I feel for you and can relate, I hate this weather too. We got close to 27" here, the forecast called for 6-12" so the city was for the most part caught off guard.

Forget snow, believe me you don't want to be driving with the summer tires when the temp is below 35 degrees.. It's like driving on hockey pucks, and braking, well lets just say it's an experience.

 

I just took a 8 hour road trip from Calgary Alberta to Kelowna BC to go skiing at my cabin in Big White... I can tell you right now that the RCF is substantially more stable, and confidence inspiring than the ISF's (I owned an '09 and '12) ever were on both ice and snow. I had absolutely no issues at all on the drive in deep snow, or on extremely icy patches in any of the passes.

Most of what you felt, as already mentioned, was due to the lack of traction from your summer tires. With a good set of winters, the RCF is as good if not better than any other RWD car I have ever driven in the snow.

 

Mine's used Mostly for those Rainy days, but it REALLY comes in handy every 5-6 yrs. when we Do get Snow in La.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BA9zHB1inEF/

Is this anyone here?

 

^^^ Summer tires + Snow = Chaos




Joe Z

 

What is the Main Difference between the Winter & Summer tires? I know on a Big 4x4 you can see the Difference, but on a Sports car like the RCF to me just looking from a pic you can't tell that much Difference?

 

^^The rubber in winter tires are made with special compounds that allow them to stay soft in cold temps providing you with better traction.. Winter tires also have tread patterns that are designed to grip snow and even ice.

On the other hand, summer tires, which are already made of a harder rubber compound get even harder (think hockey puck) in cold temps which causes very poor traction.

 

Also keep in mind there're several categories of summer tires, just like there're all-season. Overall there're about 15, from studded winter tires to DOT race tires, like the Pilot Sport Cup 2 ones on cars like Porsche GT3RS, etc. The highest street category is called 'extreme summer', and our car is fitted with Pilot Super Sport tires, which are the second highest category, called 'max summer'. The great thing about the PSSs is they have the grip of extreme summer in hot condiitons, but much better in cooler ones. That's why it has been rated the best performance tire over and over again. But as mentioned, their performance decreases dramatically as temps go down. And on cold conditions, unlike hot ones, they lose traction without warning, and quite easily.

Finally, for folks not pushing the envelope, they'd benefit from a tire like the MIchelin Pilot A/S3, which is the highest all-season category, called 'ultra high-performance all-season'. They're Y rated at 168 mph sustained speed, like most summer tires. And have very high levels of performance in hot conditions for those not seeking the car's limits. And much better winter performance, along with much better tread life and lower road noise. My guess is with the crippled front alignment on the RC-F and its portly weight, only achieving a modest 0.92G on the skidpad, the A/S3s would probably perform very close or maybe even the same as the PSSs, but with all the added benefits. In other words, this car might not be sporty enough to benefit from summer tires, but only a back to back test would prove or disprove that. Hope this helps.

 

^^^This...I drive the Lexus RX when the white stuff is in abundance in rural PA. It came in hand this week.

 

That's what I did, I replaced my PSS's with the A/S3's after about 6 months. While my car will never see snow, and it's very rare it's in the rain I wanted to be able to drive it year round (weather permitting). I couldn't do that with the PSS's.

They were too dangerous in the cold temps, and as you said they lose traction very easy and without warning. It happened to me three times and I was in no way driving aggressively so I knew I had to replace them.

For the type of driving I do I really don't feel that much of a difference in handling with A/S3's. Maybe on a track it would feel different, but not on the street. However the traction is so surefooted year round, even when the temps are in the teens that I'll take the peace of mind over a possible slight decrease in handling.

IMO at time of purchase I wish the customer would be given a choice (no cost option) of the PSS or A/S3 when they buy this type of car.

 

I can't believe that Rcf attempted to drive in the snow. I'm glad it's melting quickly by me in Long Island