Winter is approaching. I moved from the South to the North....close to the Great Lakes so the city where I am at gets the "lake effect". I was told that it snows up here a lot. I was wondering how the Integra handles in the snow?

Will I need snow tires? Right now, I'm on 17" wheels with Kumho 712 Ecstas which I believe are summer tires. I was wondering if I should invest in a set of used rims fitted with all-season tires. I'm also dropped with H&R sport springs. I'm thinking about changing them to H&R OE springs so I'll have more clearance.

Anyone with comments?

 

Integra's handle fine in the snow. I drive up I-70 to go snowboarding every weekend and never had that bad of a time. I always use my old steel wheels and all season tires, making sure the tires with the better tread are in the front. Do not try to use your 17's and 712's. You will ruin something on the car. Just get a cheap set of steels and some good all-season tires. You will thank yourself later. I don't know about the lowering part since I'm at stock height. Just learn to drive in the snow with some practice and you'll be fine.

Aaron

 

If it's your only car and you think you'll have more than a handful of snowy days you'll have to drive in, get some extra wheels and tires. I live in central ohio and drove my teg with 17'ss and 712's last winter. There were really only a couple days I drove the car when there was snow on the roads, but driving extremly cautiously I had no problems.

 

If you live where it snows alot, you should DEFINITELY get a set of winter tires.
The same thing that makes a summer tire good in the hot and dry makes them totally shitty in the snow. That soft "summer tire" rubber gets hard in the cold and the wide fat tread (esp. on 17's) costs you all sorts of traction when the snow falls. I live in NC, used to live in Boston and Rochester, NY so I know the deal.
Even if you drive carefully, summer tires in a serious snow will leave you in bad shape.
I concur that getting some steelies and good snow or all season tires would be a really great idea for ya.
Good luck amigo...

 

If you've never driven in snow before you seriously need to find a cover parking lot and try driving,stopping and turning at various speeds before you try it on the road.

 

Reply to ^^^

This might help you a bit but its important to remeber that conditions in winter are always changing. On any given road you might have several places were there are high or low coefficients of grip, so experience in one area does't make you good to go. There is no replacement for experience. Just remember this before you go left foot breaking and e-brake sliding around corners.

I live in Winnipeg which is just north of the border in Canada (North of Minnisota Eh?). I can tell you that if youre planning on driving in snow a lot, you should really consider a set of winter tires. Good brands such as Michelin (Arctic Alpine are what I use) or Blizzaks (on my dads quattro) are way better than any all season tire for snow IMO. I can easily drive circles around most other cars and trucks on the road win slick conditions. Where the teg suffers is in deep snow. Its so damn light that it can get kinda floaty! Anyways think of snow tires as an insurance policy for your teg. At least it wont be you rear ending someone.

ps. if you have a CAI you might want to take it off, cuz you really don't need it

 

Definately definately do not get stuck out in the snow with summer tires, it's deadly. Get yourself some 15" steel wheels and dedicated snows. I drive my teg all year round in MI, gets around great. I'm on Bridgestone Blizzaks.

 

yep experience is where its at for winter driving

if you're gonna be driving a lot in snow and you have no experience with it definately invest in a good set of winter tires, they'll save your ***
once you got it down its not bad if you're careful. i drove all last winter with my car lowered 2" using some bald 12 year old factory all season tires... that included about 3 snowboarding trips.

a lowered car isnt undrivable but if you care about your front bumper (mine is unpainted so i dont) you may want to raise it up. also if you're lowered you'll want to take your mudflaps off or else a chunk of ice will do it for you.

an integra? light?
you got about 650 pounds on me

and that can also be an advantage... get enough speed and then just go flying into a bunch of deep snow to get through instead of sinking right in and getting stuck. i guess being lowered makes being light an advantage

 

Get snow tires!!

The Teg will handle fine on snows. Your safety is worth every penny! I bought 195/60 14 snows for my Teg: $300 installed. I don't think your price would be very far off.

There's no comparison between all-seasons and snows. You have so much more control on snows it's not even funny. I only have cheapy snows too...

 

i just bought the supra 712s... in ct is usually has about 5-7 snow storms a winter.. but last year we only had two, and its been predicted its gonna turn out the same this winter.. will i have ne problems..?

 

I had RE730s on my car and got caught in an "unscheduled" snow flurry. I had to park. It was litterally that bad, and with only a few flakes on the road. Summer tires like your Kumho ES 712s(which I'm on now) absolutely suck on any snow. Don't risk it dude. If you think you'll have the car for awhile get some snows on steel wheels for easy swapping. If you don't think you'll need them very often get some cheapy snows, but don't drive on the Kumhos with snow flying, it's not worth it. Tires are absolutely critical to your safety and the safety of other drivers here.

 

Try not to procrastinate either(easier said than done). I mean about swapping the tires back when there's no snow. Dedicated snow tires get eaten quickly on dry roads. If you have snows on seperate wheels it's easy and costs nothing.

 

Thank you all for replying. It seems that I will get snow tires afterall. I wish I had kept my old 14" rims so I can use them now. Looks like I'll need to find a set of used 14" to put the snow tires on.

Here's another question though, down in Alabama, they rarely used any salt/sand on the roads since it hardly snows there. But here in Erie, PA (near Buffalo, NY), I was told that they use it constantly since it snows a lot during the winter season. Will that corrode my undercarriage? Any steps I can take to lessen the corrosion?

 

It might, but I doubt it will be that much of a problem.

Use steel wheels for your snow tires. If you ding a curb its way easier to replace than alloys.

 

one more thing, make sure you have a full tank of gas when driving in the snow. The extra weight seems to help me out when driving in the deeper stuff

aaron

 

yea throw some extra weight in the trunk, and practice....driving in the snow sucks, i hate it. But over time while living in Michigan it gets better..i guess...i try not to drive my teg in the snow though.

 

I acutally like driving in the snow. I don't know why. The only thing I don't like about it is the other people that can't drive in the snow. They scare the crap out of me.

 

Good you can drive me to my work when there is 2 feet of snow on the ground, I won't be able Yo CaUsE mY cAr Is SlaMed Yo.

 

Or you can borrow my RTD (local bus for the non local people) pass yO!
Good luck getting your car around this winter, Dr.