Snow Question - 135

[Adam135i]

Just had our first real snowfall today (50cm) and had to get to work. The car did great but there was still some slippage in the back. Does anyone put any weight in the truck?

Thanks

[euro2fast4u]

Originally Posted by Adam135i

Just had our first real snowfall today (50cm) and had to get to work. The car did great but there was still some slippage in the back. Does anyone put any weight in the truck?

Thanks

add a 100 pounds and try it again you will be amazed, and keep at least 1/4 tank of gas in the car at all times

[KingOfJericho]

I love it when people tell me I don't know what I'm talking about when I say my car is great in the snow. I'm always the first one in the office when it snows!

[ken1137]

+1 to all... I have two 40 lbs salt bags in the trunk with a spare tire (BavAuto) for Winter driving.

[MarkkyyMan]

Spare tire + 3 bags of floor dry + full tank of gas!

Winter tires don't hurt either..

[Sylon]

I'm not running the extra weight in the trunk, might give that a try. But yeah, my boss said I would have all kinds of trouble driving my car in the snow. Sure its not like her SUV or my old AWD Subaru, but the 135i can handle the snow just fine with snow tires on. Besides, rear wheel steering helps out a lot of the time, lol.

[roo97ss]

I assume they are pretty good with snow removal up there. 20" for us here in Delaware necessitates some aggressive driving in my truck with its 33" off readers.

[euro2fast4u]

lol delaware and snow removal thats a joke right

[SPB PELICAN]

i dont even have snow tires on, its barely snowed in New Hampshire. Plus I dont have any winter tires so i guess ill just put some weight in the back with the summers and call it a day.

[Spitfire007]

So is maryland or new York or even ct sometimes. Most impressive were nh and vt. Living there I barely got to play on the roads. The plows were just too darn quick

[emtrey]

snow tires have solved any isuues for me in Chgo area. No extra weight needed.
Dunlop D3 17inch (down from 18 inch summer setup)

[euro2fast4u]

part of vt wont even plow you just drive on top of all the compacted snow

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by SPB PELICAN

i dont even have snow tires on, its barely snowed in New Hampshire. Plus I dont have any winter tires so i guess ill just put some weight in the back with the summers and call it a day.

Just remember that you will get zero snow/ice traction with summer tires. And even dry road performance below 40o will be greatly compromised.

Tom

[roo97ss]

Originally Posted by SPB PELICAN

i dont even have snow tires on, its barely snowed in New Hampshire. Plus I dont have any winter tires so i guess ill just put some weight in the back with the summers and call it a day.

Going to be a long winter on true summers in nh. If the 1 is your only car id seriously invest in some winter tires. On firehawk wide ovals my m3 couldn't make it from the lower part of driveway up in 3" of snow. Mild hill. With snows as long as not getting hung up it would go anywhere

[Sylon]

Originally Posted by SPB PELICAN

i dont even have snow tires on, its barely snowed in New Hampshire. Plus I dont have any winter tires so i guess ill just put some weight in the back with the summers and call it a day.

When I lived in Germany, I had an appointment to get my snow tires put on, however a week prior a rain storm was forecasted. That "rain" became 6-7 inches of snow and blizzard-like conditions within an hour. My car literally DID NOT MOVE on summer tires. The car was stuck in a parking lot for that week until it warmed up just barely enough for me to get rescue my car and get the snow tires put on.

My boss had to pick me up for work each morning because my car was stranded. So, I recommend getting snow tires, or storing the car for the winter. Because if you get as little as a dusting of snow, you aren't going anywhere.

[jkoral]

Originally Posted by SPB PELICAN

i dont even have snow tires on, its barely snowed in New Hampshire. Plus I dont have any winter tires so i guess ill just put some weight in the back with the summers and call it a day.

It's been incredibly mild in the Northeast, and if you excuse the late October snow storm, we've had zero snow south of you in Mass. I don't have snow tires on my 135i either, but they are aired up and ready to be mounted at the first sign of snow.

(I also took off my sticky 18" summer tires and mounted 17" all-seasons a while back when the temps started dropping into the 30s to get better cold weather handling).

As others have attested it will only take a small amount of snow to get you stuck with summer tires. It will only take slightest incline (not even a true hill) if you've come to a complete stop.

That said, starting on a hill with snow tires, I usually get better traction than FWD cars due to the Front=>Rear weight transfer.

[SPB PELICAN]

to everyone that was telling me that the summer tires are a bad idea I know they wont work very well in snow, but the plows are pretty quick up here so theres rarely much snow on the roads themselves. And this isnt my only car, I also have a Mercedes GL 4-Matic so if worst comes to worst I can drive that. But I appreciate everyones thoughts

[Sylon]

At least you have another vehicle to use if the weather gets bad. But relying on the snow plows isn't the best idea. You are relying on someone else to ensure they plow the roads in time for you to use them. You always have to consider the "what if...?"

Also, winter is just starting. We have 3 more months to look forward to.

[sardius]

This car is very very decent in snow with snow tires, handles much better than my previous VR6 and Mazda 3. However, I tried driving the 135 with a dust of snow on the ground out of parking lot on summer RFTs and it wouldn't even move.

[Sinister Crayon]

I got to drive my car on it's summer RFT's when the poor thing was only a day old... well, a day since I picked it up at the Performance Center. Took the Cherohala Skyway and encountered some snow at the higher altitudes. I would come around a corner and be confronted with almost pure white with a few patches of asphalt. Fun... not.

Anyway, the upshot is that so long as I was already moving and didn't make any sudden direction changes I was fine. The rear got a bit spooky at times, but with a little judicious use of the throttle I did OK. Now, getting moving again once I had stopped (which I did at the top in order to get a picture)... yeah... if it hadn't been for the dry patches of road I suspect my car would still be up there

Thankfully down here in St. Louis I was able to hold off putting the winter tires on until just about a week and a half ago. The ribbing I got in the wheels and tires forums notwithstanding, I haven't regretted it for a moment... except that we haven't had much snow yet

[CincyOne]

As Tom K. said, it's not just the snow but the temps, too. Summer performance tires are like greasy rocks under 35 deg. or so.

[Adam135i]

Thanks for the responses. We got about 40cm of snow (1ft) today and the snows worked great (Gisleveds). I knew they were working well when I passed a Hyundai Genesis spinning it's wheels going up a small hill!