Hi, I'm new around here and I was planning on taking a trip up to Big Bear, CA in late January. I'm worried about what I can expect out of my GS RWD if it should begin to snow during the road trip, especially going up and down the mountain. Should I be worried about spinning? And are there any lasting effects from having to use tire chains?

I'm using the standard tires.

 

Same here. I planning to go on christmas.

Isnt that we got snow mode?

 

RWD in snow with summer or all season tires SUCK. About chains I am not sure if anything can go wrong with car using them maybe making it very ruff on suspension is all i can possibly think of.

 

Buy snow tires

 

get snow tires... i use them religiously here in minnesota... dont' get blizzaks because after they wear down halfway, they act just like all seasons... i would recommend a dunlop, hankook or a michelin snow tire for the best performance.

 

Buy chains for your tires, you will need them if the conditions are bad. I'm in SoCal as well and I"ve taken the GS to Big Bear/Mt. HIgh/Mammoth. You will have traction issues if you hit a patch of black ice. For the most part it handles fine, there was a time I was lazy and didn't want to put on chains and drove on the snow directly and it handled it like a champ. The snow mode does help a little but it comes down whether you can get traction on the road or not.

You will notice your traction control to go off when driving in snow.

 

Dont even think about driving the car with summer tires in snow. I almost killed myself the first year I got the car. I bought a RWD, so it came with summer tires. Never again I'm driving in snow with summer tires!!! The car just would not stop, it was like a cow on ice going in all directions

 

At the minimum get tire chains

 

Yeah I agree, had summer tires and forgot to take them off before winter and when a snow storm hit I tried to drive and everywhere I drove I failed couldn't even go up a driveway to a gas station. All season helps a little but def does not work in snow, good snow tires are the Continental DWS I wouldn't say to go with snow chains, but that’s my personal opinion. RWD doesn’t do great in snow I know but if you use the snow button it helps a little.

 

or just rent a vehicle to take for your trip.

 

This comes up every winter

Summer tires on RWD/AWD = Do not drive it in even the lightest snow, it's dangerous to you, your car and others on the road. So, to recap, GS + Summer Tires + Snow = Insurance Claim.

All Season's: If you're used to driving a RWD car in the snow, you can get by with this setup. AWD will of course handle better.

Snow Tires: RWD will be downright fun to drive in the snow and the AWD cars will be that much better.

Be safe out there.

 

Get winter tires. That makes the most difference for actual handling once you're moving. The AWD doesn't do a lot for you handling wise but it does make a big difference in terms of getting moving and lessening chances of getting stuck. With my winters and AWD I don't even feel like I need to shovel my driveway apart from a path to walk to the car. My favourite thing in the winter is parking on the street on top of hard packed uneven icy snowbanks that other cars avoid because they would get stuck... makes finding parking a bit easier in the city hehe.

If someone were to crash into me in the winter and I saw they had summer tires on I would go ballistic.

By the way, tire chains/tire studs are illegal here and I would suspect they would be equally so in California. They're illegal because they really chew up the roads and end up costing everybody tons of money in road repairs.

 

One of the main reasons I got a 3GS......AWD.

 

Really is that why? I thought it was because if a stud was to fly out it can hit someone

 

Ah, the joys of living in Houston... summer tires year round! And if it does snow or ice (once every 5 years or so), the city shuts down and no one goes to work or school anyway!