the driven axle as some people recommend) is important if you are going to be in snow country, or anywhere where the daytime temperature stays near or below freezing for most of the day. Summer tires will get rock hard and slide in a heartbeat - with hills, that is downright dangerous.

My recommendation for putting them on cheap wheels is because a set of used wheels is not that much additive to the cost of getting snow tires anyway.

SO I was thinking of somehow getting winter tires for my stock 19"s and figure out a way to store my current tires somewhere.

Any chance you could find a friend with a garage to store your current wheels? Perhaps even you could pay a bit for storage space with a friendly neighbor?

BTW, storing tires mounted on wheels does not take much more space than storing just the tires ... just a bit heavier, of course. Tire Rack sells tire covers for storage purposes, by the way.

I'll also have to raise the car back up.

Hmmm ... you might be able to find a particular wheel/tire combo and avoid raising the car, but I am not sure of this, of course! Ask Tire Rack sales people for some advice.

A final option: get a cheap winter beater car! Lot of people do this in the NorthEast. It might be less than the loss you might take for swapping from the current M to a Honda, perhaps.

Back when I lived in New England, I had two cars ...one for [mostly] summer driving (my Nissan 300ZX Turbo) and for commute/winter driving (my Mazda 626 GT). Given where I lived in New Hampshire - with a steep driveway, let alone the hills nearby, I discovered the hard way why snow tires were essential for my Z.

I wasn't driving my Z in the winter normally, but my 626 was stolen from work one day (got it back two days later - joyriders! ) and I had no choice but to take the Z out ... and ended up in a minor fender bender because I slid on a hill into a snowbank (didn't have snow tires on the Z).

Z

[sin1505]

I have a 06 M35X but I rarely drive it on AWD mode even during winter. I live in Montreal so in terms of snow; yeah it snows a lot.
I run on Dunlop Graspic DS-3 - and always feel safe.

correct me if I'm wrong, but i thought the X models were full time AWD- something that is unable to be turned on or off at a whim.
I drive an X model and have a couple of switches to use during snow, like the snow mode control (which cuts throttle response) and vehicle dynamics control (VDC) which i leave on unless I'm trying to go sliding. However, the car is an awd car- you can't switch between "awd mode" and "2wd mode." in fact, the AWD system defaults to being 100% power to the rear wheels unless it detects slippage in the front.

anyway- at the op- I'm from colorado and couldn't imagine driving a solely rwd car up here in the winters, espcially driving into the mountains on I-70. (about 8% grade both up and down) however, like others have said, snow tires will make a large large difference.

You are probably right - my initial understanding was: snow mode on the model X insured that you were using awd at speeds below 50kmh.
We had deep snow last winter and the only difference I noticed between snow mode on - was gas consumption was higher, and that I could drive hard into or out of a corner without having much tail spin.

Otherwise while driving like a regular citizen; no noticeable difference.

As for a tip - I use a set of 17s for winter - I got the set off a 2004-2005 infiniti G35. You can buy them used for pretty cheap - and still look somewhat oem

[szh]

As for a tip - I use a set of 17s for winter - I got the set off a 2004-2005 infiniti G35. You can buy them used for pretty cheap - and still look somewhat oem

A good idea!

Always best (IMHO) to use an extra set of wheels for the snow tires - used ones from other Infiniti models (if the offset and stuff are correct for your M's) are a good alternative.

You can also get really cheap wheels from Tire Rack for snow tires ... which will not look as OEM, of course!

Z