I am interested in getting an RCF, but I live in the northeast where it snows a few times a year. I am definitely going to get snow tires for the winter, but I plan to keep all season tires for spring, summer, and fall. Are they going to be good enough for those raining or snowing days?

If so, can you guys please recommend snow and all season tires for RCF? I'd like to have both comfort/luxury and driving dynamics. Thanks.

 

I'm in IL / Chicago. And last winter was my first winter in Chicago with my RCF.
I didn't drive it in heavy snow day, and I didn't use snow tires. I was using the standard all season tire.
It's totally fine in normal day, but you need to drive it very carefully because of black ice / wet road.
In raining day or under wet road condition, you have to control your throttle carefully. Even under the normal mode, you can feel rear tire slipping when you pushing your car or turning at corners.
But, for me, the biggest problem is not the wet road or black ice. The biggest issue is the road itself. Salt really ruin everything in Chicago. There are many potholes, and car is bouncing up and down all the time at 80 - 90% of the roads.

All in all, 4s tires are ok for those raining / snowing days if you are not aggressive driver.
If this is the only car you have, it's fine, you can drive it in those weathers.
if you have other cars, just leave it in garage in winter. Just my 2 cents



Another thing is the TVD part. I'm not sure if TVD helps in winter / raining days. I'm curious if Slalom mod or track mod helps you when you lose control. I saw some threads were discussing it but didn't see any outputs.
If TVD helps with lose control, does TVD help you do 0 - 60 without using launch control ?

 

I live in Cleveland and have driven my RC F the past three winters. I work in the snow belt east of Cleveland. I use snow tires (Michelin X-Ice) on an extra set of wheels. People at work think I am crazy for driving the RC F during the winter, but I have never had any problems. I work at a High School, so if it gets really bad, I get a snow day. I have been caught in some serious snow on the way home. I switch to Michelin PS4s from late April and to mid-November. I did get caught last year in a late April snow shower with the PS4s and it was not fun lol! Once the RC F is paid off, I plan to get an SUV and make RC F a Spring to Fall only car. I just hate to see it covered in all that salt and deicer. Plus I would like to eventually lower the car on coilovers which would not be practical with the snow tires.

 

I would recommend getting a second beater car as RCF will not be fun driving in snow as you can only drive it at 2/10th or 3/10.th and that is on winter tires. Them the car takes a beating with salt and chipped rocks etc. It ages a lot faster. Mine sits in the underground garage during there winter and my RX450h with the XRS only get driven. I would much rather enjoy driving it out not drive it at all

 

I live in New Hampshire, on the coast, so I definitely know my way around a north east winter. I do not think I would attempt to winter the RCF. I have had rwd cars through the winter and believe anything can be driven through winter. You might make it but I think it will coast you a decent amount in a winter wheel and tire setup. The F R tire size, limit to large wheels because of the large brake setup, low clearance will make a a terrible experience. I think half the storms we had this year had snow piles in intersections the RCF would not have been able to clear. Just forget about getting the car into the driveway after a storm on your way home from work. In most cars you can crash over the snowbank but I would imagine the RCF and it’s flat aeros under the car would drive right up on it like boat and sit on top of the snow. If you pull it off you’d be one bad *** ****. So take it as a warning or a challenge 😈.

 

I don't plan to drive aggressively in the winter. I will definitely get a set of snow tires and still drive conservatively. With regard to salt, wouldn't undercarriage coating and regular washes be good?

 

Has anyone ever used the SNOW button? I wonder how much of an impact it has.

 

I am curious too

 

What all seaon and snow tires do you use and how much do they cost?

 

Any RWD car is not ideal in snow. We have a "snow mode", but doesn't make it a "snow car" by any means.

That said. Continental DWS06 Plus gets my votes for A/S. They wear well and have great overall performance. I wouldn't even waste my time on winter tires. Not gonna help too much on a RWD vs the hassle it brings to unmount and mount. At the price of getting second set of wheels and tires just for snow, you could have had a beater.

 

Is that true? I heard people saying that RWD with snow tires is better than AWD with all season tires for snow

 

From personal experience, a RWD is not useful in snow in excess. I am not talking a dusting, but the weight being in the front (from the engine) for a FWD will win every time over a RWD car. 2 points of failure (RWD) vs 4 (AWD) even with a good set of A/S is very debatable.

 

As I posted before I have driven the RC F in snow with snow tires, In fact I have driven on unplowed streets with 6 inches of snow. Did it handle as well as my front wheel drive VW Gti with snow tires? Definitely not, but it was fine. What did people do in the winter in the past when rear drive cars were the norm? Drive around in circles in the snow lol!