How do you fair in the snow?

[96blkonblkse]

Due to our recent dumping, ive decided the max has gone as far as its going to go.

Even though i do have 4 snows, which give me INCREDIBLE traction on snow/ice. I have reached the limits of the car. I only have about 5" of ground clearence from my bumper to the ground, so as of now, im just plowing. Snow tires make such a big difference though, its amazing, driving versa's with no snows and pizza cutter tires, its scary, my car is so much more controllable and has way more traction.

But that aside, i kinda wish i could put the stock suspension back on and see how far i could take this thing in the winter with the tires, stock i must have had the better part of 9" of clearence from the front bumper to the ground..probably even more.


Im curious how the rest of you do in the snow? Do you guys run all seasons or dedicated snows? Or do you just put the max away for the winter?

Right now im going to park it till the snow stops, and drive my truck on 31x10's is awesome in 4x4. In 2wd is just flat out sucks, barely get anywhere, but once you throw it in 4hi theres no where i couldnt go..including going up and down some embankments :P

[Bonka]

My Maxima is parked, but I have my Probe on snowies (Toyo Observe Garits). They're still a performance oriented tire with the speed rating but it does have the snowflake symbol. At any rate, no problems getting traction and driving through fresh or compacted snow and ice. I'd imagine if I ran a winter tire with a lower speed rating the traction would be even better but reviews on my tire said it has excellent treadwear rating, so I suppose there's the tradeoff, which I don't mind. I ran Pirelli Winter 190's last year and the difference is huge..no more light steering wheel! I haven't had any problems with plowing thus far even though the Probe is pretty low for stock height.

Hope it snows more! I'm passing cars on the road with confidence but I'm getting honked for passing them..geez!

[Bassbreaker]

ugh...i havent had a chance to put snow tires on yet...we had our 1st snow fall last night here in Newfoundland. I was goin up my road and with my bald a$$ all seasons, i couldn't even make it. The car turned sideways going "up hill", stopped, and then started going back down the hill....sidewayz...wadda scare..gotto the bottem and floored it up to my driveway...lol...luckily it was all gone in the morning...winters this week

[mtl-maximus]

Got my winter tires on mid November.
Here (QC) they're mandatory staring with December 15th (this year) and November 15 starting next year.
Had driven my 2k Max with brand new all season tires in the winter as well as new winter tires and I can say it's a hell of a difference.
On the 17" OEM rims I got a super cheap set of Nexen 215/50/R17 for 89$ each from Walmart. They ride great so far and can't beat the price anywhere else!

[Danaxox]

I picked up some used Pirelli tires for my 1998 Max... it does pretty well in the snow... but is only so good on hills.
Sadly my mom's 2008 Mazda3 with used Blizac tires.

[Danaxox]

(sorry... didn't finish train of thought..)
My mom'z mazda3 is much better in the snow... its basically a tank, can go through anything..

[SunMax]

So far the Pilot Exalto works fine. It does slip once a while but I haven't encounter anything major. The only time I was stuck was trying to go into a side street with really deep snow and the Max doesn't has enough clearance.

[ShippedOut]

I'm in Toronto. My I30 is a beast in the snow I'm on Goodyear Nordics with the snowflake symbol on my 16" rims. No problems even in 20+cm of snow and the fact I'm lowered 2inches. Last year I had my All Seasons and they were okay but can't compare to my winters.

[96blkonblkse]

Yeah my cars awesome, except im too low..i just start to plow snow and it just eventually slows the car down to a hault. It sucks getting caught in everyone elses tracks, my car just gets tossed around the street, so i dont think im driving it much anymore. Let the truck take the winter head on lol..

[Bonka]

I got stuck a couple times for about 10 minutes each time so I could dig it out a bit but I really got stuck going in an alley and high centred the damn Probe. Turns out it was 14-15" of ice between the tracks. 4hrs later I'm back in business.

Too bad most SUV owners here are pathetic drivers otherwise I'd envy them for having the beastly ground clearance. I'm definitely swayed to get a 4x4 now

[Sunny_Tk]

My max is AWSOME! I have never got stuck once! I drive pass and some "suv's" at stop lights and such.

I have 2 all season tires in the front, and winters in the rear. also have a full size spare in the trunk (just incase).

[96blkonblkse]

Yeah the best thing about a 4x4, is to drive around in 2wd, try get as far as you can, and when you really get stuck, either back up and hit it again, or back up put it in 4x4 and plow through it.

Honestly, i dont know how people get stuck in 4x4 vehicles. Actually some i can see, a lot of these crossover vehicles dont have limited slip diffs, so when they get into the deeper snow, they end up with a 2wd again because one rear tire and one front tire will end up spinning. Ive personally witnessed this in Xtrails/Rogues/CRV's etc.

Trucks are different, with my truck i have lsd front and rear, and anything under 2ft of snow i can plow through pretty easy, when it starts to get really cold, and it turns into that hard snow, i have to use 4 low, but ive hit a couple 2-2.5ft high sections of snow down alley ways that were never plowed since the first dumping and i made it thru fine.

The Nismo frontier and off road titans, xterras have electronic lockers in the rear and are awesome in the snow

[PMAX08]

i got a 92 maxima se dropped almost 2 inches on snow tires, sure its low but im taking curves at 70 like its summer time, im in winnipeg manitoba, we get snow here like nothing youve seen trust me, i will always drive a dropped car on snow tires in the winter, lower center of gravity helps for sure and who cares if you push a lil snow, also ive never been stuck yet, just watch out for the big chunks of ice

[Maxterror]

I actually don't even have winters on my car , I doubt they are all seasons and for the most part my car handles fine in snow

[Cisco Kid]

ipike 409's on my wifes 03, huge difference I now have a set of dedicated winter tires on rims, , that way my Z912's on the stock rims will last so much longer....

[chrome91]

my '92 is invincible in the snow, has never gotten stuck and rarely slides and the ABS rarely kicks in.

when it was warm a few weeks ago i was going 80kmh and went to stop a red light and i did a massive skid, dont know if i hydroplaned or hit ice but braking wasnt working and my reflexes kicked in and i yanked the handbrake thinking my brakes failed, and that didnt work so i thought screw it and i turned to the right and stopped at a angle. i was a couple of feet from going into a busy intersection and if someone was stopped before the intersection i would have smoked them. thats about it

[RoadWarriorMax'03]

Hello, I Just signed up for this forum, awesome so far.
I've got an '03 SE that I've taken all over North America
I drove from Pittsburgh to Fort Saskatchewan, AB. in Feb. and had no problems.
I've got 16"s with some awesome General snow tires. I've got chains and never had to use them. I've got the TCS system too.
I've plowed through 10" + of fresh snow with her and never got stuck, just go slow and crawl.

[Stormzusmc]

in minne-snowta here i have a 09 escape so i take that out during the winter....because when i take the max out...the tires are like f-ing hockey pucks, unless i get on a road that is just pavement (obviously) then they grip!