ground clearance is the worst enemy I think but I have had no issues on inclines/declines I also run thin tires intentionally, 225's to help put more weight on the patch. Driving skills are a must with any F, wet or dry or frozen IMO. Keep in mind also winter tires need replacing as soon as they get close to the indicators. I have the previously abused rears on my front now and probably will get new tires as soon as I can to avoid a mishap.

 

Was out in the second coldest place on earth today. The F is a tank, really stable, inclines no problems, stability no problems, -30C still smooth as butter..

 

I disagree the snow tires "are an absolute must" for driving in winter conditions.

I live in MN where we get plenty of icy conditions and lots of snow. In SNOW mode I can get around just fine with the standard tires. Of course, I drive carefully. I leave plenty of space in front of me and am careful with my speed.

I agree that snow tires are smart and that people should use them, I just disagree that you are hopeless without them.

 

We're talking about the F here? If you're even attempting to drive it with the OEM performance summers in snow you need your head examined.

 

+1

 

Hey Mike, do you drive an IS-F? If yes, I am glad to find another F owner in MN.

 

Yeap, my F has about 13500 on it. I live in Minneapolis. Good to hear from another F owner. I have seen two others around town, one was Matador Red and the other was Obsidian (which is the color I have).

Thanks for the recommendation for getting my head checked, I think I'll skip it though.

Mike

 

Hey Mike, the OP is just giving you some loving about the head check-up.. So, there are probably 4 or 5 of us. I have not seen another F maybe because am in the burbs which is SUV and minivan country. Anyways, glad to have you around. TC

 

you averaged 46 MPH on the whole trip. Thats fast for those weather conditions

 

Approximately how many miles can you get on blizzaks? What size are you guys running?

 

Nice snow write-up!

 

The driving was actually only 22 hours with a couple of roadside naps and a visit with the family to discuss funeral arrangements, so the math changes. The really slow, blizzard part of the trip covered about 200 miles and the average speed there was as low as 10 mph....lol.

Made some very good time on those wide open Montana roads.

 

I am not running blizzaks, I ran Michelin X-ICE 225/45/18 tires They were dirt cheap by comparison and work fine. I bought a staggered PA2 setup from an IS350 that I was going to mount up later this year. If I had more discipline the rears would have been fine right now, I just like to use the light traction tire to practice 4 wheel drifts I probably have about 20K miles on them at this point.