I know that this has probably been covered before but I was wondering does anyone have experience with putting some weight in the back for better driving in the snow? What was the best weight? I live in Buffalo NY. Of course if we have a blizzard and get 3 feet of snow I am not goint to try to drive it but we tend to get a couple of inches pretty often so I want to be prepaired as best I can to handel that. BTW I have the Continental All Season tires on mine.

 

I live in Boston and try to avoid driving when it's snowing. The Crossfire doesn't handle as poorly in the snow as a BMW but it's still not a ton of fun. I haven't invested in snow tires (between tires and rims it's more economical to hire a cab if I absolutely need to go somewhere) but they would definitely help. Please let me know if you discover that weighing down the trunk helps.

 

I will keep you posted as to the results. I am hoping that the combination of all season tires with some weight in the back, together with the traction control and winter mode on the automatic will do the trick. We have not yet had any snow here that stuck so I haven't had the opportunity to try it out yet.

 

Just watch the Xfire weight limit which is ~450 lbs. If I weigh 230, that only leaves 220 for a passenger and weight in the back. I would think if you exceeded by ~100 lbs, you would be ok though.

 

Drove it last two winters in Saratoga Springs. Handles well and if you DON"T try to drive it too aggressively, it handles better than most cars. Also, I never added any weight. Hope this helps to aleviate any concerns. Just rember to keep it clean and drive smartly.

Will

 

hi i have set of winnter tires on never had problem

 

Adding weight should improve the weight distribution a little, which is 54/46 front to rear. I wouldn't add anymore than 100 to 150lbs. because the Crossfires max. weight capacity is 450 lbs. (Of course you and your passengers weight would figure into that equation also)
I've heard mixed opinions on the Conti's all seasons. But I believe the biggest problem with winter driving with the Crossfire is it's light weight, and wide tires. I think it tends to ride on top of, or push the snow instead of plowing thru it.
Skinny tires like 70 or 60 series mounted on 17" Mercedes SLK wheels all around would probably give you the best winter driving experience.
I believe most people have the best results with the traction control turned off.
Good Luck with your Buffalo winters.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. I am only planing on adding about 80 to 100 lbs. I have plenty of winter driving experience with a rear wheel drive car. I used to own a Alfa Spider and I was living in Southern Germany at the time which in the winter can hold its own against buffalo winters any day!! I used to put a couple of sand bags in the trunk and drive REALLY CAREFULLY!! The alfa had a lot skinnier tires though. I am just a little concerned, don't want to mess up my baby since I just got her!!

 

Just a suggestion, but I would try kittie litter before I used sand. Kittie litter is easier to clean up should the bag break and can still be spread under the tires for traction if need be.

 

I don't plan on taking mine out in the snow but I have a LOT of experience in driving in the snow! My truck, a 4X4 dually, will sit on the thinest layer of snow and just spin in 4X4. However, when I put 500# in it, it is another vehicle completely. The key to the process is putting the weight directly above the axle. I have tried it in other positions but it is a waste of time and gas. Your 100# should work well but make sure the weight is braced in exactly the position you want.

I was looking at my Conti's and there tread is relatively aggresive so you should be OK there. I don't think you can go in very deep snow. Not because of traction - those big fat tires will snow plow.

You have a real challenge. Some of the worst snow I have ever seen has been from Buffalo to Syracuse and from Watertown to Syracuse. Good luck!

 

These Continential tires you mentioned; I've got Continential Contact's on my car, 23000 miles, but they dont look like all-season tires. They look "new-ish". Would these have come on the car new, or did the last owner change them, any thoughtt. There is no really agressive look to them for snow.

 

I should have said aggressive compare to the Michelin P2's. There nowhere near a snow tire but better than HP summer only tire.

 

Went to valuhardware in east aurora and bought a tube of 70lb sand for about $4. Fits right in the back and does not take up much space. I have been driving for the past couple of weeks with 18" blizzaks all around and it really makes a difference on the roads around here (I mainly drive around clarence, akron, lockport, east aurora, west seneca, orchard park areas) as the pot holes are pretty common place.

 

Well now I know how the crossfire handels in the snow with the all season conti's. This sunday I woke to find about 3 to 4 inches of fresh snow on the ground. I took my crossfire out and played around a little and here is what I found out.
You can drive the cossfire with the all season conti's in snow but it's not a optimal solution. Traction control going off non stop. its a little better if you turn it off and put the transmission on the W setting for those of you that have the autostick. I went to home depot and purchased two 60lb bags of tube sand and put them in the trunk in a polyester laundry bag so I dont get sand spillage. Then I went out and drove on the same roads as before. The car behaved much better, I was able to drive it with the traction control on and the transmission in regular mode. The traction control still would kick in but not as much as before. In winter mode with the traction off and 120 lbs of weight in the back the car was just as easy to drive around as my front drive accord coupe with all season tires on it. Now I feel confident this car can handle snow without any problem. Hope this helps any of you who want to drive your crossfires in the winter.

 

I have never driven our crossfire in the snow either and most likely never will for years to come. This is what I expected though. As long as your car has decent all-seasons you should have no problem as long as you drive correctly for the conditions. Since I have a long commute in Pennsylvania I have dedicated winter tires for my daily driver. If I ever drove the crossfire in winter I would most likely do the same. I don't really care too much about starting out or getting stuck, I care more about being able to stop on snow or ice. If there is enough snow on the roads to actually bog down a car then you most likely shouldn't be driving.

 

They do just fine if you put weight on them. The continental contact is the original eqipment tire for the crossfire. They may have been put on after the fact or come from the factory that way hard to say. They are by no means a "snow" tire but the seem to do fine with some weight added. See my other post for details.

 

I am more concerned with getting stuck as I leave plenty of space between cars to be able to stop. Dont follow closely in winter driving conditions, I think this rule applies no matter what car you are driving. ABS works great to help you with that too. I didn't notice any problems stoping the crossfire on the snow. Got some action from the abs system and the car stoped in about the distance I expected it would for those conditions.

 

Hi, what color is yours? Maybe I have seen you driving around. I saw a alabastar white one a few days ago was that you?

 

I have a black 2007 base coupe, with mille milliga F20 rims. What part of buffalo are you in? Did you expermiment with one vs. two bags of sand? I have one now, but if another helps and does not exceed weight limits then I may run and pick up another.

 

I live in North Buffalo off of hertel ave. I picked up two 60 lb bags at home depot for a total of 120 lbs. You could see the car squat down a little when I put them in. I used two bags because I wanted 120 lbs and here is the reason. The crossfire weighs about 3,000 lbs and has 54% of its weight in the front 46% in the rear. If you do the math then 4% of 3,000 lbs is 120 lbs. So by putting 120 lbs in the trunk gives the car a 50/50 weight distribution. With the driver in it the weight bias is slightly to the rear which definetly improves the handeling in the snow. I noticed the difference right away. You wont overload the car unless you plan on driving with a passanger who weighs over 250 lbs and you are over 200 lbs yourself!!! Good luck and I will honk at you if I see you around.