Performance of the '07 Altima in snow

Bladecutter · #1 (**permalink**) 12-29-2006, 03:10 PM

Ahh, another nice, snowy day here in Denver.
Last night we got another 6+ inches of the cold white stuff dumped on us.

So this morning I had the pleasure of driving my 6spd manual to work in the snow. I don't know if anyone else has had this pleasure yet, so I thought I would share my impressions.

First off, It's pretty darned good in the snow.
Getting out of my parking spot was probably the most challenging part of the whole event. Well, it would have helped had I remembered to take off my parking brake before trying to pull out that first time. Heh.

Next up was the fact that the car is very well behaved when the front tires don't have much traction, like when you are stopped at a light on a slick section of road. Some of the other cars I have driven over the years will pull to one side, even if the road was perfectly level. The Altima stays straight, and gets going once it gets a bit of traction.

The front and rear defrosters work quite well, and so do the small vents that keep the side windows clear. I was quite impressed, compared to the side vents in some of the other cars I've driven, that never seemed to do much of anything.

One thing though:
First gear really could stand to be a bit taller, ratio wise.
I'm sure it's great when you're in a drag race, but it's not the best in the snow. Once you get a bit of momentum, you can shift into second, and get rolling pretty good.

The tires are probably the weakest point in the whole car (mine has the stock 215/60-16 tires on the steel wheels). I thought the brakes might be an issue, since there appears to be one heck of a rear bias with the EBD system on initial pressure, but the ABS never kicked in, unless I forced it to.

As soon as I can afford a set, I'm picking up some Bridgestone Blizzacks for my car.

Later,
BC.

langjie · #2 (**permalink**) 12-29-2006, 03:44 PM

cool, glad to hear the car doesn't get stuck in snow (although it doesn't seem like we're going to have much snow in new england).

when you're losing traction, you can always start in 2nd gear, helped a bit when i was in my sentra

dwb1973 · #3 (**permalink**) 12-29-2006, 08:33 PM

Yea its great No snow in New England and hoping not much :-) But its getting cold.

omelet1978 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-30-2006, 03:11 PM

Just out of curiosity, but how do you think the Altima compares to a vehicle with AWD? I have an AWD Toyota 4runner, and I've been looking at the Altima, but I'm not too sure how a front wheel drive vehicle will drive in the snow (I live in Omaha, and winters here get pretty bad).

Bladecutter · #5 (**permalink**) 12-30-2006, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by omelet1978

Just out of curiosity, but how do you think the Altima compares to a vehicle with AWD? I have an AWD Toyota 4runner, and I've been looking at the Altima, but I'm not too sure how a front wheel drive vehicle will drive in the snow (I live in Omaha, and winters here get pretty bad).

Well, chances are the stock tires on the 4-Runner have a much more aggressive tread tesign from the factory than what comes on the Altima from the factory, so the 4-Runner will be better at deep snow, due to all the extra ground clearance, and taking off from a stop on slick pavement than the Altima would.

If you give the Altima a top quality set of winter tires, like the Bridgestone Blizzack REVO-1's, I would rather drive the Altima in mild to moderate snow, due to the Altima's better braking and cornering abilities in comparison to the 4-Runner in case you had to make an emergency manuever in the snow.

Now, if you give the 4-Runner a set of Bridgestone Blizzack DM-Z3's, then there's no stopping you. If you can get that truck stuck with those tires on it, then you shouldn't have been out driving in the first place, and you probably shouldn't have driven onto a semi frozen lake to test out their superior ice traction ability!

But an Altima, with at least a set of Blizzacks up front is what I'm planning on doing as soon as I can afford the $94 per tire from Tire Rack. Luckily, I have all the tools I need to install them myself here at home.

I install motorcycle tires all year round for myself and my friends/customers.

BC.

MFIZZLE · #6 (**permalink**) 03-18-2007, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bladecutter

Ahh, another nice, snowy day here in Denver.
Last night we got another 6+ inches of the cold white stuff dumped on us.

So this morning I had the pleasure of driving my 6spd manual to work in the snow. I don't know if anyone else has had this pleasure yet, so I thought I would share my impressions.

First off, It's pretty darned good in the snow.

I can't say that without hesitation. Without the TCS, it's geared a bit too aggressively... it takes a bit of time to figure out how to 'feather' it properly. And the CVT will get weirded out a bit without the TCS when wheelspin doesn't match actual speed. I've had a couple of instances where the tires are spinning, and the car is revving at about 3500 RPM, and then I get traction and the RPMs stay at that level for about 10 seconds before the CVT figures out that everything is normal again.

HOBGOBLIN · #7 (**permalink**) 03-18-2007, 04:08 AM

Here in Northwest Canada we have always used snow tires in the winter.
'Tires on at the first snow fall (October) and off at the end of April'. Even though our winters have been getting milder over the years and not a lot of snow, the piece of mind and the added stopping power in adverse weather conditions is worth the extra cost, also the standard tires last longer. The Altima handles very well with snow tires on the car and the problems associated with the CVT spinning the wheels is not a prevalent with the snow tires.
The standard A/S Contis handling in snow and ice are the pits.

Silven · #8 (**permalink**) 03-18-2007, 10:38 PM

I also live in the Northwest of Canada and my Altima came with Touranza's on it and so far they seem pretty good in the snow and ice. If it came down to buying a specific snow dedicated tire I'm pretty sure that I would go with Nokians. I talked to quite a few tire guys in my area and they swear on them as being the absolute best, for the conditions around here anyway.

psufan79 · #9 (**permalink**) 03-19-2007, 05:41 PM

well, we just had a storm this past friday (live in pa), and we got about 7-9 inches dumped on us... well, i left work around 6 pm friday and there was a good 6 inches on the ground and no plows came through yet in the parking lots and the roads around town were horrible (i saw 2 accidents on the roads on my way home

) and one was a Volvo XC-90... haha awd and they still cant figure out the proper way to drive...

anyways, the alti did absolutely fine!! i had a little trouble getting out from the parking lot, but after that... she went right through with good traction and braking power as well... i know the tires only have 600 miles on them, but i feel sooooo much better knowing that if i need to slap some Blizzaks on there, it will do just as well as my old Rx300 did... hence i was nervous about getting rid of a AWD, but at least i got into a FWD car...

0h, and while on the interstate (I-81), i saw this 04? BMW M3... haha i wish i had a video camera cause this idiot was on the roads in a $45k car and was doing 10MPH on the highway!!

he could not keep the car straight if his life depended upon it... one of the funniest things i have seen on the road...

that is what a lot of money and rear wheel drive will get you in the snow...

Smoke3.5SE · #10 (**permalink**) 03-19-2007, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psufan79

0h, and while on the interstate (I-81), i saw this 04? BMW M3... haha i wish i had a video camera cause this idiot was on the roads in a $45k car and was doing 10MPH on the highway!!

he could not keep the car straight if his life depended upon it... one of the funniest things i have seen on the road...

that is what a lot of money and rear wheel drive will get you in the snow...

Probably had summer tires. RWD isnt all that bad in the snow as long as you have a good, and i mean GOOD set of tires and about 500lbs of something in the trunk, lol. Otherwise its no different, if not better than FWD in the snow. He obviously didnt know that.

psufan79 · #11 (**permalink**) 03-19-2007, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smoke3.5SE

Probably had summer tires. RWD isnt all that bad in the snow as long as you have a good, and i mean GOOD set of tires and about 500lbs of something in the trunk, lol. Otherwise its no different, if not better than FWD in the snow. He obviously didnt know that.

yeah, your observation is correct, he had the 19in wheels with most likely
summer rubber... it was some punk kid driving too.. i just looked and laughed as i rolled by him