I am thisclose to buying this car but wonder if anyone has driven this car in winter? As a practical matter can't rationalize buying this and warehousing it for 4 months (we have 2 seasons here in Chicago -- Winter and Road Construction). I must've read 8 reviews that all say "wonder what it will handle like in snow and potholes." Doesn't anyone know?

If the Xfire is only for warm weather, why does it have heated seats?

I am not terrified of snow; Up Here we don't shut down the city every time a flake hits the ground. Even in winter most streets are clear. I grew up on rear-wheel drive cars. But then again they had more weight.
I suppose the ESP would keep me on a straight course while I skid into the car in front of me...

Do the ASP tires make any real difference? What about the "winter" mode on the auto trans? If all it does is start from 2nd at a stop, can't anyone do the same with a stick?

Final, related issue: many posters on this site recommend hand-wash only. How do you get the underside clean that way? Problem here is that the politicans are addicted to salt, even after winter is over there is salt on the street for weeks/months, maybe all year, kicking up each time the streets are wet. Underside washing is a must or Hello Rust.

 

The car is a daily driver for me. Been driving it since Christmas. I have driven it every work day. It handles fine in the slush and wet but when you can not see the road it is happier in the garage then it is on the road. In the future I intend to leave it in the garage on those few blizzard days of the year and use public transportation instead.

I had a Mustang GT that was a pig on skates in the snow. Big engine, light weight and big tires. Same deal here. No worse, no better. The computer can get in the way when it is really slick because it insists on not letting the tires spin. It will do this to the point of not letting the car move. Pedal to the wall and tach on idle. This can happen when you can't see the road. If you turn off the computer and be real careful you can get it home.

I have seen a lot of discussion about tires making the situation better. I do not intend to play this game. 2 or 3 days a year the car wants to stay home. I will let it. It is a small price to pay for such a cool set of wheels.

black/auto/gray-2565

 

:lol: It has heated seats for those of us who freeze in 50 degree weather on a beautiful sunny (cold) day in Las Vegas! :lol:

Love Those Seats!!

 

deco:

Don't let them scare you. Buy some real winter tires, put some weight in the back and drive away....

There are some other threads about this topic.

I drove every day this winter, with no problems.

The only real gotcha is that you have to buy at least two extra 18" wheels for the rear, because no one makes 19" snow tires.

The Winter/Summer switch does not seem to make much difference.

Go buy your Crossfire!

 

Not trying to scare anyone. I have only driven through 1 snow storm so far. It was about an inch of frozen sleet with 7-8 inches of wet snow on top. I think it would take a whole lot more than a pile of bricks and a pair of new tires to turn that into a fun experience.

There are 2 or 3 days of most winters when light weight, high powered, big tired, rear wheel drive cars are going to be a trial and this car is one of them. Lucky for us this is more than offset by the good times.

Have reserved a slot to take a tour of Road America in July. Can't wait.

 

No argument about the 1 or 2 really bad days, but then on those days no one should be out and about, with or without 4WD.....

And I use 5 40 lb bags of rock salt, double bagged in garbage bags for my weight. It is less noisy than bricks!!!!!

;-)

But I am counting down the 30 remaining days (Friday, April 2, 2004) until I can pull off these winter tires and put the Michellins back on!!!!!

 

I've driven mine every day since I bought it, last night there was about an inch of snow on the ground.. of course I've got the all seasons, but still the car handles better than my WRX on snow, at least stopping/skid control wise

i'm impressed.. with some blizzaks it should be good to go except for heavy snow days

 

Go to the thread "Subaru Forester 2.5 XT" in "Other Cars" and tell those guys that think their subaru is the best car ever made about your experiences with the WRX.

 

i'm in houston. not much snow so bear with me here..

does the anti-spin/sway whatever computer really get involved in snow and ice and does it help? what's it feel like?

dan

 

the anti-spin/sway traction control is phenomenal... yesterday all the roads melted, last night everything froze... the car took it perfectly, i even tried to lose control (slamming on the brakes and turning the wheel, or just doing slalom type stuff) and it tracked where i steered.

You can feel it distributing brake force when it's controlling the car, a little whirrr sound and it puts it back on track.. i'm amazed.!

 

Every day driver here also, since purchase in December... can only agree with all the 'favorable but common sense' reviews above... No bigger problem than driving anything else... and better than most IMO... handled quite well this winter.

And I'm a bit farther north than you... we had about 3 or 4 snows that were 2-4 inches each.. and it did just fine.

HOWEVER, I do have the 'all season' Continental brand tires.... having never driven one without those cant say if that added/detracted from the performance, but I would tend to think it helped.

 

Thank you to all who posted here; made a difference in my purchasing decision. As of this w/e, now an Xfire driver. With luck, won't have to find out about winter handling until maybe next December or January....

 

Just to help ya out a bit more! I just got in from driving mine in some nasty Michigan weather ! Out there its a mix between Snow / Rain... and tons of slippery spots on the road... but I will say I felt barely any slips and it was WAY more stable then my Grand Prix, Grand Am, and Eagle Vision... and IMO ... better then my parents Durango (not in 4x4 of course) because of its weight and the rear wheel drive almost seems to add more control! ... I loved this out there today... just put it on traction control and winter styled driving hope you enjoy the Xfire!

 

jsisabella

My wife drove 99% of our "little car" as she call her, and she did not like the snowy days. I think I will buy two 18" wheels for this next winter and I was wondering if when changing to snow tires, do you have to have the dealer reset or do something special for the tire pressure monitering? I realize I must buy the special valve stems for the new rims but what about the two original rims with new tires?

 

Yes, the dealer has to reset the tire pressure monitor sensors.

They plug in the service computer console into a plug under the dash on the driver's side.

Then they go around to each wheel and put a magnet on the inflator stem. The computer then reads the signal from the individual sensor and sets is for the car.

The entire process took about 5 minutes. My dealer did it for free. Whether or not they will do it free each spring and fall, I don't know. I doubt it, and I don't blame them.

The 4 winter tires I ended up buying were the Dunlop Winter Sport M2

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm sure she will be happy to feel more comfortable next winter while driving.