What to do for the winter?
I live in the snow belt, and have plenty of winter driving experience, if different types of vehicles. My advice is this, wait a couple of months, until Tire rack, Discount Tire, etc, gettheir shipment of snow tires in for the season. They have inexpensive, steel, "winter wheels". Get 4 of these, and 4 Firestone Winterforce tires. They're a good, budget friendly snow tire. You'll thank me next spring.......
Driving through the snow on ANY drag radial will cause you to either A. not move at all, or B. if you do get down the street you will then immediately plow into someone's lawn, tree or mailbox. It just won't work. At all.

Just be real careful when winter comes around....ask me how I know
BUT, just for the record, I drive a GMC Canyon 4x4 with Blizzaks, in the winter....
Trending Topics
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Yeah, there's no diff in the snow between a winter tire and a Nitto DR.

Winter tires DEFINITLY help. There are plenty of documented tests where they beat all season or summer tires in every winter tire category. Just the narrower tread alone will help in the snow and slush.
Besides the winter tires, throw a couple of bags of sand or rock salt in the hatch storage well. The weight will help you with traction, and if you do get stuck, you can spread out some sand or salt to help you get going again.
Oh, and don't worry about the lack of ASR, mine has it and it's basically useless in the snow. I had to shut mine off to get anywhere the few times I got stuck driving it in the snow.
Just go real light on the throttle, and plan your steering and braking moves far in advance (when possible). And remember, even when you have traction, you generally only haveenough to steer, or brake. Rarely can you do both effectively in the snow.
It might help you to wait till the first snowfall, and head out to an empty parking lot (watch for police!!!) and intentionally do a few slides to get some practice on car control. Chance are at some point the rear end WILL kick out when you don't want it to, and being able to control a sliding car is a big advantage in the snow.



