Spec B in winter?

A Spec B, like a Sti, comes with summer tires. Yet has all the cold weather equipment (heated seats, windshield wiper de-icers).

 

I got into a debate with my son about it's winter capabilities. He says it's a sporty sedan, not as good in snow as a standard LGT, even with snow tires.

I say with good tires, it's as good as a car can be.

 

Last winter I parked my newly acquired Spec B because it came with over-sized summer tires and I had another vehicle to drive. This year I going to buy a set of wheels to mount snow tires on. He says it's not worth the effort.

 

So, I would appreciate some feedback from Spec B owners with winter driving experience.

It'll make me sound like a jerk, but your son is wrong.

 

The 07-09 Spec-B is to be as good, or better in the snow than a standard Legacy GT. Unlike the LGT, which has a wimpy rear LST, the Spec-B has a real LSD in the back.

 

Unless, of course, your Spec-B is a 2006. If that's the case, then it's nothing more than a standard LGT with red seats, 18" wheels, and yellow struts. The powertrain is identical.

^this

I feel more comfortable driving my specB with snow tires in a snow storm than in my 4wd Jeep with off-road tires. Though when it comes to 3ft of snow, the Jeeps wins.

My car is a 2007. To my way of thinking, with the SI drive, in "I" mode it would be even better in really slick conditions than a car without it, everything else being equal.

 

I think he's trying to con me out of the car, he really likes it.

 

Then, I will proceed with my plans and gather up the necessary wheels and snow tires for this winter.

 

One more question: My car is lowered with Cobb springs. Opinions on installing stock springs for winter driving? I know I'd get ground clearance, but is it worth the effort?

I've not driven a stock suspension Spec B, so with the springs and Cobb anti-roll bars it's great in the dry, even wet. But, is it too low for snow? Cobb springs drop the front 1-3/4" and the rear 1" (I think, they don't show these springs anymore on their website).

The standard LGT has SI Drive too.

 

You'll be fine on low springs, unless you try to tackle huge drifts. I made it through "snowmageddon" at about your ride height.

 

Get some snow tires, and prove your kid wrong.

No problems driving mine with Blizzaks on.

I do appreciate some answers. I had a lot of fun in the winter with my WRX and was looking forward to the Spec B.

You'll be fine with Cobb springs. That's what I was running too.

eibach springs with winter tires, no problems at all. i also have a lip that does get packed with snow, but nothing serious enough to remove it.

I'll be running my 05GT rims on the Spec this coming winter with Blizzaks that have 2 winters on them. Then next winter I'll put the 18" blizzaks that came with the car on.

 

I started driving the Spec in early march, it had Conti's DWS on the Enki rims. Had no problem with the snow. I drive to VT every winter weekend, have season passes at Okemo ski resort.

 

In fact you really don't need snow tires with these cars, a good all season will be fine, I never had snow tires on the 00GT wagon or the 98 GT wagon or the 1992 Honda Civic. All cars went to VT every winter weekend.

^ I got the Blizzaks because it got pretty hairy with almost new Eagle GTs in 5-6" of slush. Not fun losing traction on a highway with a semi right behind you.

LOL ok. I honestly couldnt stop laughing for like 5 minutes when i read this. I Live in alaska and spend 60% of the year in snow, and I drive cars on icetracks for a living for cold weather and endurance testing. The spec B is one of the BEST handling cars on ice and snow, I'd rate it in the top 10 of all the cars I've driven on the ice track or street. Last November we had a freak incident where we had 2 days of rain. and then it dropped back down below 0 the next day and we had 2 inches of ice on all the roads. I was driving my 03 lgt with ws60 Blizzaks, and it was OK compared to the 08 spec be we had for the track. and thats a comparison. it was amazing on the ice is the bottom line. My only complaint is the ABS when you have summer tires on :/ It all comes down to experience and circumstance.

06 Spec B on Swift springs, Blizzaks, and with a lip spoiler. Absolutely no issues at all in

NY winters. Doesn't make a car invincible with snow tires, but will get you going and a

bit more stable than running a All Season or Summer tire.

Not to thread jack on this topic, but I read in the manual that you're not to put 17's on for the winter for the spec B. I don't really see the harm in doing so. Main reason for me is that it would be cheaper i think. Thoughts? Thanks.

eibach springs with winter tires, no problems at all. i also have a lip that does get packed with snow, but nothing serious enough to remove it.

same here. im on eibach springs with summer tires and i made it in about 2 feet of power. i would slip a little when i would come to a stop but nothin too bad. sooooooo much fun to get sidewayssss in the snow.

Let me explain a little more before you laugh too much.

I got the Spec B in Dec. right before the first snow and my car came with aftermarket wheels that are 8-1/2" wide with 235-40-18 summer tires. The wheels are 48 offset and while it looks great, the rears rub at times. I was going to put all-season tires on it, but decided it wasn't a good idea, they'd just rub more.

I also didn't like the bottom of the tread sticking past the body by 2+". They sand and salt the streets here to the point where the sand is as slick as the ice after it melts. I considered using splash guards to keep the paint intact. I have a pickup that will go anywhere, so rather than make a bunch of snap decisions about the car, I drove my truck.

I wasn't sure I would even keep the car, I'm not a sedan person. I traded for it and really wanted a Forrester or Outback. When it warmed up, I found I like driving it, and unless I sold it outright, trading it is a joke. Nobody around here knows what a Spec B is and they offer LGT trade-in.

So, after casting around for a decent trade, I decided I'd keep it, but needed to figure out how to make it an all weather car. The way it was modded made it a summer car and I already have a '68 Camaro convertible for Spring/Fall days and Summer nights. I have my own tire machines and lift so swapping wheels, tires, springs is no problem.

Unless one of you guys is looking for a nice '07 Spec B.:-)

That is unless one of you guys are looking for a nice Spec B.

It appears the easiest way to do what I want with the car is buy a narrower set of wheels and all-season tires and put them on when the weather gets bad.

Not to thread jack on this topic, but I read in the manual that you're not to put 17's on for the winter for the spec B. I don't really see the harm in doing so. Main reason for me is that it would be cheaper i think. Thoughts? Thanks.

 

Sent you a PM then I looked in another section of the manual and think I found what your talking about.

 

Page 8-12 talks about the speedometer calibration will be off, yea big deal, I don't care about that.

I live in Northern Ontario and drove my SpecB on Swift springs with a dedicated snow tire/wheel setup for 3 winters.

 

No issues at all.... but I did remove my lip spoiler for the winter and am running a RalliTek aluminum skid plate.

Sent you a PM then I looked in another section of the manual and think I found what your talking about.

 

Page 8-12 talks about the speedometer calibration will be off, yea big deal, I don't care about that.

 

I planned on using 17" wheels for the winter. It's pretty easy to find a diameter of any tire and then match it with another.

My 23540-18 Falkens are 25.3 and 21550-17 Continental ExtremeContact DWS are 25.5. Close enough.

The only true comparison of the two are the vehicles on the same rim size and exact winter tires pretty much in the same conditions. Winter tires vary vastly in their traction abilities in a particular condition.

 

The only thing that can be said about winter tires as a whole is they are superior to all-seasons in slippery winter conditions.

 

That all being said a the VDC will give the SpecB an edge in most cases. Not sure how much the mechanicals make a difference.

^ That and common sense. I have said here before. I think it was Feb 02 ice storm in VT. We left the ski house about 3PM on a Sunday. Got about a 1/2 south of Ludlow VT in rt103. All we saw was brake lights. Went back to the house, at 5:30PM slid arcoss the driveway to the 00 GT Wagon. We did dare pick our feet up or we would have fallen on the ice covered driveway, drove home on the ice covered roads without issue, that was on a good all-season tire.

 

Common sense and good driveing habit's or more important.

I've never owned true snow tires, always do fine with all-seasons. I live in southern Kansas where we can get some snow, I think we average 14" a year or something like that. Usually we get 3-5 inches at a time, but it's the drifts that get deep. Last winter we had a 6 inch snow, but the drifts from 45 mph winds got about 24-36" deep. They don't push snow off side streets here, only main roads. So, the worst part of driving is getting to the end of my street and pulling out onto the main road. When they push the main roads, it piles up across the end of the side streets. That's why I'm concerned about ground clearance.

Then there is the occasional ice storm. I don't care what you have, nothing is "good" on ice. We had one a couple of years ago that broke so many trees, all the streets in my neighborhood were blocked.

I could have been 2001 March, they closed the state because of to much snow on a Sunday evening. I had just gotten back from driving home from VT in the storm, I called my boss and told him I'd see him on Wed, I'm headed back to VT to ski Mon and Tue. Again, without snow tires.

 

These cars are that good.

I ended up with 225/45-18 conti DWS for winter this past season. Plenty good in numerous storms, but not a snow tire. Car handled very well but I don't push it in the winter. With the slightly larger tire, the speedometer reads accurately. Rides smooth but the tire wants to fold a bit in hard cornering.

 

17's should be fine, but you would need a 25.7" to 26" diameter tire. I gave up on finding a used 17" winter setup with the proper tire size, because it was too rare, and got the conti's on the stock wheels. Got a new set of wheels for the summer, and used the stock tires.