3dog

iTrader: (1)

i bought my 1999 gs400 last april and i read all these posts about how horrible the gs400 was in snow, with advice like park it or get a winter beater.

so here it is winter and we've had (seattle) a week of ice worst since 1996. freeways actually shut down in places. snow this morning worst since also 1996. 4-8inches in areas where i live and work.

so how did the 1999 gs400 do?

by the way my car has a torsen 3.76 lsd. my wifes car has standard diff.

well i put the 16inch wheels on with 225/55/16 blizzak ws-50. these are on both cars now.

ICE 20 degrees out, car went everywhere i wanted it to go. i even sought out the most ice covered roads i could find just to play around on. car just went everywhere with no problems. we live on a very steep hill and in the old days past i've had to leave my old chevey van, my old ss nova and other assorted cars parked at the bottom of the hill after they failed to make it up. the gs, both mine and the wife's made it up ice covered hill sat. with no slipping. those blizzaks are incredible

SNOW went to work this morning and it started to snow just before i left. streets still had ice on them and now snow started covering everything. no problem going down hill or getting to work. job was slow so they let me go about 10am. 1/2 day. probably 3-4 inches of snow by then on top of ice. spun some doughnuts in front of office and headed to grocery store, still snowing and blowing and about25 degrees. well car was having no problems. went up one really snow covered hill and no problems. biggest bummer was other people driving slow. then got to the hill in front of my house which had a bunch of kids and parents out sliding down it. i put it in snow-mode and low gear and to the amazement of the parents went right up that hill, i wasn't sure if i was going to make about the last 1/3 but it just kept on going. so if you can picture a hill steep enough to slide down and a block long & not a bit of pavement showing or any sand on it. after i got home my neighbors were driving snowmobiles around the neighborhood. I AM IMPRESSED WITH THIS CAR ON SNOW. i think it is very predictable.


so now i'm watching the news showing pictures of people in the evening commute crashing their cars all over the place and my gs handled everything that got thrown at it. i can't recommend blizzak ws-50s enough. if you live where there is snow get some snow tires. if you live where there are steep hills and snow and ice get some blizzak ws-50. you can safely drive a gs400 in winter and i no longer believe the gs is horrible in snow. ivan

HoracioGS4

at least somebody had a good experience , and it definitely snows there in Seattle...don't have to much fun up there!

3dog

iTrader: (1)

we had freezing rain to top this storm off. the gs400 went thru all of it without any problems. the blizzacks performed as expected.

if you have problems in the snow or ice i would recommend getting the blizzack ws-50 snow and ice tires


the gs is not the problem in snow or ice.

kutscher

I can not seem to find these in 17" to fit my stock rims. Any suggestions.

3dog

iTrader: (1)

tire rack has them in 225/50 and 225/55/17 . i don't know if 225 will work on our wheels maybe someone else knows. you could also check with tire rack or go on the wheels forum and find out.

dunlop m3 is available in 235/45/17 and those are supposed to be really good on snow and a bit more performance oriented than the blizzak ws-50 which are horrible on dry roads in my opinion. but i got the blizzaks because i wanted max traction on ice.

i would recommend finding a set of 16" oem wheels and getting a dedicated set of snow tires mounted on them and just switch for snow. 16" will go thru the snow better than the 17's and you can pick up a set of 16's on the classified cheap maybe $100 as no one outside of the snow states wants them.

good luck ivan

kutscher

Thanks,

Since winter is almost or 1/2 way over I may wait. I would like to use my 17's as dedicated winter tires and buy others for the summer. But maybe i will change my mind if I find an SUV that pleases me.

gs400998

Here is a tire size calculator:
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Rim width 6.0-8.0 inches is good for 225/55-17. You can get an idea on recommend rim width by
clicking sizes and specs here: http://michelinman.com/catalog/tires...etype=2&tire=0

ThemisN

While I feel my GS has been one of the WORST cars in teh snow, I can see how the blizzaks help. Me personally, I would do the dunlops just to be a LITTLE more perf oriented.

Also this was on the car witht the LSD? Noone thinks this may have helped?

3dog

iTrader: (1)

my wifes car also a 99 gs400 does not have the lsd. it does have the blizzak ws-50s on it. i did drive it one evening when everything was a sheet of ice and she got home and said going up the hill the vsc light was coming on all the way up the hill. i drove it up the hill without the light coming on once. so i think maybe she gave it to much gas. i thought it performed amazingly well as it was very slick out and the hill is steep enough for people to slide to the bottom of it on the plastic gizmos, i wish i could have driven it in all the same conditions ( like a side by side test ) but i didn't get to do that other than that one instance.

i do think the lsd enhances the traction but also think that the tires are the most important thing. the lsd with the all season tires would not have gotten up that hill.

i'll say it again, "our cars can go in the snow. the cars are not the problem."

ThemisN

They might not be the entire problem...but when an equivalent benz, with the same driver can do better in the snow with comparable all seasons... it suggests the car IS a problem in some shape or form.

Why MUST i get snows if the benz doesnt need it for it to be bearable in the snow?

3dog

iTrader: (1)

they are different vehicles with different weight distribution and handling characteristics. the gs is notoriously loose in the rear end. i have put all the toms braces & daizen sways on both cars and coilovers on mine in order to keep the rear end planted on high speed curves. i love going fast on curvey roads. there is so much torque from the gs4 that i think a lot of people give it a bit to much gas and that is why the rear end is swinging loose.

i picked the blizzak ws-50 because of the hills and ice here. that is the worst possible combination and i wanted to make sure we have the best possible chance of getting home in those conditions. i hate the blizzaks on dry roads, someone said it is like driving on marbles and i have to agree especially on curves takes the fun out of driving the gs. i was tempted to get the dunlop m3s as they were higher rated on dry roads but didn't have the traction on ice that i think for me is really the most important as that is what the worst conditions offer here in seattle. if had lived somewhere flat i probably would have got the dunlops.

so i guess you are right that the car in stock form is part of the problem

Downtown

Second winter with the GS400. My observation is that the footprint on the 17's is to wide. Ideal situation would be a good set of 16" studded winters and a full tank of gas.

DT

3dog

iTrader: (1)

around here (seattle) they would like to outlaw studded tires due to the damage they do to the roads.. we don't have snow covering the roads for long periods of time and the studs wear grooves into the asphalt. studs also have a tendency to slide on wet roads and actually have longer stopping distances than studdless snow and ice tires. i think the blizzaks and probably others are big improvements over studs.

i have had them in the past on a 1969 chevey van that i owned back in the 70s and they did work better than the regular tires on snow. i did think they took longer to stop though on dry or wet roads.

everyone i've ever talked to said 16" was a better size to go thru the snow than 17"

i to try to keep a full tank of gas for the extra weight as well as the outside chance i might get stuck somewhere and want to keep the car running so i can keep warm. i'm **** about it to the point i fill up again when i'm down 4 or 5 gallons.

Letsride

Downtown has a point!! The 17's are too wide for the snow, I would get a set of 16's for dedicated snows!!

98Nav400

In Portland we got hit worse than Seattle (same storm) and I can tell you that a GS400 with 17"'s and no LSD is horrible in the snow. I actually got stuck in my driveway with ~ 3 inches of snow at a ~ 5% incline. My wife looked at the car and actually thought I was joking until I got out the shovel and gravel. (You really feel like a tool digging out a car from 3 inches of snow on a basically flat driveway). Today is the first time my car has been out of the garage in a couple of weeks!!!

Looks like snow tires are the answer.