Hi Everyone,

I just picked up my Silver/Ecru SC 430. I love it !

Can anyone in the North please give me some feedback on winter driving. I am going to switch to snow tires in the winter. Can I drive all winter, or just when there is little snow on the ground. I am in Chicago.

Tjz

 

I'm also interested in how the SC is going to drive in the snow.

 

Can't really help you...I dont even like to drive it in the rain! Mine sleeps from October through April. Come to think of it, even though there are many SCs in NYC, I hardly saw any last winter. Probably not a coincidence.

 

My SC spent its first winter under wraps in a new garage with a barrier between it and the concrete floor, a custom cover over it, and a BatteryTender attached.

I also turned in my plates and dropped the liability and collision insurance. As it turned out, the winter last year in upstate NY was very mild and there were many many dry days that I could have driven that beauty. I would never drive that car in any amount of snow - there are too many incompetent wintertime drivers out there.

This winter I'll keep it licensed and insured which means it will start snowing in October and never stop until April.

 

I knew my old SC400 was terrible in the snow without lots of dead weight in the trunk, so last winter, with a LITTLE snow on the roads, I took the SC430 out to see how it would do.

What we have here is a rear wheel drive car with the weight of a V-8 on the front wheels, no weight to speak of on the back, and wide tires that act like snowshoes.

It's like sledding.

Don't bother, if you can help it.

I have a small SUV for winter and for dirty work, and just don't drive the 430 in the snow, both because it won't go and because of all the bad drivers out there.

If you have to use it all winter long, get 4 good snow tires and add some weight to the trunk. (Bags of sand or sackrete are inexpensive -- this being a tip from my BMW friends).

Good luck.

 

I'm in Chicagoland too.... I bought a winter car.... the SC430 just won't do well (even WITH snow tires).... I quickly came to this conclusion after seeing a White SC430 with snow tires have a difficult time making it up a slight hill (Lake Cook Road going east towards Green Bay Road).....

BTW: I started out with a $500 Toyota Celica winter beater and traded up to an Infiniti G20... front wheel drive, great visibility and reliability.... considering the dealer (Highland Park Lexus) wanted $3200 for a winter wheel/tire 'package' I opted to spend just a few thousand more for an entire other car and leave the SC430 parked safe and sound in the garage and leave just fire and theft insurance while it sat... Between the insurance savings and the additional car, it really only cost me about $2500 MORE to have a whole other car.... Plus the G20 is a 4 door and a great city car to park on the Chicago city streets and not worry.

....I love the SC now-a-days in the summer weather where the top is down all the time but the visibility isn't all that great with the top up so once the snow and salt hit the roads, my SC sleeps in the garage...


....just my .02

 

Of course, living in Tampa, FL helps................

 

It will drive like any other "car". Like complete crap,...lol,.. if your really concerened, smob your SC in the summer only, and pick yourself up a truck playa. I lived in upstate NY for 2 yeasr in the ARMY. It snowed 7 months out of the year. GET A TRUCK FOR THE WINTER your brother,...............robb s.

 

I would add one thought to the above posts, which are correct that any rear wheel drive car, especially with wide tires, will not do well in the snow. For a year or two I had to drive my SC400 in the winter and was able to do so only by adding lots of weight to the trunk.

I kept some bags of sand and/or concrete mix (inside yard bags to avoid dust) and added them to the trunk for traction. Big pain, and takes up lots of trunk room, but it works reasonably well. (I have a friend who uses logs.)

Later I realized that the incremental cost of a used vehicle was a good investment to both get some real traction and to keep the good car off the road when streets are slippery. For a while I had a Jeep Wrangler; now I have a 96 RAV4, which comes in handy when I have to buy or move something larger than will fit in the SC430, meaning larger than a shoebox.

Good luck, and happy sledding.