Driving the Supra in the winter

[Lemikson]

Year around... in Toronto, Ontario.
With Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3s in 18" size unstoppable and endless fun
Staggered set 225/255 - offered for sale on this same sub-forum

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[mk5_ricola]

I will drive my Supra in the snow season. I'm not sure if I should put some underbody protection on it, or if its enough to wash the underbody more often. I know old cars die from the road salt, but its my first new car. Some suggestions?

I'm curious about this as well but Toyota did coat the underbody, unlike BMW

 

[Don Alex]

I'm curious about this as well but Toyota did coat the underbody, unlike BMW

You sure about that? Would be great! Can someone confirm that?

 

[jtsang25]

You sure about that? Would be great! Can someone confirm that?

If you are talking about the black tarry looking stuff they spray on the underside? I don't even think it was a default option. I opted not to and dealer told me not to spray. I did get the rust prohibit spray if that's what the other person was talking about.

 

[MKV2021]

There was a video review done by Savage Geese on the '20 and they said the level of undercoating was crazy, not only for corrosion resistance but also for its NVH properties.

 

[Z4UPRA]

Anyone driving their Supra all year long ? I live in Ottawa, Canada where we get kind of alot of snow.
Of course I would get the best set of tires I can.
let me know if you drive your Supra all year long in these north conditions

This is the first winter with my Supra. I just got her all season tires installed. I doubt I’ll be driving her in snow.

 

[sunny5011]

Getting mine soon, anyone have any recommendations for new wheel set and winter tires that I can switch to when it drops below 8 degrees? Only planning weekend city driving in the winter

 

[Dannyvandelft]

Getting mine soon, anyone have any recommendations for new wheel set and winter tires that I can switch to when it drops below 8 degrees? Only planning weekend city driving in the winter

I'm assuming that 8 degrees is Celsius.

I've always had excellent results with Blizzaks. AWD, RWD, FWD, they always performed excellent. I'd go narrower than stock though, you want winter tires to sink into the snow, not float on top. So I'd do like a 225 square setup since the car is close to 50-50 weight distribution.

 

[sunny5011]

I'm assuming that 8 degrees is Celsius.

I've always had excellent results with Blizzaks. AWD, RWD, FWD, they always performed excellent. I'd go narrower than stock though, you want winter tires to sink into the snow, not float on top. So I'd do like a 225 square setup since the car is close to 50-50 weight distribution.

thanks buddy, any recommendations on nice looking wheels too?

 

[Dannyvandelft]

thanks buddy, any recommendations on nice looking wheels too?

For winter? I'd just go cheap. I'd go 18 inch wheels, gives you more sidewall height which will help, and reduces the cost of the wheels and tires.

 

[gcurnew]

My Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 winter boots for the Supra arrived today, and I'll mount them sometime in the next couple of weeks. I will be driving my Supra throughout the winter, and even with the Alpins being 255/35/19 up front and 275/35/19 at the rear I have ZERO concerns about the car being too low or the tires being too wide for a Prairie winter. (I looked for narrower 18" wheels and winter tires as they would provide nominally better traction, but decided to make the OE wheels the winters and spend money on a set of awesome summer wheels and tires rather than waste a few grand on crappy 18' wheels/tires for winter).

My other winter ride the past two years has been a 992 C4 (wife has taken it over as her DD), and where the nose and undertray on that car hits and scrapes pretty much every day, the Supra has NEVER scraped in the same places on the same roads. While the 992 is AWD, my previous 911 was a RWD GTS with Aerokit and I made it through 4 winters in that with no real issues and did 7 winters in a Cayman before that. Also drove an AP1 and AP2 S2000 through multiple winters. Bottom line, in my experience (In Western Canada at least) pretty much any car that's fitted with decent snows on all 4 corners can be used as a DD in winter.

Unlike the Savage Geese car, thankfully my Supra has zero additional undercoating as it's frankly unnecessary here. In Calgary, salt on roads isn't much of an issue: none of my cars in the past 20 years have shown any signs of rust after being driven multiple winters (with the exception of rusting of the inboard anti-vibration dampers in the calipers of my GTS and a Cayman after a couple of winters). In the past I'd hit a wand car wash every few weeks in winter, but now own a DIY garage (lugnutz.ca) where I can get the car up on a hoist in our detail bay and powerwash the underbody and wheel wells anytime I want.

Anyway, looking forward to hooning it a bit in the Supra on our icy and snow-covered roads, and I'll be sure to post some pics (and check in) as winter progresses. I could be proved wrong, but I'm betting the Supra will be a blast of a winter ride.

 

[gcurnew]

Put the Pilot Alpin5 winters on today...just in time for the snow forecasted for here on Friday and Saturday. The Alpin5s feel a bit heavier in terms of steering feel than the stocks Pilot Super Sport summers, but not in any way "squishy" like other winter tires (even performance winters) I've had in the past.

The Alpins have an interesting and aggressive-looking tread pattern, which unfortunately is almost invisible from any angle except from 30+ feet behind the car.

Big bonus in my books is that they are noticeably quieter than the Super Sports, which in themselves are not a particularly loud tire in the Supra

 

[gcurnew]

Well, we're about halfway through winter, and here we have seen multiple full-on snow storms, roads as icy and treacherous as they ever get, temperatures down to -36 Celsius. The Supra is fine in winter...as stable and capable as any other RWD sports car I've had. FWIW, My 992 C4 bottoms out and scrapes the front lip occasionally and (knock on wood) the Supra hasn't yet done either in 9,000km.

I think the bad reviews of the Supra in winter are mostly a consequence of a poor tire choice: the Sottozero IIs that were on the magazine test car are pretty old tech, and with the Aplin 5s I've not come close to getting stuck. Frankly, anyone with a bit of experience driving a RWD car in winter conditions would be fine DDing a Supra 362+ days a year (there are a couple of seriously bad snow days when no 2WD/RWD car is much good on the road).

 

[trev_rs]

There are a lot of things to consider as to what is actual winter driving.

When I was a kid, I had few problems with a Mk1 MR2 on all-seasons... when I lived on flat land.

Mountain driving? Hills? How well are your roads maintained?

Most places you can winter drive almost anything on most days as long as you aren't out tooling around during a blizzard or expecting 3 figure speeds on mountain passes.

 

[gcurnew]

lol...I also had a Mk1 MR2 (1987) that I ran a couple of winters...although I put full snow tires on it. Zero issues. My AP2 S2000 with Blizzaks on it was one of the most capable and fun winter cars I've owned, even taking it on a 2500 km February winter trek through Montana, Washington state and BC and back to Calgary. The only issue with the S2K in winter was the heater was TOO efficient and would fry your right leg and foot if left on high. The Supra isn't as sure-footed as the S2k was, but it's more planted than say, my E46 M3 was. It's all about getting good WINTER tires rather than all-seasons and driving in a manner appropriate for conditions.

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