[Jeff2KPatriotBlue]

Two words: Winter Tires

You will be amazed at the difference they make.

 

[Doug D]

I'm 50 years old and I've lived in Wisconsin all my life. I know how to drive in snow and ice. All I drive is Mopar. So I know what I'm doing. Last Auguest 2012 I bought a Chrysler 200 touring from a dealer and have been very happy. Then the snow and ice came; I have NEVER had a car act like this on the road. It is all over the place. This is my wife's car and she travels 45 miles a day to work. Last night we had snow and ice and she would not take the car. She took my car, a 2004 Chrysler Concord. I have on the Chrysler 200 Goodyears Eagle LS 2 P225/50 R18 tires. Is my problem the tires ? Do I just need to get different tires ? Is it the car itself (The design of the car). If I can't find out whats going on I'll be trading this in for something else.

Yes, you need to ditch the GY's. The GY Eagles are not a good true snow tire. They are barely an adequate summer tire. Do they have "M+S" on them indicating it is a all-weather tire? Even if they do, it's obvious they don't have good "snow" ability.

As Jeff mentioned, you'll need to get actual "snow" tires like Blizzack's or similar.

 

[Jeff2KPatriotBlue]

The M+S label doesn't mean much these days. I was told that the only requirement on these only have to have a certain minimum void-to-tread ratio.

The "snow flake and mountain" symbol does have performance requirements.

Stock tires on most cars a a "low-bid" item.

There are several genuine "all-weather" tires on the market (Nokain WR series is my favourite, and what I currently run on the van). These have a 80 000 km rating and meet the performance requirement for the "snow flake and mountain" symbol. If you only run one set of tires, these are the ones you want! They are a compromise (compared to the Blizzaks, etc.), but a reasonable one.

I run Blizzaks on the Journey... they are awesome. I also recommencd Michelin X-Ice, as well as Continental's higher end winter tires (teh name of the line escapes me at the moment).

Also be aware that most winter tires rely on "sipes" in the tread, so once they get worn down to about 6/32nds you will not get the same performance... in most places 2/32nd is the legal requirement to pass a safety inspection.

 

[duster92]

If I was living in Wisconsin, I would buy a designated snow tire. Goodyears are often refered to as "Good For A Years" for a reason. The RSAs on my PT were horrible. I switched to all season coopers. However, I was in a heavy snow area, I would get a set of snow tires.

 

[MickM]

I had to ditch my LS2s last year because I couldn't drive in the rain with 6/10ths tread. I can imagine they are horrible in the snow. I height Michelin Hydro edges and the transformed my Avenger. I have not driven in the so yet but I am confident that I can now.
Mick

 

[RaiRai]

... Then the snow and ice came; I have NEVER had a car act like this on the road. It is all over the place....

Every now and then we can see that despite all the efforts, development isn't always going forward...
Again, I would recommend checking wheel alignment both front and rear axle, they can be wrong from the factory. Great tires may compensate bad geometry in undercarriage.

 

[kbobob]

hmmm....had our new 2013 200 with the continental tires (base 17") out today in the snow and thought it handled really good....and when I say new......we brought it home last night from the dealer and it snowed over night...

I had goodyear RSA's on my neon and they sucked big time in the snow and rain....shitched out to something else and was fine.....I live in canada.......by the great lakes.....never really found that I absolutely needed snow tires around here. I have had BFG's and dunlops on the car since and had no real issues with them in the snow.

 

[ImperialCrown]

Modern tires with 'low profile' aspect ratios of 50 or 60 generally have pretty bad snow and slush manners. I don't particularly understand this trend (is it supposed to be sporty?).
It is even worse without the assistance of ESC, TRAC or ABS.
Tall, narrow profile tires or tires with an aggressive tread have a much better snow bite.
All-Seasons are a compromise and having both a set of summer and winter tires is expensive and inconvenient.

 

[Jeff2KPatriotBlue]

ABS in slush with poor tires is a bad combo. It kicks in way too soon.

 

[tkyoshi]

Was the vehicle loaded? Seems there may be an issue w/ the vehicle when loaded. Been following this thread on another forum. Sounds like it may be along the same lines?

http://www.200forums.com/forum/12-chrysler-200-wheels-tires-suspension/1855-winter-driving.html

 

[RaiRai]

Was the vehicle loaded? Seems there may be an issue w/ the vehicle when loaded. Been following this thread on another forum. Sounds like it may be along the same lines?

http://www.200forums.com/forum/12-chrysler-200-wheels-tires-suspension/1855-winter-driving.html

Sad. Starts to sound serious for the 200. Especially if there are no proper adjustments for rear. "Bad tires" generally do not make the car's behavior unpredictable, and can't recommend trying to compensate the problem with ultimate tires as the result is the vehicle shoots you out of the controls only in higher speeds.

 

[ImperialCrown]

Rear toe is adjustable at the rear toe link cams.
Rear camber is set at the factory, but may change if the suspension took a big hit.
Caster is for the front end as it is a steering angle only.
I still think that the main problem is tires.

 

[saltydog]

I am with IC the tires that cars come with from the factory are just plain awful! The factory Brigstons that came on my Sebring where so bad, I changed them at 25k miles and I could not be happier! Transformed the car!

 

[Bob Lincoln]

I just drove my wife's car 16 miles round trip in the city over very poorly plowed roads - slushy and hard chunks, very slippery. I had to go about 20 mph like everyone else, but it was very easy to maintain control and traction, never spun once. These are the factory Goodyear Eagle whatever tires, 18 inch. 2.4L and 6-speed auto. Anyone who has trouble with this combo in the snow is, in my opinion, not an experienced driver in snow. No issues at all.

 

[Gerry G]

The LS's are garbage in snow and marginal in rain. When I replaced the LS's I went with the GY conforttread, good in
snow, good in rain and got over 110k miles (started to hydroplane in the rain at 70mph :scared: )

Hope this helps,

Gerry G.

 

[Bob Lincoln]

Well, I guess YMMV. And since hydroplaning can start at 55 mph, depending on drainage and how hard it's raining, and road surface, sometimes it's just wise to slow down and accept that certain weather requires reduced speed.

 

[valiant67]

After reading that other thread, I wonder how much is due to the 200's suspension tuning? Since it seems worse with loaded cars and as someone points out no one seems to be complaining about the Avenger having similar issues, it could be the "softer" 200 suspension at close to full load being an issue.

 

[MickM]

After reading that other thread, I wonder how much is due to the 200's suspension tuning? Since it seems worse with loaded cars and as someone points out no one seems to be complaining about the Avenger having similar issues, it could be the "softer" 200 suspension at close to full load being an issue.

Well I can tell you I had my 3 youngest kids my wife and myself 6' tall and 300lbs plus 800 bucks worth of groceries in my Avenger last week and had no trouble on wet curved roads at 70 mph. My car felt heavy but she didn't complain about the weight.
Mick

 

[Jeff2KPatriotBlue]

Any feedback from the original poster?