Genesis in Snow with regular/snow tires

[jb17]

I live in the midwest and get 2 or more inches of snow several times a winter. I have been trying to hold off getting a genesis until the AWD version is available (2014?), but my current car (AWD Murano) is dying very quickly. I am looking at a low mileage 2010 4.6 with the original Dunlop tires. How will the genesis do with these all season tires in ice and snow? How will it handle in ice and snow if I put new snow tires only on the back wheels or if I put new snow tires on all four wheels? I need your advice as my wife is really against purchasing this car and wants me to look at FWD and AWD cars from other manufacturers. I need to act quickly on this. Thanks for any advise you can give.

 

[dg_moore]

I live in the midwest and get 2 or more inches of snow several times a winter. I have been trying to hold off getting a genesis until the AWD version is available (2014?), but my current car (AWD Murano) is dying very quickly. I am looking at a low mileage 2010 4.6 with the original Dunlop tires. How will the genesis do with these all season tires in ice and snow? How will it handle in ice and snow if I put new snow tires only on the back wheels or if I put new snow tires on all four wheels? I need your advice as my wife is really against purchasing this car and wants me to look at FWD and AWD cars from other manufacturers. I need to act quickly on this. Thanks for any advise you can give.

Getting around in snow is as much, if not more, about the driver than about the car or tires. That said, the OEM Dunlops are very poor in snow. You should replace them, or ask the dealer to throw in a decent set of tires. I personally am not a believer in all-season tires, so I purchased a set of Continental Extreme Contact DW's for summer plus a set of (4) Bridgestone Blizzaks on a dedicated set of rims - I learned to drive over 50 years ago in NW PA and never drove anything other than RWD. Those skills have served me well, and last winter I never spun a wheel in the snow on the Blizzaks. The Conti's are excellent in summer as well.

 

[BBQ Bandit]

Concur with DG_moore in the above post... did exactly same thing... dedicated set of (4) wheels and Blizzak tires.
(Why compromise driving ability and safety with a lessor tire (traction)... especially in the snow?)

 

[tompass]

Drove today for first time in snow in NJ on my Bridgestone Serenity's. A bit squirmy for sure. I travel back and forth to SC fairly often so will try and just make it with the all season tires. Things get real tough, I will have to drive my old trusty '98 Ford Explorer.

 

[LouKango]

We got our first snow in NYC today. About 3-4inches of ice, snow and slush mix. I drive 3.8 with OEm Dunlop tires and i think they did OK. I love driving in the snow but Gen is my first RWD. All my previous cars were FWD so it was interesting. I turned off the VSC to see how it effected the car and on the first turn, my car did a 180 but while VSC was on... it was very drivable.. So I think these OEM tires are OK on "light" now like we had here in NYC but any worse... then I dont know. I see my self getting stuck alot.

and excuse my english... English is my second language.

 

[dtreter]

We live in the Pittsburgh, PA region and the last two winters have been very snowy. Buy 4 snow tires for RWD. We put on Blizzaks and have had no problems in the snow.

 

[Jimmmmbo!]

Just as an opinion:

If safety is your concern, dedicated winter tires are a very good idea.

If you have years/decades of experience driving RWD in moderate snow and ice, then you have an advantage over the average driver for your own driving.

But in an emergency involving drivers besides yourself, if you want to be safe, no matter what your driving skills and history are the tires are the first contact between you and the road.

If you have any doubts, get winter tires for the winter season. Incidentally, FWD and AWD really only help in acceleration. They help slightly in handling in specific situations at best over RWD. First-hand experience here.

As an aside, Blizzak's are not the only solution. There are other competent winters tires out there. But I suppose it's like talking about Kleenex.

 

[TJPark01]

get snow tires on some cheap rims. The dunlops on the 4.6 are unusable in the snow.

 

[Manofknobs]

I made it through last winter with the Dunlops and they were terrible. I have a new set of all-season Coopers in the garage going on in the next few weeks. Not ready to invest in a dedicated set of winter tires so I am very interested in how an all-season will perform. Here in Wisconsin snow season is Dec thru March and even then there are heavy storms only a few times a month. As a teenager all we had was RWD and I am figuring the Genesis will handle better than my dad's station wagon I drove in high school. I am looking forward to trying the Genesis in the winter but if your wife is against it or doesn't have any experience with snow or RWD I would think twice.

 

[StarkyLuv]

i have the '12 3.8 premium with the Michelin Energy Savers. I didn't get snow where i lived but the temps were down to freezing. Taking a friend home this morning I hit a patch of black ice on and on ramp (didn't see it) while I was accelerating. Went sideways and scared the crap outta myself and my friend. But we straightened.

First time I ever thought "I need to get some winter tires".

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[scottdk]

i have the '12 3.8 premium with the Michelin Energy Savers. I didn't get snow where i lived but the temps were down to freezing. Taking a friend home this morning I hit a patch of black ice on and on ramp (didn't see it) while I was accelerating. Went sideways and scared the crap outta myself and my friend. But we straightened.

First time I ever thought "I need to get some winter tires".

Scary stuff! I drive a '93 Taurus wagon in the winter with winter tires on it. The car has no traction control, ABS, stability control, EBD, or really anything but the car does awesome in the winter with the appropriate tires Much better then my wifes Sonata with All Seasons and all those electronic driving aids.

 

[Gambler]

Seriously, if you are going to drive the Genesis in the snow, don't even bother with the Dunlops, they really are very poor in the snow. I'm yet another Blizzak guy.

 

[Aquineas]

Snow? What's that? :-D (Teasing, though I live in Texas now, I grew up in Iowa, Chicago, and Pennsylvania, and also lived in Toronto. I've seen a boatload of snow in my life).

That being said, even the best of snow tires won't do anything for you on black ice...

 

[Cut-Throat]

I use the All Season Bridgestone Serenties. The Dunlops were terrible. The Serenities can navigate through a modest amount of snow with the VSC turned off. The main thing is to slow down and leave plenty of room in front of you. And when in doubt, don't go out. You'll be glad to be at home than in a ditch.

 

[Seattle Genesis]

Seems to me that the Genesis can do well in the snow since they sell them in Russia..

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb4GUMrJU0A"]Hyundai Genesis - YouTube[/ame]
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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr3blxa7hGo&feature=related"]Hyundai Genesis Test Drive - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Gurkha]

How will it handle in ice and snow if I put new snow tires only on the back wheels or if I put new snow tires on all four wheels?

My advice is to never mix winter tires with all seasons. It will lead to unpredictable handling.
Go with 4 winter tires if you live in an area that is 45F or below for most of the winter to be totally safe.
It's not so much about the amount of snow since ambient temperature plays a huge part in how much grip your tires actually have.
Winter rubber is made for 7C (45F) and below.

 

[TJPark01]

My advice is to never mix winter tires with all seasons. It will lead to unpredictable handling.
Go with 4 winter tires if you live in an area that is 45F or below for most of the winter to be totally safe.
It's not so much about the amount of snow since ambient temperature plays a huge part in how much grip your tires actually have.
Winter rubber is made for 7C (45F) and below.

exactly. If you find yourself in a hedge in the freezing cold in a storm at night, you are gonna feel like a real jack @$$. It's a safety issue, don't half @$$ it cause you're lazy or want to save some money.

 

[jb17]

Thanks for all of the good information. As my wife will drive this car often, she has some say in the final decision. We decided to buy a used FWD car to get us through until the Genesis is available with AWD. Hopefully this will only be for two years. I really wanted the Genesis, but it is probably less expensive to get a different car now rather than a different wife. We both agree, however, that there will be a Genesis in our garage as soon as AWD is available. After reading other posts in the forum, I don't appear to be the only person who really wants an AWD Genesis.

 

[Bigjake]

I just bought some ford mustang 17s and blizzaks, they fit nicely, the dunlops are a joke in the snow.

 

[musher51]

Thanks for all of the good information. As my wife will drive this car often, she has some say in the final decision. We decided to buy a used FWD car to get us through until the Genesis is available with AWD. Hopefully this will only be for two years. I really wanted the Genesis, but it is probably less expensive to get a different car now rather than a different wife. We both agree, however, that there will be a Genesis in our garage as soon as AWD is available. After reading other posts in the forum, I don't appear to be the only person who really wants an AWD Genesis.

You're right...a number of posters are fixated on AWD and won't buy a Genesis until it's offered. To each their own, but I think you're unnecessarily deferring the purchase of a car that you really seem to covet. Does a RWD Genesis with stock Dunlops handle well in the snow? Per virtually unanimous feedback...no. Does a RWD Genesis with snow tires handle well in winter? Hell yes, as long as you know what you're doing.

You're almost ten years older than me, so you must have grown up with RWD cars. I was nearly 20 before I even saw a FWD or AWD car (other than a rare Olds Toronado). You can't really believe that AWD is some sort of panacea insofar as winter handling? At best, AWD provides a nominal advantage when starting/accelerating at low speeds, but what about handling when you lose traction? What about braking? AWD offers little or no advantage over RWD in those situations. And with AWD, you lose all of the handling advantages -- and fun -- that RWD affords you on dry roads.

Give me a good set of snow tires and a reasonable traction control chip, and I'll take my RWD Genesis out in a blizzard before I'd take my wife's AWD VeraCruz. And I'll have a helluva lot more fun in the spring, summer and fall than she will!