has anybody used the standard performance tires in the snow? i'm curious how much of a difference there is between them and the all season tires. there's a special going on right now, and i might be able to get a crossfire of my own instead of driving my parents, but almost all of them have the standard tires. will it make that much of a difference? i live in the metro detroit area. thanks a lot.

 

quite a difference b/t the two.

the pilots are near useless. the all seasons are okay in the snow but not great (i've tried it).

the biggest difference is in performance... come dry weather.

i am replacing my all season tires for conti sport contact 2's. but i want added grip & handling.


~ this search will find you many past discussions on this: https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...searchid=73135

for the ultimate winter grip... buy these: https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...ght=snow+tires

 

My advice is forget it. The car won't go anywhere. Eighty pounds of sand and winter tires are needed.

 

i'm just having a hard time deciding. the color i want only has the standard tires, but a couple other colors a bit down on my list have the all season tires. i'm not sure if it's worth having the color i want for the tires. thanks.

 

~ some dealers will swap rims & tires with another new car. with slow sales & large inventory... you'd be surprised.

 

i found the michelin ps2s to be the safest tire i have ever had on a car in the winter. when it snows half an inch, it is nearly impossible to back the car out into the street. therefore, it is very unlikely that i would ever have an incident in the snow or ice with these tires.

 

True, the PS2s won't get you anywhere, in any amount of snow. I have driven in snow with them, (driven down the block then realized what a dumb idea it was, then spent 30 minutes getting back). At least I have an SUV now so I don't have to worry about it.

 

thanks for all the input guys. i decided to get the car with the all season tires in exchange for the color i wanted. i wanted black, which only was available with the performance tires. i just ordered an aero blue convertible last night! i'm super excited!

 

the blue is much easier to keep clean. good choice in long run imo.

 

Congrats and enjoy your new toy!

 

Dunlop winter sport m3 tire is the best.
I have them and they go though 6 inches of snow with no problems, little bit pricey but worth it.

 

I have to admit, I took the simple approach. Last year, I found a sale on the conti all seasons. I now have a set of ps2's and contis. Next moth I'll swap to the summer tires and next fall I'll put the conti's back on. In the two snows we had this winter, the car had no problems, but as Missouri moves into the nicer weather, I'll go for the better traction of the ps2's. All I need is more space to store two sets of tires and I'll be happy.

 

I live in the lake effect snow belt of northeast Ohio (30 miles east of Cleveland) and got caught in a snowstorm just a couple of days after I bought my Crossfire in March 2004. Since then I've driven it daily including the winter of 2004-2005 (the heaviest snow year on record here). It came with Continentals and they're still on it.

I have my driveway plowed but sometimes I get home before the plow guy shows so the car waits at the bottom of the drive until he shows. Then I back it out and tour the local development until he is done. On the rare occasions the main road is really slippery it's not possible to get the entry speed required to get it all the way up the drive and it "sleeps out".

It has been stuck a couple of times on flat ground but use of the snow scraper as a shovel and some judicious rocking has gotten it moving. Practical limits are about 3" of heavy wet warm snow and 6" of light cold dry snow (below 20ºF).

You want the traction control off to start and on once it gets moving. The traction control will eventually lock up both rear wheels and kill the engine at low speeds. In wet snow the car is actually floating on a film of water so the brakes and steering can be ineffective so planning ahead and not doing anything abrupt are important.