Snow Driving
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RedCal
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It's great in the snow, and the custom drive mode is helpful for changing the behavior of the throttle , transmission and AWD for slippery conditions
I'm a fan of snow tires, but you may be able to run will good all seasons.
Check what the car comes with, the tires seem to differ from region to region
I'm a fan of snow tires, but you may be able to run will good all seasons.
Check what the car comes with, the tires seem to differ from region to region
MerlintheMad
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Howdy. I stay in the Valley during winter: have never driven my Stinger into the canyons (clearly not a skier or any other kind of snow bunny). I find A/S (see signature) the best combo for dominant driving conditions. The snow removal crews have the last drop cleared off and the roads are 90 percent-plus dry by the following afternoon: cold, dry conditions are when the A/S is king. In wet, slushy, snowy conditions, the AWD capacity of the Stinger makes it a plow: it is a heavy car: I went over ridges of snow between lanes on the freeway at speeds almost nobody else was willing to take, and the steering remained rock steady, traction was confidence inspiring. That said, do not drive as though you can ignore conditions. I always drive as if a slide/skid is imminent, and keep added distance between the vehicle in front: and begin braking earlier and coasting earlier still. Cornering is always with special attention to traction. If there is any chance of black ice, I avoid driving if possible, and if not, I drive well below the speed limit, etc. I would drive the same way if I had snow tires on instead.
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WRXtoStingerGT
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I used summer tires with RWD in very (VERY) light snow and it was fine. I normally would use winters and summers swapped when I used to live in Virginia and had an AWD WRX...
Get winters and summers... good luck!
USDM RaylanGivens
Newish Member
I live in Upstate NY (we get our fair share of snow from any time past October till like May haha) and had my 2019 GT1 AWD Stinger just using the A/S tires that came on it!
We recently got 5 feet of snow this past December (and 4 inches of rain a week later...). Let me say that I was very very impressed with my Stingers capabilities in the snow! It is quite hilly and mountainous around my region to the point that I have seen SUVs/Trucks with AWD not be able to make it up some of the inclines at times. I never had any issue with my stinger taking on the various different terrains with snow! I cannot say how much I have loved this vehicle for its complete abilities all around!
With that said, snow tires always beat out A/S in winter conditions, along with proper driving techniques for the weather conditions at hand. I will agree with the others that AWD only gets you so far and is not an end-all-be-all. However, if you are living in winter weather areas I can say the Stinger can handle it without too many issues and is a very safe vehicle to do so in!
We recently got 5 feet of snow this past December (and 4 inches of rain a week later...). Let me say that I was very very impressed with my Stingers capabilities in the snow! It is quite hilly and mountainous around my region to the point that I have seen SUVs/Trucks with AWD not be able to make it up some of the inclines at times. I never had any issue with my stinger taking on the various different terrains with snow! I cannot say how much I have loved this vehicle for its complete abilities all around!
With that said, snow tires always beat out A/S in winter conditions, along with proper driving techniques for the weather conditions at hand. I will agree with the others that AWD only gets you so far and is not an end-all-be-all. However, if you are living in winter weather areas I can say the Stinger can handle it without too many issues and is a very safe vehicle to do so in!
MerlintheMad
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I am sure you were "justified" in saying that.
(welcome into the open, and congrats on your second Stinger!)I have never advocated for NOT putting snow tires on: simply pointing out that the majority of my driving is on dry roads: we can go weeks between snow storms that actually leave snow on the roads, and snow removal has it all cleared away and the roads are dry nearly always within a day. So, snow tires do not give the best driving experience the vast majority of the time. If I lived in the Lakes region or in the GWN (aka Canada or Alaska), no question, I would have the best winter/snow tires on that I could get.
USDM RaylanGivens
Newish Member
Hahaha yeahhh can't say the Upstate New Yorker didn't come out in meI am sure you were "justified" in saying that.
I have never advocated for NOT putting snow tires on: simply pointing out that the majority of my driving is on dry roads: we can go weeks between snow storms that actually leave snow on the roads, and snow removal has it all cleared away and the roads are dry nearly always within a day. So, snow tires do not give the best driving experience the vast majority of the time. If I lived in the Lakes region or in the GWN (aka Canada or Alaska), no question, I would have the best winter/snow tires on that I could get.
Thank you for the welcome! I can agree with you for sure! It all depends on the region and where you live!
We get plenty of snow in AK. I also used to live in OK for a while and I travel to Texas at least every 3 mo, so I know about ice storms too.
For occasional snow, no, you don't need winter tires. For freezing rain and layers of ice, you really need studded tires at these vehicle weights to be safe. That's freezing rain that doesn't melt, but stays frozen. When those things happen, it's best to let them clear out before driving or be extremely cautious and stay off the roads as much as you can. True winter tires will be wasting away fast in warmer temps and often at those latitudes the ground is still above freezing when it's snowing and accumulating. You're driving in slush, but penetrating and a true winter tire won't do a lot more for you.
Where we find the winter tires make a big difference is on surfaces below about 20 degrees F and when driving entirely on a frozen surface. Many tires have warnings that they are compromised below 40F, but I've never found there to be certain death at that temp. Things like direct sunlight on pavement, the car coming from a warm area, and then friction will help heat them up a bit and it's just not certain death at those temps on normal tires. But many summer tires say to not drive the tire below 20 degrees, that's when they crack. All seasons? No problem. You'd have to be going way colder than 20F for all seasons to get bad.
With the low sun angle, snow and stuff that falls from the sky (rain even) just stays frozen on the ground and it never goes away till the sun comes back up enough in the spring. They can remove some of it, but a lot of it is impacted and they just can't keep up. In other places the "road" is just packed snow. It's a totally different dynamic then other places I've lived, where it snows, but the sun angle, ground warmth and other factors just don't put it over the edge. In many cases, unless you either have AWD or studded tires, you often can't get started at an intersection on the impacted snow/ice. It would literally take you the entire intersection light to creep the car through the intersection without spinning (which stops your forward movement). We also get the "black ice" that your parent's always warned you was lurking behind every curve. That's frost on the road, it's similar to freezing rain, extremely slippery. Our ground temp stays cool in the winter, so even when it rains, it'll turn to ice at night. One time I witnessed the temp dropping while I was driving in the rain, on my studded tires. The rain changed over to freezing rain and instantly cars were going sideways all over the place. Armageddon scene.
I know you can have those cold Canadian storms and the temp can drop for quite a while, but I see those as mostly temporary and IME winter tires are for places like CO high country, Lake Tahoe/high Sierras, Montana/Wisconsin/Michigan, places that get and stay cold. Then it makes more sense to get winter tires. If I was you I'd stick with AS for the winter, get some nice summer tires for the summer. Life is too short to not ride on summer tires and then you won't be wearing either very fast.
I was stuck one time in Texas with 4" of freezing rain. We just had to wait days before it melted out. I did drive (carefully) to the supermarket, but it was mostly a "wait it out" deal. Places like that don't have snow and ice removal equipment and again, that's where you really need studded tires to be safe. Winter tires wouldn't help much and winter tread wears fast when it's warmer.
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SpaceGhost
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I live in Assachusetts (unfortunately) and in the snow it's okay with the stock bridgestone potenza tires. It's not great that's for sure. But it's more about the tires than the car.
USDM RaylanGivens
Newish Member
Ah classic Massachusetts! I have friends that live in that state (I can’t claim to be a masshole.. yet lol) and I drove my stinger from NYS to MA a few times in winter like conditions. Again, I was very pleased with how it handled the terrain for a AWD sedan!
WRXtoStingerGT
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SpaceGhost
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9 miles away in the suburbs. Definitely wouldn’t live in that shathole
SpaceGhost
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It’s okay but not great compared to the 2010 Ford Escape we have which is also on all season tires.
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USDM RaylanGivens
Newish Member
That makes sense! Definitively a bigger vehicle to handle better conditions like that!
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WRXtoStingerGT
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Crisis
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I've been through 3 winters with my Stinger and I can honestly say that it's been much better than I'd expected. Maybe it's just due to the long, low look of it, but I expected there'd be issues when the snow got deep, but there wasn't. Then again, I'm running what I believe to be the best snow tires on the market - Nokian Hakkapelitta R3s - throughout the winter, so that makes a big difference.
As alluded to by James above, the biggest difference with snow tires isn't their tread pattern, as many people would expect, but it's the specialized rubber compound that keeps the tires grippy in freezing temperatures. You have AWD, so it's probably not critical that you have snow tires if you're not getting prolonged cold snaps, but there's no doubt they are much better than all-season tires.
You could also look at an "all-weather" tire, like the Nokian WRG4 or similar. Not to be confused with an "all season" tire, an all-weather tire has a compound that stays grippy in the winter but can still be used through hot summer weather. I ran them for several years before making the switch to dedicated winter tires. They are a compromise between purpose-made winter tires and summer tires, but would likely be a good fit for you, provided you're not taking your Stinger to a bunch of track days.
As alluded to by James above, the biggest difference with snow tires isn't their tread pattern, as many people would expect, but it's the specialized rubber compound that keeps the tires grippy in freezing temperatures. You have AWD, so it's probably not critical that you have snow tires if you're not getting prolonged cold snaps, but there's no doubt they are much better than all-season tires.
You could also look at an "all-weather" tire, like the Nokian WRG4 or similar. Not to be confused with an "all season" tire, an all-weather tire has a compound that stays grippy in the winter but can still be used through hot summer weather. I ran them for several years before making the switch to dedicated winter tires. They are a compromise between purpose-made winter tires and summer tires, but would likely be a good fit for you, provided you're not taking your Stinger to a bunch of track days.
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
