WOW the 2006 4wd 6cyl Highlander SUCKS in the snow!

[Zack1978]

Hey everyone,
LAst night here in NJ we had about an inch of snow, and my mom was driving her "new" Highlander for the first time in the snow. She called to tell me that it sucks in the snow and she was sliding "all over the place". I took the Highlander out to see what she was talking about, and in fact she was totally correct. It seemed to have traction when hitting the gas from a dead stop on snow, but it would slide easy when turning, etc! I had the ect/snow switch on. The only thing that I can think of is that the tires are garbage. It is sad to think that a new $30,000 Toyota comes with garbage tires, that need to be replaced after only 7,000 miles. The stock tires are almost slicks, they are Bridgestones, IIRC. So would everyone else think that the tires are to blame?

Thanks,
Zack

 

[D'Animal]

How much pressure is in them? If they are at 38psi or 40psi almost any tire will behave poorly in the snow. Air down a little and do the test drive again.

Most Auto manufacturers have thier tire rating extremely high to reduce the rolling resistance. Although this improves fuel economy, it sucks for anything but dry pavement.

 

[Zack1978]

I was wrong, they are Toyo's, but they still blow! Now she's gotta drop $600.00 for new tires.


Zack

 

[cruiser88]

drop the air pressure

 

[KliersLC]

slow down


Edit: There are a lot of different types of snow, and some of them are really slippery, while others are not so bad. Most highway tires that come on rigs from the factory do poorly in the slick stuff.

I wouldn't buy tires in february. If she wants a good set of winter tires for next winter, get some then, with extra rims, but the tires she has will do just fine if she slows down, and they will be perfect for the summer months.

 

[Zack1978]

slow down


Edit: There are a lot of different types of snow, and some of them are really slippery, while others are not so bad. Most highway tires that come on rigs from the factory do poorly in the slick stuff.

I wouldn't buy tires in february. If she wants a good set of winter tires for next winter, get some then, with extra rims, but the tires she has will do just fine if she slows down, and they will be perfect for the summer months.

Your point is well made. At this point in the winter it is sort of pointless to get new tires. The factory tires seem to "load up" with snow, and can not clean themselves, thereby now slicks.

Zack

 

[eleblanc]

Winter tire is a must, and good one can blow you away when running at low pressue. Up here (canada) in my rally years we used to use BF blizzak, ws50, the ws50 are not manufactured anymore cause they wear really fast, you could burn them in a couple of month on asphalte. But with a side cut and running 20-22 psi you simply wouldn't beleive how fast we could drive on pure ice, not snow.

Unless you can get a deal on good winter tire right now because the end of the season, wait next year. Run lower pressue for now

I run Yokoama Guardex, they're almost has good has the blizzak but last much longer. I've been running them on my Audi for the last 4 winter and they still are good. Running those tire on my 4wd audi provide has much traction has running sport summer tire on gravel road. Run what the rally cars use in the winter, cause they use whats best, and i beleive right now they use the yoko Ice Guard 10. Note that in North America stud tire is illegal in rally, you need DOT approve unmodified winter tires for rallying, so the cars in the video on the yoko site do not have studs.

Check out the video
http://www.yokohama.ca/index.php

Don't buy goodyears, blizzak or yoko

 

[Zack1978]

When I was in BJ's today I was looking at tires, and they make the BFG AT's in the Highlander size. I have the AT's on my Path and my FJ60, they are IMHO the best tire made. That might be the way to go.

Zack

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

I doubt your mom will care for the stiff ride of the BFG AT's, and I also doubt she will be 'wheelin her Highlander. There are better suited tires for a passenger car that sees snow than a BFG AT

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

My wifes highlander (02) is great in the snow, I dont' know what tires are on it, but with a high of 60 today, I'm not worried about snow.....