# Cruzin in snow



## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

BU54 said:


> I haven't driven my cruze much in snow so far mainly to keep it of the salt. Now my son has a job after he left the army. Long story short he's driving my S10 to work and I'm driving my cruze. Anyway on the way home yesterday afternoon it was snowing with ~2" on the ground. The cruze was horrible in the snow. Front end sliding around the corners like I lost steering and the anti slip traction felt like the transmission went out. I'd hate to see how she handles or gets stuck if there were 6"+ on the roads.


Yep, that's why we buy snow tires for them...

Mine was a completely different car with snow tires on. I've found that with many new cars these days. Manufacturers are putting more of a performance tire on, but they suck in snow.


----------



## sparkman (Oct 15, 2015)

Since I put my Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring tires on, I was able to cruze in about 8 inches of snow on a freeway passing cars stuck left and right, pretty proud of that little sucker. I literally was pushing snow with my front bumper.

It's all in the tires.

What do you have on there now? FR710's? Those were terrible.


----------



## nightfallgrey2018 (Nov 15, 2017)

This makes me laugh. I'm from a part in Canada that winter tires are mandatory and this is what I got for mine back in November. Car Tires and Truck Tires | GT Radial

People driving with 4 seasons tires (I call them summer tires) then complaining that the car handle bad apparently do not know that real winter tires exist. As soon as temperatures hit 7celcius, 4 seasons tires ability to grip pavement goes on a decline because the rubber becomes to hard so imagine traction in the snow...:shipwrecked:


----------



## jmlo96 (May 2, 2015)

I agree with Sparkman, the FR710s are horrible. Actually, all of the OEM Cruze tires suck. Recently I drove a Cruze on our lot at work with FR710s and boy I forgot how bad they do in the snow.

I run winter tires on my Cruze in the snow and can go anywhere. Currently I have Firestone Winterforce 2s on mine. They were cheap and I find they have better snow traction then the Blizzaks I had before.


----------



## jmlo96 (May 2, 2015)

sparkman said:


> I was able to cruze in about 8 inches of snow


"cruze" haha I see what you did there


----------



## thebac (Jul 29, 2017)

Ive had no issues so far with Michelin X-Ice's on my car.


----------



## Bluelight (Jan 17, 2018)

jmlo96 said:


> I run winter tires on my Cruze in the snow and can go anywhere. Currently I have Firestone Winterforce 2s on mine. They were cheap and I find they have better snow traction then the Blizzaks I had before.


Glad to hear that. Cooper WeatherMaster ST/2 are my go-to winter tire, but I've been thinking of giving the Winterforce a shot.


----------



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Can confirm, FR710s and Michelin MXM4's are both horrible in snow. My Conti PureContact on the 2012 turned it into a little tank in ~8 inches of snow I got caught in; I can imagine good winter tires would make it even better.


----------



## jmlo96 (May 2, 2015)

Bluelight said:


> Glad to hear that. Cooper WeatherMaster ST/2 are my go-to winter tire, but I've been thinking of giving the Winterforce a shot.


I'm very impressed with the Winterforce 2s. They replaced 2 Blizzaks and 2 Conti WinterContact SIs. They are much better in snow and slush than the other tires ever were. The Winterforce 2s are much noisier than the others though. They are bearable but definitely make some noise on the highway. For I think 85 bucks a tire they are a bargain.


----------



## Bluelight (Jan 17, 2018)

Yep, ya can definitely hear winter tires, especially if they are studded. Always surprised me how noisy they were when I dug them out in the fall, or how quiet the summer tires were when I put them back on in the spring.

When the FR710s are done, I do need to find some good all season tires.


----------



## zippypcs (Sep 6, 2017)

I put a set of Sumitomo Ice Edge on my 2017 Hatch. Sized 215/50/17 on cheap rims. don't have 600.00 into the whole setup and they work perfect in Michigan. Factory treads were horrible.


----------



## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Tomorrow I may find out how my new Continentals(2013) and General Altimax RT 43s(2014) do in the snow as we are supposed to get @ 2-3 inches in Cincinnati


----------



## zippypcs (Sep 6, 2017)

My Son lives in Beaver Creek but he cheats as he has AWD and 4 mile drive to work.


----------



## BU54 (Nov 24, 2014)

sparkman said:


> Since I put my Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring tires on, I was able to cruze in about 8 inches of snow on a freeway passing cars stuck left and right, pretty proud of that little sucker. I literally was pushing snow with my front bumper.
> 
> It's all in the tires.
> 
> What do you have on there now? FR710's? Those were terrible.


Don't know didn't check. They're stock tires and my cruze is 2013.
Years ago we used to have 2 snow tires in the trunk plus the spare. This was back around 1980 in my '73 4 door Impala, yes a big car and this was when they still went by cubic inches it had a 350. Fast forward to today they have "all season" tires that still aren't good in snow.


----------



## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

With snow tires most cars are decent. A dedicated winter set works wonders. 



Sunline Fan said:


> Yep, that's why we buy snow tires for them...
> 
> Mine was a completely different car with snow tires on. I've found that with many new cars these days. Manufacturers are putting more of a performance tire on, but they suck in snow.


Yep, My Accord 19" are horrible at anything not dry and 80*F out. 



sparkman said:


> Since I put my Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring tires on, I was able to cruze in about 8 inches of snow on a freeway passing cars stuck left and right, pretty proud of that little sucker. I literally was pushing snow with my front bumper.
> 
> It's all in the tires.
> 
> What do you have on there now? FR710's? Those were terrible.


LOL Yeah I've done that plenty of times with the eco. I kinda miss it sometimes, but only in the snow.


----------



## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

I think we've had the LRR Fuel Maxes in the snow once, a year or so ago, before I had gotten around to putting the winter tires on the car. 

We run Michelin X-Ice Xi3s on the CTD (and on my Volt - albeit in a 205/65R15 instead of the stock 215/50R17 Michelin Energy Saver A/S tires). This is our fourth season with the tires on, and they still have plenty of tread left. They don't seem to be "as good" as years previous, but I feel like that has something to do with this year specifically, since I feel the same way about the Volt's brand new Xi3s.

Then again - maybe I just got used to the General Altimax Arctics I ran on the Cav last winter...those tires are nuts.


----------



## BU54 (Nov 24, 2014)

Merc it looks like you were plowing snow with that cruze. How on earth did you get enough traction to do that? lol


----------



## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

MP81 said:


> I think we've had the LRR Fuel Maxes in the snow once, a year or so ago, before I had gotten around to putting the winter tires on the car.
> 
> We run Michelin X-Ice Xi3s on the CTD (and on my Volt - albeit in a 205/65R15 instead of the stock 215/50R17 Michelin Energy Saver A/S tires). This is our fourth season with the tires on, and they still have plenty of tread left. They don't seem to be "as good" as years previous, but I feel like that has something to do with this year specifically, since I feel the same way about the Volt's brand new Xi3s.
> 
> Then again - maybe I just got used to the General Altimax Arctics I ran on the Cav last winter...those tires are nuts.


Yeah, I do remember the first season on the snows seemed different from all the years after. Not sure why. Still performed well, but they did seem a little grippier with almost zero wheel spin that first winter.


----------



## AutumnCruzeRS (Sep 10, 2012)

You ever check the tread wear depth on those in the first season. Softer rubber im sure wear faster.


----------



## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

BU54 said:


> Merc it looks like you were plowing snow with that cruze. How on earth did you get enough traction to do that? lol


Literally the 1st 200 miles on the new tires, after that they get questionable each season. Also helps it was just snow and not slush or like today frozen rain and snow mix. I was literally on drag radials a month before that pic. This was the pic after those went and I go the tires below.




The set I put on (Comp 2 A/S) were great the short 4 days I ran them in snow before I traded the car in. Dry they were super great and stiff sidewalls compared the the LRR tires that came off. I liked them soo much I wanted to put them on the Accord but they don't have the size for the Accord nor do I think the tires would have been like $90 each like the Cruze was.


----------



## Ragalyisp (Sep 4, 2017)

I drove my 2017 lt with 205/55/16 arctic claw snow tires in the front, and all season tires in back today. 3 inches of slush/ice in south Central pa. I was maintaining about 40 to 60mph just fine, even on these mountain roads.

Even my wrx couldn't do that with the low profile tires. It makes all the difference. Actually this car is amazing in the snow.


----------



## Ragalyisp (Sep 4, 2017)

I'm thinking about getting some 17's before summer then I can keep the oem 16's with snow tires on them. Beats some ugly steel wheels like I've had in the past.


----------



## BU54 (Nov 24, 2014)

Well we're supposed to get 4"-8" thursday night and friday here in northern hellinois. I guess I'll find out how she handles in 6" of snow. I should be more careful what I say.
Thanks Merc6, being in cleveland I know you guys get your fair share of snow.


----------



## BU54 (Nov 24, 2014)

Now the forecast is 8"-12"...SOB. Don't want to find out how the cruze rides in that much snow but I don't have much of a choice but to hope the weather man is wrong. Problem is I noticed they're usually right when it comes to bad weather. lol


----------



## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

BU54 said:


> Now the forecast is 8"-12"...SOB. Don't want to find out how the cruze rides in that much snow but I don't have much of a choice but to hope the weather man is wrong. Problem is I noticed they're usually right when it comes to bad weather. lol


It looks like your location is especially accurately named now!


----------



## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

BU54 said:


> I haven't driven my cruze much in snow so far mainly to keep it of the salt. Now my son has a job after he left the army. Long story short he's driving my S10 to work and I'm driving my cruze. Anyway on the way home yesterday afternoon it was snowing with ~2" on the ground. The cruze was horrible in the snow. Front end sliding around the corners like I lost steering and the anti slip traction felt like the transmission went out. I'd hate to see how she handles or gets stuck if there were 6"+ on the roads.


user error


----------



## BU54 (Nov 24, 2014)

We had about 4-5" overnight, it's the light fluffy snow thank god. Still coming down with 3-6" more in the forecast. You guys east of me, Merc6 ect it should be too bad. It's not windy so that's a big plus so far.


----------



## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

BU54 said:


> We had about 4-5" overnight, it's the light fluffy snow thank god. Still coming down with 3-6" more in the forecast. You guys east of me, Merc6 ect it should be too bad. It's not windy so that's a big plus so far.


I hear @Jukebox Juliet likes lots of white stuff!


----------



## BU54 (Nov 24, 2014)

I am impressed though how the cruze pulls through the snow with those lousy tires. 
Seriously lol


----------

