I pulled the receipt which says four wheel alignment and straighten steering wheel.

 

As I'm driving through the first snowstorm of the season today, I'm wondering if other owners who live in snowy areas could share their experiences driving a V8 Vantage in the snow? Curious how it compares in snowy conditions versus standard sedans, rear wheel drives, etc.

I should add I've driven in the snow all my life, so I know what I'm doing, but this is obviously an essential question.

 

Like any rear wheel drive car with some power and big[ish] tires, driving in the snow should be reserved for emergencies. Thankfully I work from home so when the forecast says snow I just make sure I'm prepared for it. But if you have to, or get caught in it, keep a small snow shovel, some sand, and rock salt in the boot. This will be my first winter in the V but 12 years of driving Z's I've been stuck plenty of times. Especially any elevation changes trying to push uphill, expect there to be times you will not make it. The Bridgestones aren't horrible in the snow but they're nothing like a good winter tire.

That's driving IN the snow. Now a few days after you just have to watch out for the ice blocks cars in front will drop that can be big enough to chew up the front end if you hit it wrong. Outside of the drawbacks, the limited traction of the cold makes driving alot more fun if you like to throw it around sideways under control.

 

Good advice. Being that the Vantage is low to the ground, it does make sense not to drive it in snow more than a couple of inches deep. Thankfully my wife has a car that can be used in blizzard conditions if/when they occur.

What about traction control? Is the traction control feature good on the Vantage?

 

Last year I left a friends right after snow started. It had been cold so it immediately started building on the street. Couldn't have been more than a few flakes thick, and I had complete loss of control at 30mph, for what seemed like forever but was probably only 10 seconds until I finally got it back, traffic coming at me on the left, parked cars on the right. Threading the needle with zero grip gave me any even deeper respect that, you do not want to be driving when the snow accumulates on the roads. I barely made it home that night, long slow upgrade a mile from the house was white knuckle and I barely made the top while still moving forward.

Traction control is meant to save you from your own stupidity. I honestly don't know how it reacts with snow and loss of control situations. I always turn TC off as soon as I get in the car.

 

The last 2 years my 'winter beater' was a 15 Mustang with the performance wheels (wide). This is what I've learned living 3 decades in Minneapolis - does not matter - rear wheel drive, all wheel drive or front wheel drive... with out winter tires with good ice performance 4 wheel drive is a false sense of security. My Mustang had fantastic Pirelli Winter Sports - and there was no place I couldn't go - incredible winter tires. There are many with good ice performance. I don't drive the Vantage in the winter because of the chemicals - otherwise I'd probably consider year round driving. I also did the Aston Martin performance driving course when Ford had it in Michigan - they emulated icy roads and there is a lot of technology there - but tires are critical for practical and safe winter driving. Of my winter beaters I've had an SLK32, an SLK55, a 2009 CTS-V and a few 928's - all great in the winter with the right rubber.

 

Tires make all the difference. They turn a freightening experience into a fun one. A car with chassis and steering communication, with traction, can be fun to drive in the snow. I went many winters in Colorado with an Rx-7 on snow tires and loved it.

 

I'm in Colorado also so that's why I ask this question, since living here that is a significant issue.

I'm sure the are snow/winter tires specific to the Aston that are advised, but any particular tires to recommend?

Also curious if people swap out their winter tires for another set when it gets warmer, or if all season tires are sufficient.

 

In the user manual it states a specific tire size for winter tires.

It would be very hard to find someone who drives their car all year round, even in snow haha.

I would say have 2 sets of tires for winter and summer. The reason for that (aside from winter) is all season suck for summer driving. These cars handle great, and can carry some tremendous speeds while being relatively heavy. I had all seasons on my car and every time I drive it remotely hard on the backcroads the tires would give up almost all grip after 5 mins, then the ABS would come on as soon as I touch the brakes,.

 

Look for old posts by Dick Tahoe -- he drove his Vantage in snow regularly.

 

As mkzhang noted most all season tires will be overwhelmed by the Vantage in the summer. Although I have found some reasonably sticky all seasons, summer tires are always going to be more appropriate for a sports car. More importantly, they are significantly less effective in snow in the winter. Many people jokingly call them no-season tires. If you are going to use it in the snow, get 2 sets of tires or preferably, 2 sets of wheels.

The reason I wouldn't drive a Vantage in Colorado in the winter isn't the snow, it's the sandblasting that cars get. It would suck to see the car chipped up.

 

Where in CO I just purchased a 2007 vantage in sept. And live in the Boulder area, she will be sleeping under the indoor car cover for the winter. Way to many inexperienced snow drivers in CO.

 

I have owned special/exotic cars for over 45 years. Living in the northeast for most of that time, I have never used a special car during the winter months. Eliminating ice, sand and salt and minimizing exposure to scorching sun, a sports car will remain in remarkably great shape indefinately.

 

Looking at the spec's for Aston's winter tire they are Pirelli's. I've had just about every brand winter tires over the years, and without a doubt, the Pirelli Winter Sports I had on my Mustang was the best - I'd hope these would be similar. The great thing was that they had much less wear than any others (typically winter tires are good for only two seasons), and the ride was better (similar to changing to Super Sports) than the stock tires.

 

This brings up a good discussion. There are essentially two classes of winter tires, one for deep snow (ice and snow) and one for winter with snowy roads (performance winter). The traditional snow tire has big separated blocks with lots of space to catch and hold onto snow and have impressively good grip on ice, still slippery, but still impressive. These tires are especially soft and are really meant to be on vehicles that see very cold weather and snow all winter. These do wear fast. The performance winter tires are a newer category that the Pirellis share with a bunch of other brands (I like the Hankook i'cspts). These are much closer to a heavily sipe'd, soft road tire. They last longer, are fairly quiet, actually have decent grip on tarmac and still work great on snow but aren't as grippy on ice and I've never seen a "studdable" version.

I've lived in Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Colorado and can't think of a time when the more road oriented performance tire wouldn't work, but still, it is a compromise to maximum traction compared to an ice and snow tire.