movinon

Amazingly, years ago just about all the vehicles were rear wheel drive and owner's still managed to get around in the winter.
Putting snow tires on the rear and especially tires like the Blizziks, which grip in icy conditions should get you adequate traction.

The main reason front wheel drive vehicles get better traction is because there is a larger percentage of weight over the front tires, due to the engine and transmission located over them.

Adding weight in the trunk using a sand bag, one on each side, close as possible to the rear axle, also helps.

Using skinnier tires for the snow lets them dig in easier to get traction.
The wider the tire the more it will spread out the rear weight of the car, so they will have more of a tendency to stay on top of the snow and spin.

The purpose of shocks and struts are to help keep the tires in contact with the road.
Tom

thriller954

I have the same setup minus the 4WAS and I don't have that issue. Maybe grooved pavement is throwing you around? Do you feel the VDC kicking in? I've actually been pretty hard on my G since the snow started falling and so long as I don't try, I've never lost traction.

S-FLY

VDC isn't kicking in. Just regular driving. It felt like it could be the crowns on the road throwing the car around, but it's weird. When I countersteer slightly, the back end goes the other way... white nuckled driving the whole time.

JSolo

iTrader: (14)

My money is with post 15 from the previous page. I think 245 is just too wide to be a functional snow tire. Especially on a 19" wheel (minimal sidewall deflection). I think 225 is about as wide as you want to go.

brainsail

As I spent half my life, before moving to Texas, in Edmonton which is about 200 miles north of the original post's location, driving performance cars with RWD is difficult in the winter. Most people paired their good car with winter beaters. Wide tires are the only way to go for traction on dry or wet pavement. You want to distribute the weight of car over the largest footprint possible.

The physics change with snow or slush. You want tires that are narrower and will distribute the car weight over a smaller footprint. You want to compress the snow or slush by both being a snow plow and getting the tires as close to the road surface as possible.

Also, the rear tires should be a similar width as the front. The front tires are the snow plow clearing the path and compressing the snow or slush for the rear ones. The rear tires will have a traction problem trying to overcome the narrower path left by the front.

I haven't been back for almost twenty years and probably will take a taxi if I have to go in the winter. I hope this helps.

S-FLY

I wouldn't mind getting some opinions from people who are using a 4WAS optioned G37 coupe in the winter.

S-FLY

So, after talking to a friend of a friend who is a Nissan tech and works on GT-R's, he said that it's possibly alignment or the steering angle sensor for the vdc system needs to be reset.

I'll let you guys know once he gets it on the rack.

jjasonSU

iTrader: (1)

Lol
have you ever jacked a car up?

S-FLY

Just got the car back from an alignment. It had excessive toe-in on the rear wheels. 0.72 degrees left rear, 0.78 degrees right rear. I think the specs are between 0.00 and 0.23 max.


I also googled and found this:


FYI, Sand bags aren't the answer, and there's nothing wrong with running 225 front and 245 rear winter tires.

JSolo

iTrader: (14)

That's a not entirely accurate While it will work, best snow performance is achieved using the narrowest tires possible. The car won't be as drivable in deeper snow as it would be with a non staggered setup.

Good luck... ymmv