The Benefits and Considerations of Winter Tires: A Guide to Staying Safe on the Road

When it comes to driving in winter conditions, having the right tires can make all the difference. While many people assume that all-season tires are sufficient for navigating snowy and icy roads, a winter tire is still the best choice for driving in cold weather. A winter tire is designed specifically for driving in wintry conditions, providing better grip and traction on snow and ice than an all-season tire.

In fact, according to experts, there's no such thing as a "dedicated" winter tire that can handle snow and ice like a professional-grade snow tire can. While some newer models of tires are being developed with advanced features such as enhanced tread compounds and unique tire designs, they still may not be able to match the performance of a dedicated winter tire.

That's why many car owners choose to switch between two sets of tires: one set for winter use and another for warmer months. This allows them to take advantage of the best possible traction and control in snowy conditions without compromising on comfort and fuel efficiency during the spring and summer. For those living in New England, who are particularly vulnerable to harsh winters, this is especially important.

One of the main reasons why a dedicated winter tire is still the best choice for driving in cold weather is that all-season tires tend to lose their grip and traction as soon as they start to get wet. This means that even if you're driving slowly and carefully on a snow-covered road, an all-season tire will quickly become inadequate and may cause you to slide or lose control of your vehicle.

In contrast, a winter tire is specifically designed to retain its grip and traction in a variety of conditions, including wet and icy roads. While it's true that there are some newer models of tires that claim to offer improved traction and performance in a range of conditions, these are still not as effective as a dedicated winter tire.

For those who live in areas with cold winters but also experience mild summers, an all-weather tire may be the best compromise between performance and convenience. These tires are designed to handle both wet and dry road conditions, and they can provide improved traction and control in snowy and icy conditions compared to an all-season tire. However, it's still worth noting that even an all-weather tire will not perform as well as a dedicated winter tire in extremely cold or snowy conditions.

Ultimately, the best choice between different types of tires depends on your specific driving needs and preferences. If you live in an area with harsh winters but also experience mild summers, a set of winter tires and an all-season set may be the ultimate solution. However, for those who simply want to get from point A to point B without worrying about traction or control, an all-weather tire can provide excellent performance and convenience.

One option that's gaining popularity among car owners is the "all-wheel drive" (AWD) system. While it's true that AWD systems are often associated with larger, more expensive vehicles, there are actually many rear-wheel drive-based cars that come equipped with AWD systems. These systems work by diverting power to the front axle when there's a slip or loss of traction, which provides added traction and control in slippery conditions.

For parents who want to provide their teenage drivers with safe and reliable vehicles, an all-wheel drive system can be an excellent choice. While it's true that some AWD cars may compromise on performance and handling compared to rear-wheel drive models, many modern AWD systems are designed to behave similarly to a traditional rear-wheel drive vehicle.

In fact, many car manufacturers have developed their AWD systems to mimic the behavior of a rear-wheel drive car as closely as possible. This means that drivers can enjoy the same level of handling and responsiveness as they would in a rear-wheel drive model, while still benefiting from the added traction and control provided by the AWD system.

For parents who are looking for a safe and reliable vehicle for their teenage driver, an all-wheel drive-based car is definitely worth considering. By choosing a model with an AWD system that behaves like a rear-wheel drive car, you can provide your teenager with the same level of handling and responsiveness as they would in a more powerful model, while still enjoying the added safety and control provided by the AWD system.

Ultimately, the key to keeping your teenage driver safe on the road is to choose a vehicle that meets their needs and provides them with the necessary level of safety and control. Whether you opt for an all-wheel drive system or stick with a rear-wheel drive model, the most important thing is to make sure that your teenager has access to a reliable and safe vehicle that will keep them protected on the road.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis week we give our first impressions of the 2021 acura tlx why it seems like more people are driving around at night with their headlights off and everything you ever wanted to know about motor oil but we're afraid to ask next on talking cars hi and welcome to talking cars i'm jennifer stockberger i'm ryan pizzelkowski i'm gabe shanahan so we get a lot of great questions from our audience but lately many of them seem to be focused on oil be it it oil's top of mind the pandemic for whatever reason just to capture a sense of some of those questions i'm going to read you a couple the first one from dr avi says my subaru ascent requires oil changes every six thousand miles doing my research on engine oils subaru has its oem oil and filter but there are different types of synthetic oil that state you can extend the oil change interval to 15 000 miles what are your expert opinions and data on different oils and their merits on engine performance aaron from pennsylvania says we've been working at home and driving less since the pandemic and only put a few miles on our cars since we have last had an oil change we've only put about 1500 miles on them since the last oil change when should we change the oil how long could we wait to change the oil what is the lifespan of the oil if the car is not driven basically i just want to know everything there is to know about oil so dr avi and aaron we decided that perhaps not only your questions but others let's do a little bit of oil 101 so for this first segment gabe we're first going to start with you on the very basics what is oil's role and what do all those designations mean engine oil is probably the single most important ingredient in your car that will ensure longevity uh it it lubricates uh the friction between the pistons and the the cylinder walls and uh it also contains uh detergent to keep your engine uh running clean now engine oil uh you have to pay attention to the viscosity a lot of oils are going to have two numbers for instance 5 w 30 w stands for winter that means that in cold temperatures that's the viscosity and it the viscosity extends to higher viscosity in higher temperatures so synthetics tend to be more expensive but uh the uh there is plenty of evidence that they last longer they prevent oxidation in the engine and uh they can help you extend the intervals and that offsets the the higher cost and gabe for for listeners and viewers they should be matching that viscosity number right that that's recommended in their manual they should then be matching the viscosity to the owner's manual and to the uh climate where they live ryan is there an expert opinion are they better worse the same just different intervals what's the deal with synthetics so synthetics is a classic example of modern technology um you know engines modern engines are are more efficient um they're the tolerances are tighter things are uh they're advanced so what do we have we have to advance our oils to keep up with this stuff uh synthetic oil might not necessarily be required in your vehicle depending on what you drive you know the first thing we will say is consult your owner's manual you should always use you know the type of oil the viscosity all that that the manufacturer specifies but as far as synthetic oil goes the oil is still coming from the ground at some point but synthetic oil is much much more processed you know they're getting impurities out of it they're adding stuff to it the best way to i guess think of it in your head is compare rocks to marbles okay the molecules in synthetic oil is more consistent like marbles where the the consistency are the molecules and the crude oil is more like rocks there's more impurities or different sizes they're not as uniform we've made a better process of um refining this oil you know it's it lasts longer you can go longer on oil changes in most cars as opposed to the conventional or original oil you know we used to use back in the day it has a better uh temperature range it runs you know you can go from a much lower temperature up to a much higher temperature through with synthetics as well right so so it's just a decision of paying a little more up front but going a little longer on the back end it sounds like so certainly it's advantages so specifically to address aaron's question as well i did reach out to our chief mechanic again john ibbitson i seem to do this every week but asking about the time range many many people are not driving as many miles and yes oil will deteriorate over time even if you're not putting a number of miles on and maybe even more quickly because you're not driving the miles to heat the engine up and dissipate things like moisture and things like that as well so absolutely refer to your owner's manual for a time interval when i was reading some of what john shared it's actually quite similar to some of the things that happened to gas that we've talked about you know you have to get out there and drive your car oxidation they actually said the analogy of much like oxidation browns and apple it can get into your oil and begin to break it down chemically break it down moisture you know even if your car's sitting temperature changes in in the engine will create condensation moisture gets into the oil and if you're not warming it up sufficiently it won't dissipate um fuel dilution um you know if fuel isn't heating up and being dissipated through the the hot engine process fuel can get into the oil and viscosity loss over time you both talked about additives that's the other thing you know gabe mentioned detergents there's additives for to prevent the oxidation those also can deteriorate over time and absolutely ryan to your point those additives are meant to have greater longevity and synthetics so refer to your owner's manual if you're not accumulating the miles look at the time interval and and as we know many many new cars have an indicator actually in the dash that's telling you what your oil life is and and when you need to make those changes i love the marbles in the rocks analogy that's a great one so hopefully that's given everybody a little food for thought and something else to consider when we're not putting a lot of miles on our cars for those that don't know cr is a non-profit and we're able to do all of the work we do including anonymously buying our test cards and producing this show through memberships to our website and magazine as well as through donations what the talking cars donation program will do is allow loyal talking cars fans to show support for the podcast assist in supporting the costs of producing the podcast as well as support all the work cr does to keep consumers safe you'll be able to contribute either as a one-time donation or on a monthly basis even five dollars a month really helps go to cr.org give talking cars to find out more in any event we'll keep delivering talking cars each and every week again go to cr.org give talking cars to find out more so moving on to from the track we actually have our first impressions of a new model and that's the 2021 acura tlx just a couple stats here price range on the new acura tlx range from 33 000 to about forty eight nine i'll let gabe talk about how this car is positioned a little bit but it's originally gonna be offered with front or all-wheel drive always a nice advantage two engine options a 272 horsepower 2-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder paired with a 10-speed automatic later in the spring of 2021 there's going to be a higher performing type s version with all-wheel drive and a 3-liter turbocharged v6 which will put it at about 355 horsepower all trim levels coming with forward collision warning automatic emergency braking pedestrian detection lane departure awarding lane keeping assist and all but the base uh trim uh with blind spot warning so gabe if you could give us a little context about one how the tlx is positioned but also your first driving impressions so the tlx uh is positioned uh kind of in a way that straddles both the compact sport sedans uh such as the bmw 3 series as well as the mid-size sport sedans like uh bmw e5 series and of course with the demise of the rlx which was acura's flagship sedan that's the role that uh honda acura is uh hoping for it so we'll see how that plays out in the market but uh what that means is that uh dimensionally the tlx is a little larger it's longer and wider than its peers natural peers and what that means usually is that it gives you added weight and added weight is never a desirable thing because it doesn't do any favors to acceleration or fuel economy as far as driving it uh the tlx has never been such a standout it always uh lacked some pizzazz next to its uh uh rear-wheel drive based piers and i think uh that acura maybe missed an opportunity here because uh they they had a they like to uh um reference the uh the nsx supercar and uh kind of like give that the whole line a halo effect uh i think if i were acura product planning i'd say this car needs to be a rear-wheel drive based car now that we have uh kia uh and the genesis with rear-wheel drive based cars and the next mazda 6 is probably going to be a rear-wheel drive based car uh that was their opportunity as far as driving it uh it's a pleasant enough uh sedan uh it rides decently and fit and finish is really good seats comfortable uh but there's nothing really that wows you when you drive it and i think something that uh is really of note or the unintuitive controls which we are already on record panning in the uh rdx that we suv that we tested uh a couple of years ago ryan similar thoughts to gabe or do you have something different uh very very similar um it's uh i was very underwhelmed by the car when i drove it you know like gabe said it's kind of slotted in this in between segments so you know like a 3 series and a 5 series or somewhere in between size wise i don't know it feels bigger than smaller i think it's on the bigger side of things you know the car it feels pretty wide when you're in it um and it just feels kind of heavy and big it goes pretty good i thought it had okay power it like engine likes to rev but handling wise and the steering it doesn't it turns in quickly and it feels like it's not you know hugs the road but it's it's just not exciting there's no i think gabe used the word pizzazz and uh there's none of that it's just it's just kind of um it's kind of boring but it's it's pleasant enough i think it rides fairly well um the seats are comfortable i can get comfortable in the uh you know a good driving position uh the infotainment system i it's i've never been so infuriated with the track pad in my entire life it's worse than the lexus um you know the lexus track pad it's just i was very angry driving it um but if you can get past that um it's not a bad car it's just uh it's not it's not my cup of tea yeah so so for me i actually had two epiphanies with the tlx the first one was there is a big difference between driving the car and operating the car so i was like back in my day you know when i was young driving and operating the car were much more the same thing you didn't have all these other things that you were doing for me driving the tlx is actually very nice i think the shifts were super smooth i think the 10 speed was great i had plenty of power for me i can see maybe unlike you guys a little bit who want a little more nimble i could see where the size would work for somebody wants a sporty looking feeling but also as a family for example but on the operating side of the car again for those who don't know this this accurate touch pad is like a a touchpad on a computer but it doesn't operate like that you have to linger much longer to make your selections on the screen there is no touch screen option ryan hit the nail on the head it is infuriating to operate so it resets it doesn't leave it where you left it right so you're forever chasing it you're forever taking your eyes off the road right it's distracting and to gabe's point we already voiced this on the rdx but absolutely for anyone who is thinking of this car try it and we mentioned the world's straddling two classes and i think there is another straddle here with regular mid-size sedan such as toyota camry or honda's own accord but if you want the all-wheel drive the camry is now available all-wheel drive uh you can have a high-end subaru legacy the xt with the turbo power and all-wheel drive so uh that and the kia k5 is coming on out with all-wheel drive and nissan altima is available all-wheel drive as well so there is that kind of straddle as well and uh these high-end family sedans you know they cost like 34 35 000. they have all the amenities and the size but just not the brand yeah so it'll be interesting my second epiphany on this car very briefly was i'm not a fan of dialed in driving dynamics this had a drive mode setting where you could go to sport or comfort to me either the car's tuned well i was much happier in the normal mode than in the sport it just seems to me very artificial when that's done so it's certainly on this car so this is our rented impressions of the car we rented from acura of course we will be buying our own tlx soon and testing it'll be great to see how the numbers play out and whether others feel the same as we do about the tlx so moving on we're going to go to your audience questions as always keep them coming talking cards at icloud.com we love them love them so starting with jeremy it's becoming more frequent that i am seeing drivers fail to turn on their headlights at night the problem seems to be the daytime running lights are so bright that it fools the driver into thinking their headlights are on with their headlights off the rear lights are also off am i mistaken about this no you are not mistaken and yes it can be a problem there's two things that are weighing into that one is the drls and i think you're right daytime running lights they are brighter they are fooling people that their lights are on when they're not and you are absolutely correct jeremy that when the headlights are not on the tail nights are not on so again the other piece is auto headlamps so these are the auto mode in many cars that automatically turn on the low beams when they're in a low light condition they may not always respond in low visibility conditions so i think of a rainy day a fog condition where the light's okay so they're not turning on but you probably could use not only the extra visibility but to be seen as well tail lights headlights so get to know the indicators so that kind of indicator where it looks like two eyes facing away from each other with kind of fans that's your drl indicator watch for the low beam indicator which is that green one with the kind of half moon with the straight um straight lines coming out of it that means your headlights are on and if you have drls or auto headlamps you do need to be conscious that those need to be turned on auto headlamps the low beams will come on at night but maybe not in low visibility and then of course the blue one with the the straight ahead lines is your high beam so be conscious with auto two of those being on and off as well so the car is kind of taking that away from the driver a little bit in a good safety way because the data says that one people don't always turn on their headlights when they should and two that they don't use high beams as often as they should so some of those auto functions are good but people need to be conscious and jeremy you are absolutely right our second question is from terence my family is upgrading from a 2014 ford escape to a new kia telluride we live in new england and have previously either had a second set of tires and wheels for winter or one set of all-weather tires it's frustrating that in snowbell areas manufacturers don't equip new cars with snow rated tires this means on top of the cost of car itself i'm looking at another cost of either buying new snow tires or swapping the all seasons that came with the car what are my options here can i easily sell the oem all seasons to the dealer or an independent tire shop so we have our tire guy ryan here ryan thoughts for terrence well first thought is the telly ride is awesome car it's an awesome car we used it for tire testing this year and it's been a top favorite of ours at the track um you you will enjoy it so unfortunately you know to my knowledge i've never seen a car for sale um brand new at a dealer with winter tires on it the big thing here is you're gonna need the all-season tires anyway because if you had if you did say you did just get you got this car with just winter tires on it in the summer spring rolls around um summer and into the fall you absolutely want on all season tire especially in new england you know a winter tire is designed for driving in cold um wintry conditions snow and ice on a cleared road of uh an all season tire stops far shorter and dry in wet conditions than a winter tire which is why we tell you to take them off in the spring and you know put them back on when the start the snow starts to fall again in the fall so unfortunately you like what you were doing with the two sets having the winter set um and the all season set is the ultimate that's the best scenario you can get a set of all-weather tires which we have tested um and they do provide added uh winter the winter grip and you can leave them on year round uh there's just still not a still not a dedicated winter tire in the snow so i don't know exactly where he lives but if you're in the northern half of new england you're probably going to want the straight up snow tires you know winter snow tires and then switch to the all seasons in the summer and the all-weather group is kind of a new segment and oems are not putting them on the vehicles from the dealers as far as i've seen and i don't know if they ever will it's um you know that's up to them but the best your best scenario is to buy a set of winter tires and do what you've been doing and ryan um if you if you're going to uh some of the larger tire dealers for example they if you buy the winter versions from them maybe even the automotive dealers they'll store your winter set and they'll do the swap correctly correct for free so yeah some some places offer these uh types of um you know services because it's it is kind of a pain to you know swap them and store them um we we get that but in terms of you know performance and safety it's uh it's your best bet yeah and and everybody you know as we're going into the autumn months as ryan's talking about don't forget these cool mornings for those of us where it's starting to get you know really cool overnight don't be surprised for tire pressure monitors to be coming on in the morning because as the temperature drops pressure drops you might want to bump up your tire pressure a little bit so great question and and just check your tread depth make sure you have enough tread on those tires are you ready for winter yeah exactly yeah yeah you don't want to get to that first snow storm um you'll be sliding all around good good point so mike from loveland colorado says i'm thinking about selling my mustang gt and getting something i'd be more comfortable letting my 16 year old drive we do get some snow where i live and while i'm a believer in winter tires oh look at that mike i'd probably look to go all-wheel drive until my kid is more experienced that said i love rear-wheel drive feel so what all-wheel drive systems behave the most like rear wheel drive so funny it's all tying together sounds like the the tlx conversation so gabe what do you think would be good options for mike and i agree mike the gt is not a good car for a 16 year old uh totally uh uh good call here and uh i'm uh totally uh with you here uh with rear wheel drive uh biased cars but uh the good news is that there are a lot of rear wheel drive based cars that uh have all-wheel drive and uh usually they come from uh luxury brands bmw mercedes cadillac jaguar these vehicles whether they're sedans or suvs they behave like a rear-wheel drive car meaning that they have this kind of a point ability to them to the handling and that kind of uh precision and the confidence feel to them but uh and and they power the rear axle normally only when there's a slip they uh divert power to the front axle which gives you uh the the added traction in slippery conditions so i think that's your general direction here yeah and i really appreciate mike being it as parents and and you know as we're talking about cars for young drivers the car selection has a lot to do with their safety and and recognizing that the most powerful you know mustang gt type of car might not be the right choice is a is a great point so keep that in mind as we're selecting cars for my 16 year old who's in school upstairs right now so that will do it for this episode as always see the show notes for any of the topics we talked about keep your questions 30 second video clips coming talking cars at icloud.com we love them stay safe stay well and we'll see you next time youthis week we give our first impressions of the 2021 acura tlx why it seems like more people are driving around at night with their headlights off and everything you ever wanted to know about motor oil but we're afraid to ask next on talking cars hi and welcome to talking cars i'm jennifer stockberger i'm ryan pizzelkowski i'm gabe shanahan so we get a lot of great questions from our audience but lately many of them seem to be focused on oil be it it oil's top of mind the pandemic for whatever reason just to capture a sense of some of those questions i'm going to read you a couple the first one from dr avi says my subaru ascent requires oil changes every six thousand miles doing my research on engine oils subaru has its oem oil and filter but there are different types of synthetic oil that state you can extend the oil change interval to 15 000 miles what are your expert opinions and data on different oils and their merits on engine performance aaron from pennsylvania says we've been working at home and driving less since the pandemic and only put a few miles on our cars since we have last had an oil change we've only put about 1500 miles on them since the last oil change when should we change the oil how long could we wait to change the oil what is the lifespan of the oil if the car is not driven basically i just want to know everything there is to know about oil so dr avi and aaron we decided that perhaps not only your questions but others let's do a little bit of oil 101 so for this first segment gabe we're first going to start with you on the very basics what is oil's role and what do all those designations mean engine oil is probably the single most important ingredient in your car that will ensure longevity uh it it lubricates uh the friction between the pistons and the the cylinder walls and uh it also contains uh detergent to keep your engine uh running clean now engine oil uh you have to pay attention to the viscosity a lot of oils are going to have two numbers for instance 5 w 30 w stands for winter that means that in cold temperatures that's the viscosity and it the viscosity extends to higher viscosity in higher temperatures so synthetics tend to be more expensive but uh the uh there is plenty of evidence that they last longer they prevent oxidation in the engine and uh they can help you extend the intervals and that offsets the the higher cost and gabe for for listeners and viewers they should be matching that viscosity number right that that's recommended in their manual they should then be matching the viscosity to the owner's manual and to the uh climate where they live ryan is there an expert opinion are they better worse the same just different intervals what's the deal with synthetics so synthetics is a classic example of modern technology um you know engines modern engines are are more efficient um they're the tolerances are tighter things are uh they're advanced so what do we have we have to advance our oils to keep up with this stuff uh synthetic oil might not necessarily be required in your vehicle depending on what you drive you know the first thing we will say is consult your owner's manual you should always use you know the type of oil the viscosity all that that the manufacturer specifies but as far as synthetic oil goes the oil is still coming from the ground at some point but synthetic oil is much much more processed you know they're getting impurities out of it they're adding stuff to it the best way to i guess think of it in your head is compare rocks to marbles okay the molecules in synthetic oil is more consistent like marbles where the the consistency are the molecules and the crude oil is more like rocks there's more impurities or different sizes they're not as uniform we've made a better process of um refining this oil you know it's it lasts longer you can go longer on oil changes in most cars as opposed to the conventional or original oil you know we used to use back in the day it has a better uh temperature range it runs you know you can go from a much lower temperature up to a much higher temperature through with synthetics as well right so so it's just a decision of paying a little more up front but going a little longer on the back end it sounds like so certainly it's advantages so specifically to address aaron's question as well i did reach out to our chief mechanic again john ibbitson i seem to do this every week but asking about the time range many many people are not driving as many miles and yes oil will deteriorate over time even if you're not putting a number of miles on and maybe even more quickly because you're not driving the miles to heat the engine up and dissipate things like moisture and things like that as well so absolutely refer to your owner's manual for a time interval when i was reading some of what john shared it's actually quite similar to some of the things that happened to gas that we've talked about you know you have to get out there and drive your car oxidation they actually said the analogy of much like oxidation browns and apple it can get into your oil and begin to break it down chemically break it down moisture you know even if your car's sitting temperature changes in in the engine will create condensation moisture gets into the oil and if you're not warming it up sufficiently it won't dissipate um fuel dilution um you know if fuel isn't heating up and being dissipated through the the hot engine process fuel can get into the oil and viscosity loss over time you both talked about additives that's the other thing you know gabe mentioned detergents there's additives for to prevent the oxidation those also can deteriorate over time and absolutely ryan to your point those additives are meant to have greater longevity and synthetics so refer to your owner's manual if you're not accumulating the miles look at the time interval and and as we know many many new cars have an indicator actually in the dash that's telling you what your oil life is and and when you need to make those changes i love the marbles in the rocks analogy that's a great one so hopefully that's given everybody a little food for thought and something else to consider when we're not putting a lot of miles on our cars for those that don't know cr is a non-profit and we're able to do all of the work we do including anonymously buying our test cards and producing this show through memberships to our website and magazine as well as through donations what the talking cars donation program will do is allow loyal talking cars fans to show support for the podcast assist in supporting the costs of producing the podcast as well as support all the work cr does to keep consumers safe you'll be able to contribute either as a one-time donation or on a monthly basis even five dollars a month really helps go to cr.org give talking cars to find out more in any event we'll keep delivering talking cars each and every week again go to cr.org give talking cars to find out more so moving on to from the track we actually have our first impressions of a new model and that's the 2021 acura tlx just a couple stats here price range on the new acura tlx range from 33 000 to about forty eight nine i'll let gabe talk about how this car is positioned a little bit but it's originally gonna be offered with front or all-wheel drive always a nice advantage two engine options a 272 horsepower 2-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder paired with a 10-speed automatic later in the spring of 2021 there's going to be a higher performing type s version with all-wheel drive and a 3-liter turbocharged v6 which will put it at about 355 horsepower all trim levels coming with forward collision warning automatic emergency braking pedestrian detection lane departure awarding lane keeping assist and all but the base uh trim uh with blind spot warning so gabe if you could give us a little context about one how the tlx is positioned but also your first driving impressions so the tlx uh is positioned uh kind of in a way that straddles both the compact sport sedans uh such as the bmw 3 series as well as the mid-size sport sedans like uh bmw e5 series and of course with the demise of the rlx which was acura's flagship sedan that's the role that uh honda acura is uh hoping for it so we'll see how that plays out in the market but uh what that means is that uh dimensionally the tlx is a little larger it's longer and wider than its peers natural peers and what that means usually is that it gives you added weight and added weight is never a desirable thing because it doesn't do any favors to acceleration or fuel economy as far as driving it uh the tlx has never been such a standout it always uh lacked some pizzazz next to its uh uh rear-wheel drive based piers and i think uh that acura maybe missed an opportunity here because uh they they had a they like to uh um reference the uh the nsx supercar and uh kind of like give that the whole line a halo effect uh i think if i were acura product planning i'd say this car needs to be a rear-wheel drive based car now that we have uh kia uh and the genesis with rear-wheel drive based cars and the next mazda 6 is probably going to be a rear-wheel drive based car uh that was their opportunity as far as driving it uh it's a pleasant enough uh sedan uh it rides decently and fit and finish is really good seats comfortable uh but there's nothing really that wows you when you drive it and i think something that uh is really of note or the unintuitive controls which we are already on record panning in the uh rdx that we suv that we tested uh a couple of years ago ryan similar thoughts to gabe or do you have something different uh very very similar um it's uh i was very underwhelmed by the car when i drove it you know like gabe said it's kind of slotted in this in between segments so you know like a 3 series and a 5 series or somewhere in between size wise i don't know it feels bigger than smaller i think it's on the bigger side of things you know the car it feels pretty wide when you're in it um and it just feels kind of heavy and big it goes pretty good i thought it had okay power it like engine likes to rev but handling wise and the steering it doesn't it turns in quickly and it feels like it's not you know hugs the road but it's it's just not exciting there's no i think gabe used the word pizzazz and uh there's none of that it's just it's just kind of um it's kind of boring but it's it's pleasant enough i think it rides fairly well um the seats are comfortable i can get comfortable in the uh you know a good driving position uh the infotainment system i it's i've never been so infuriated with the track pad in my entire life it's worse than the lexus um you know the lexus track pad it's just i was very angry driving it um but if you can get past that um it's not a bad car it's just uh it's not it's not my cup of tea yeah so so for me i actually had two epiphanies with the tlx the first one was there is a big difference between driving the car and operating the car so i was like back in my day you know when i was young driving and operating the car were much more the same thing you didn't have all these other things that you were doing for me driving the tlx is actually very nice i think the shifts were super smooth i think the 10 speed was great i had plenty of power for me i can see maybe unlike you guys a little bit who want a little more nimble i could see where the size would work for somebody wants a sporty looking feeling but also as a family for example but on the operating side of the car again for those who don't know this this accurate touch pad is like a a touchpad on a computer but it doesn't operate like that you have to linger much longer to make your selections on the screen there is no touch screen option ryan hit the nail on the head it is infuriating to operate so it resets it doesn't leave it where you left it right so you're forever chasing it you're forever taking your eyes off the road right it's distracting and to gabe's point we already voiced this on the rdx but absolutely for anyone who is thinking of this car try it and we mentioned the world's straddling two classes and i think there is another straddle here with regular mid-size sedan such as toyota camry or honda's own accord but if you want the all-wheel drive the camry is now available all-wheel drive uh you can have a high-end subaru legacy the xt with the turbo power and all-wheel drive so uh that and the kia k5 is coming on out with all-wheel drive and nissan altima is available all-wheel drive as well so there is that kind of straddle as well and uh these high-end family sedans you know they cost like 34 35 000. they have all the amenities and the size but just not the brand yeah so it'll be interesting my second epiphany on this car very briefly was i'm not a fan of dialed in driving dynamics this had a drive mode setting where you could go to sport or comfort to me either the car's tuned well i was much happier in the normal mode than in the sport it just seems to me very artificial when that's done so it's certainly on this car so this is our rented impressions of the car we rented from acura of course we will be buying our own tlx soon and testing it'll be great to see how the numbers play out and whether others feel the same as we do about the tlx so moving on we're going to go to your audience questions as always keep them coming talking cards at icloud.com we love them love them so starting with jeremy it's becoming more frequent that i am seeing drivers fail to turn on their headlights at night the problem seems to be the daytime running lights are so bright that it fools the driver into thinking their headlights are on with their headlights off the rear lights are also off am i mistaken about this no you are not mistaken and yes it can be a problem there's two things that are weighing into that one is the drls and i think you're right daytime running lights they are brighter they are fooling people that their lights are on when they're not and you are absolutely correct jeremy that when the headlights are not on the tail nights are not on so again the other piece is auto headlamps so these are the auto mode in many cars that automatically turn on the low beams when they're in a low light condition they may not always respond in low visibility conditions so i think of a rainy day a fog condition where the light's okay so they're not turning on but you probably could use not only the extra visibility but to be seen as well tail lights headlights so get to know the indicators so that kind of indicator where it looks like two eyes facing away from each other with kind of fans that's your drl indicator watch for the low beam indicator which is that green one with the kind of half moon with the straight um straight lines coming out of it that means your headlights are on and if you have drls or auto headlamps you do need to be conscious that those need to be turned on auto headlamps the low beams will come on at night but maybe not in low visibility and then of course the blue one with the the straight ahead lines is your high beam so be conscious with auto two of those being on and off as well so the car is kind of taking that away from the driver a little bit in a good safety way because the data says that one people don't always turn on their headlights when they should and two that they don't use high beams as often as they should so some of those auto functions are good but people need to be conscious and jeremy you are absolutely right our second question is from terence my family is upgrading from a 2014 ford escape to a new kia telluride we live in new england and have previously either had a second set of tires and wheels for winter or one set of all-weather tires it's frustrating that in snowbell areas manufacturers don't equip new cars with snow rated tires this means on top of the cost of car itself i'm looking at another cost of either buying new snow tires or swapping the all seasons that came with the car what are my options here can i easily sell the oem all seasons to the dealer or an independent tire shop so we have our tire guy ryan here ryan thoughts for terrence well first thought is the telly ride is awesome car it's an awesome car we used it for tire testing this year and it's been a top favorite of ours at the track um you you will enjoy it so unfortunately you know to my knowledge i've never seen a car for sale um brand new at a dealer with winter tires on it the big thing here is you're gonna need the all-season tires anyway because if you had if you did say you did just get you got this car with just winter tires on it in the summer spring rolls around um summer and into the fall you absolutely want on all season tire especially in new england you know a winter tire is designed for driving in cold um wintry conditions snow and ice on a cleared road of uh an all season tire stops far shorter and dry in wet conditions than a winter tire which is why we tell you to take them off in the spring and you know put them back on when the start the snow starts to fall again in the fall so unfortunately you like what you were doing with the two sets having the winter set um and the all season set is the ultimate that's the best scenario you can get a set of all-weather tires which we have tested um and they do provide added uh winter the winter grip and you can leave them on year round uh there's just still not a still not a dedicated winter tire in the snow so i don't know exactly where he lives but if you're in the northern half of new england you're probably going to want the straight up snow tires you know winter snow tires and then switch to the all seasons in the summer and the all-weather group is kind of a new segment and oems are not putting them on the vehicles from the dealers as far as i've seen and i don't know if they ever will it's um you know that's up to them but the best your best scenario is to buy a set of winter tires and do what you've been doing and ryan um if you if you're going to uh some of the larger tire dealers for example they if you buy the winter versions from them maybe even the automotive dealers they'll store your winter set and they'll do the swap correctly correct for free so yeah some some places offer these uh types of um you know services because it's it is kind of a pain to you know swap them and store them um we we get that but in terms of you know performance and safety it's uh it's your best bet yeah and and everybody you know as we're going into the autumn months as ryan's talking about don't forget these cool mornings for those of us where it's starting to get you know really cool overnight don't be surprised for tire pressure monitors to be coming on in the morning because as the temperature drops pressure drops you might want to bump up your tire pressure a little bit so great question and and just check your tread depth make sure you have enough tread on those tires are you ready for winter yeah exactly yeah yeah you don't want to get to that first snow storm um you'll be sliding all around good good point so mike from loveland colorado says i'm thinking about selling my mustang gt and getting something i'd be more comfortable letting my 16 year old drive we do get some snow where i live and while i'm a believer in winter tires oh look at that mike i'd probably look to go all-wheel drive until my kid is more experienced that said i love rear-wheel drive feel so what all-wheel drive systems behave the most like rear wheel drive so funny it's all tying together sounds like the the tlx conversation so gabe what do you think would be good options for mike and i agree mike the gt is not a good car for a 16 year old uh totally uh uh good call here and uh i'm uh totally uh with you here uh with rear wheel drive uh biased cars but uh the good news is that there are a lot of rear wheel drive based cars that uh have all-wheel drive and uh usually they come from uh luxury brands bmw mercedes cadillac jaguar these vehicles whether they're sedans or suvs they behave like a rear-wheel drive car meaning that they have this kind of a point ability to them to the handling and that kind of uh precision and the confidence feel to them but uh and and they power the rear axle normally only when there's a slip they uh divert power to the front axle which gives you uh the the added traction in slippery conditions so i think that's your general direction here yeah and i really appreciate mike being it as parents and and you know as we're talking about cars for young drivers the car selection has a lot to do with their safety and and recognizing that the most powerful you know mustang gt type of car might not be the right choice is a is a great point so keep that in mind as we're selecting cars for my 16 year old who's in school upstairs right now so that will do it for this episode as always see the show notes for any of the topics we talked about keep your questions 30 second video clips coming talking cars at icloud.com we love them stay safe stay well and we'll see you next time you\n"