I have wear bar showing on my OEM mud and snow Contls and was unfortunate enough to drive 18 miles in a New England Ice Storm. Not fun, (I'm replacing the OEM's with Pirelli P6 All Seasons as soon as they arrive). It took 4 hours,

My experience today was not bad as far as car performance. Without any sudden movements and keeping a steady pace I had little to complain about. some fishtailing on stop and goes. )As I said the tires were 25K miles old and bar showing).

Problem areas was when traffic stopped on hill and the freezing rain started. I slid into the plowed snow and took a while to get out. I found that by turning off the traction control it was eazier to free the car than with it on. Living at the top of a hill with about a 15-20 degree slope was where it finally said NO GO. Especially on the corner where the plowed snow met unplowed side road. Tail did have a definite slide to right making it hard to stay off lawns. On the whole the X fire did not do much worse than the other passenger cars.

My biggest complaint is not handling BUT the wiper blades ice up VERY fast and are nearly useless, Also the ice on them makes a sound as though the windsheild is being hammerred, Anyone have any ideas on how to correct this?

I expect better performance after I recieve and mount the new tires. One thing give yourself extra following distance as even when the tires had good tread last winter the wide tires don't brake well in slush and frezzing rain.

The Crossfire beat the booger out of my '88 Corvette that I also had a sneak April slush storm experience in. THAT was the ride from Hell.

 

I had a miserable time going home last night. It took me 5 hours to go 12.5 miles and was towed the last 5. The Yokahama Advan S-4 all season tires are really only Three Season Tires (and Winter is NOT one of the three). I just ordered snows and wheels from TireRack.com

Luck was with me - I slid through all these cars and came to rest one inch from a brand new Mercedes bumper...

This picture was in the Hartford Courant this morning...



Hey Nightrider - my in-laws live on Julian Street!

 

We didn't have much in the way of snow here in Brooklyn and Long Island and getting home was no problem but when we had a little snow and ice last week driving wasn't bad. I have the Contis and they only have 12,000 miles on them, though the ABS and stability program did get a work out. I used to drive my C5 all winter on the stock summer tires...had very few probs with them but the Vette was better balanced...too much weight on the front in the Crossfire.

 

I appreciate the Contis a lot more now that I'm using something else...

 

I went with the Good Year F1 A/S all the way around and have no complaints. My experience in the Kansas/Midwest ice/snow storm is to not make sudden movements and steady pace. The car did alright but I was only comfortable doing 45mph on I-70 from Topeka to Kansas City (toll road). Passed a lot of accidents (to include 2 semi-trucks).

My OEM blades did not hold up well and I replaced them with the Boch Icons the next day. They work very well. Add in some Rain X making sure you have the rear window treated and your visibility is grand. Not sure how Rain X holds up to freezing rain though...

 

That's disappointing to hear. I never considered the Conti's worth a darn in snow (got caught once in PA). I chose the Yokohamas based on the ratings posted on tire rack and the fact that they had a higher rating than the contis and the good year just in case it ever happened again.

ste7of1

 

The Conti's were good last with less wear on them BUT they wear down so freaking fast. At thier price you should get alot more than 20K- 25K miles with out abuse. I had Perrilli P6 on other cars I've owned and they performed well and lasted about 40-45K. I wanted Good year F1's but can't find a pair anywhere along with the Dunlops equilvalent Tire Rack won't sell only rears. (My front tires are great) So I stayed with a tire I knew. At $163 for 255/140 19 and was able to buy 2 at Lakeshoretire.com that makes more sense.

Thanks for the advice on the wiper I had that Bosch on driver's side and it held up so much better than the OEM I had on passenger side which ripped to shreds.

I must say when I watched the news at 6 the Xfi wasn't any worse than similiar cars. When you get snow on top of ice all bets are off.

 

My Contis lasted 35000 miles and the fronts still had some tread, but I switched to the Yokahamas - I ordered the Pirelli Sotozero snows based on Tire rack's recommendation. Hope they're OK...

 

I didn't have any problem tonight coming home from work, with about 4 inches of snow on the ground, until I reached my driveway. Took me 10 minutes to get it in the garage, I had to back down the street and get a good running start to get up the driveway and into the garage. And my driveway is not really sloped that much.

 

i am waiting for a winter... in my coutry, i guess, winter will be without snow
Anyway i got some problem with my ESP..i hope ,what winter will be without snow

 

 

That is so funny - that is exactly what I said when I started sliding towards the first car (and the second, and the third and the 4th...)!

 

The only way to keep the wipers from icing up is to drive in the summer only, as Dr Z intended. These are just not good winter vehicles. I test drove a hard top in Jan 2005 and took it out on both snowy and icy roads and it was ok, but not great. That's why my baby spends winters in a garage, away from those SUV whackos who think they can drive at high speed through anything because they have 4WD. But not 4W stop.

 

I just got my Xfire last month and we were hit with snow this weekend in St. Louis. I tested the stock conti's and will tell you I was not impressed. While weight might help in the back, I'm not confident.

I would really like to get some inexpensive 18" all around or even 18" in back and 17" in front with the blizzak's. Is either possible w/o performance problems? We get ice around her more than snow so I typically slow anyway. Also, is Tire Rack reliable? Thanks for any help.

 

Hi, Night!

Hey, I thought this was a Wisconsin thing.....or maybe it's "hold my bratwurst"......man, that doesn't sound right.

 

But, seriously.....
So far we've been lucky, our big snows have only arrived on the weekends & I haven't had to drive in anything too evil going back & forth to work. In fact, you No. Illinois folks have really gotten whacked this year & probably have more on the ground than we have!
The Goodyear's have worked very well so far, better than the Dunlops did last year. As to the icy windows, Rain-X will certainly help as it keeps the ice from sticking to the windshield easily. I usually Rain-X every external piece of glass & it seems to help.
Man, I hate winter!

 

There is a winter blade available which encloses the wiper blade in a rubber boot keeping ice and snow from building up between the blade and thus maintaining it's ability to keep contact with the windshield.

 

KURTS
I had the same problem in the recent ice storm, I put the Bosch Icon blades on mine ($44/pair at Autozone) PROBLEMO SOLVED . Rain-x helps too.