winter woes
 

hey folks, have gotten a case of the new car fever as of late and am seriously considering an '03 P5. read what there is to read in the old posts but i'm wondering if anyone's had theirs through a winter yet and how she takes to the snow?

esp like to hear from other canadian bretheren who know what proper winter is all about! ;)

cheers in advance

yah I am a cnadian also considering an 03 P5. I am also conscerned about winter performance. Any help is appreciated

I AGREE THE CAR IS THE SH**S IN THE SNOW
 

I AGREE THE CAR IS THE SH**S IN THE SNOW

I agree with my friend here, but I ran the stock alloys and all seasons all last winter. To be completely honest I found the car handled great. I had no problems with traction at all. Even when my city ran out of money for snow removal, I was doin 20kph more than other people on the highway, and I felt completely safe doing so. I will be buying steelies this winter to save my alloys, but if you don't want to I don't think you have to.
Stocker

I live in North/Central Vermont so my experience will be similar to yours.
I ran a set of 15" steel wheels with 195/55-15 Michelin Arctic Alpins last winter and it was GREAT. $540 shipped from TireRack... best money I ever spent.

I spent last winter (my first winter in the Pro) on the stock "Poortenzas". I actually thought they weren't too bad...until we had a freak snow/ice storm and I slid into a concrete barrier when I was barely moving after a dead stop to make a corner. That sucked :(

I highly suggest getting a good set of winter tires set on seperate steel rims. That way you'll get more use out of the stock tires and alloys AND will have much better traction.

I didn't think the Dunlops on my P5 were too bad last winter but they were vitually new with only about 3-4000 miles on them. I will not run them this year,tho. The edges of the treadblocks are worn as well as some of the siping being completely gone. Now comes the tough call. Do I buy 17's and new summer tires, getting 16" snows for the factory alloys or go the 15" steel or alloy with snows route? I like the factory alloys but also like how the car looks with 17's. I guess a lot depends on how much overtime there is between now and december!

Jeff M.

I've got -99 Protege with 14" 175/65 stud tires and winter performance is ok but not really good. Especially I miss traction control. My gen1 beats this newer protege any time in ice and snow but it's mostly 'cause of tires.

Otherwise Protege is really good car in winter (here in Finland winter is about 6 months long :( ). Car is really warm and it warms up pretty fast.

tnx for the insight, all. making a trip to the dealer today

oi, is there any rear defrost? all signs point to 'no' according to the specs

??

A defroster on the rear window? Yes, there is...and on the P5 a rear window washer/wiper.

Yes there is a rear defrost. As to tires, I put some Toyo Garit HT (H speed rated) 15" and was completely happy. The winter conditions in Montreal are also quite severe ...

Cheers,

Eric

Do you have defrost in side mirrors? European models got that also

Brigestone Blizacks or whatever are by far the best tires I have seen in the snow! :) Go with the smaller tires as the the larger sport tires ride on top of the snow, and smaller thiner tires dig into snow and get better traction. "Pizza cutter effect" :) The bigger wider tires look awesome, but give that nice fish tail effect that causes uncontrollable conditions :(

My girlfriend has a 2001 ES sedan and it was terrific in the snow on the stock wheels. In comparison, I have a 98 Corolla which has 14" Michelin tires and they are absolutely horrid in wet, snow, and even DRY conditions. I think they are MX-4s or something. Bloody awful I tell you!

I put some Michelin Alpins on my car last winter and they helped considerably, but next time I think I will go with the Blizzaks. My dad put those on his B4000 rwd truck and the difference was like night and day! With the stock tires he couldn't get up his street (hill)...with the Blizzaks, no problems.

If you live in Canada or anywhere there is regular snow and ice in the winter, then good snow tires should be the first upgrade you make. Well worth the money.