Curious to know experience in snow and/or heavy rain with puddles at speed? If you have had experiemce in these conditions please state if with Michelens or Contis.

My C5 vette was excellent in up to 2 inches of snow with Goodyear runflats, probably due to the electronics. Given the traction control and ESP i'm wondering how the Xfire is under slick conditions.

 

I drove mine on Long Island last week in three days of heavy rain and lots of puddles. I have the Pilots and I think the car performed flawlessly. You do have to be careful with the big standing water, but you would with any car. I do not know about snow, and I probably never will. I have a 96 Bonneville for the winter and when I have to drive into NYC.

 

There have been some other threads on this subject. You may want to take a look.

The quick answer to your questions are:

The Michellin Pilots are great for dry or wet pavement, but they are absolutely useless in snow.

The continentals are a great all around tire, but don't have the handling of the Michellins.

If you are going to drive this car all year, and have winter weather, buy a set of sonw tires for winter and then put the Michellins back on for summer. I also put some weight in the trunk.

My Michellins go back on next week!!!!

 

What size snows did you get? Did you put them on steel wheels?

 

Tony:

I could not find steel wheels for this car. I ended up buying 4 stock 18" Crossfire wheels on ebay. Actually, I bought two complete sets, and then sold two of the 19" wheels to another user on this forum.

You will also not be able to find 19" snow tires. I bought 4 Dunlop 18" snow tires and had them mounted to the new rims. This also involves buying the TPM (tire pressure monitor) inflators from D/C and having them linked to the computer in your mirror assembly. It is not a big deal, but has to be done.

Others on this forum have figured out how to put a link to a direct post. I will have to ask them how they do it. For now, here are some of the posts that you can read about snow tires. I just did a search for "snow" in the search function at the top of the screen.

CROSSFIRES IN WINTER
SNOW SUCKS
SUCKS IN THE SNOW
WINTER TIRES

Conditions here in NE Ohio for this winter - we had a good bit of the time with 1-3" of snow on the ground. Quite a few days with 4-6". A couple of 8". And one day with 10". Except for the 10" day of snow, and one day of an ice storm, my car was on the road every day. You just have to drive with some common sense.

Hope this helps.

 

I drove in snow in January and got stuck. Had to abondon it in the middle of the road giving the traffic behind me trouble passing. Had to run a mile to get help cos the phone network was overloaded with calls.

 

Mark, why white tags in front and yellow in the rear???

 

its the law over here in the uk. Been here for over 15 years and have no idea why.

 

what rr said

 

Spent over an hour in driving rain at hwy speed (70 mph limit) a week ago on I-65, no problems steering, braking, no hydroplaning that I noticed. Use common sense. Have the Michelins.

 

huh :?: :?:

 

Ah, David. Consistency is a hobgoblin, isn't it.

I dunno, I don't claim to be a great driver, but in a lifetime of Northern driving am pretty unfazed by forms of water on the road (ice being the exception, and NO car handles ice). I don't think I've ever driven SE from Chicago WITHOUT driving in rain. Just my luck I guess. Doesn't matter if it was forecast or not. I think there are some valleys in KY and TN where it is always raining, esp. at night. I am pretty used to it. On the trip I refer to, everyone else was doing same speed. Trucks ahead kept most of the water off the road. Good thing the Crossfire wipers work so great.

What is more important than what precipitation is on the road is the interval you keep, adjusting to the condition, and anticipating trouble, that's what I meant by common sense. You may not know I-65, it's a pretty straight shot, it was daylight, generous shoulders and if necessary a soft wide median, I would not do same speed in rain on a mountainous 2-laner.

 

I was just yankin' yer chain... :lol:

Sorta like in one of the seatbelt threads where James was talking about how safe he always drives, while having just posted in another thread about having got his car 4-wheel airborne over the past weekend :!: Yeah...consistency... :wink:

 

Wisconsin checking in,
With less then 1000 Mi on "Red" we had a 10" snowfall.
The Crossfire handeled flawlessly. The Continentals combined with W setting and Traction Control on negotiated 100 Miles of slop that day.
Considering I was raised on rear wheel drive vehicles this is a dream compared to my 1965 Sport Fury. Just keep it between the ditches.
rollinlong
Hudson, Wisconsin

 

I said use common sense. I didn't claim I had any. :?

 

I drove it home from the dealership in pouring rain, at night, in heavy traffic on the highway. Scary proposition considering I have yet to get used to the sightlines.

No problems that I noticed. I figure that with traction control it will do at least as well as my [previous] Mustang.