My G 63 arrives in a month and that doesn’t give me a tremendous time left for Winter driving here in the Northeast. Realistically, I’ll be in some combination of Upstate NY and Vermont about 4-5 weeks out of Jan/Feb. Is it worth me braving it and making due, or should I suck it up, order winters, have them swapped for a couple of months and then go back to stock?

This feels like a lot of effort for minimum usage but am all ears.

 

I live in LA and come from Hawaii so take what I say with a massive grain of salt, but when I picked up my pre-owned 21 G63 from Portland and drove it down to LA I hit small dustings of snow through some passes.. ignorantly thought the truck could handle it on the A/S tires no sweat, I was wrong

Drifted quite a bit and had to very very carefully apply throttle etc... winter tires would have made a big difference 100%

 

Upstate NY & Vermont, I would say it's a must!! but also based on what wheels and tires stock you have!!
If you have the stock michelin summer tires then snow tires are a must, you will not make it!!

 

All season tires, even those with M+S ratings, can be dicey in winter driving. If you want all season tires for year round use, go with a tire with 3MPSF rating. If you're driving more than 5K miles during winter, a set of winter wheels + tires probably makes sense for where you live.

 

Thanks for the responses so far. I should have mentioned I have the 22’s that come standard with Pirelli Scorpion, All Season High Performance tires.

 

They won't work in moderate or heavy snow. Tires are always the limiting factor in any 4WD system.

 

A second set of wheels for snow tires is the best way to go. Otherwise, you're peeling tires off one set of pricey alloys twice a year and having to rebalance them each time. If you go with a second set, consider 20" wheels and tires. There's much greater selection with lower prices and better availability in 20", and you won't be kicking yourself if you ding a 22" wheel in a pothole or slide into a curb.

 

Absolute must! Get snow tires. Remember that braking has nothing to do with traction. Traction is not a problem with all seasons with the G, braking is the problem.

 

Braking has EVERYTHING to do with traction. If a tire exhibits zero traction during braking, a brake caliper clamping a spinning rotor encounters no rotational resistance, the wheel stops spinning immediately, there is no kinetic energy transformation to heat by the brakes, and the vehicle does not stop. ABS is designed to prevent such rotational lockup and differential wheel rotation leading to loss of control. Acceleration and braking both rely on friction (traction) between the tire tread and the road surface.

 

My point was traction under acceleration. Did you read my post?

 

those aren’t all season tires, I have those tires on my G 63. I have a set of Perelli winter Scorpion tires installed the first of December and switch back to summer tires in March. You’re going to need winter tires. I use the same wheels, just swap tires. My dealership stores them for me.
I also have 22” wheels.

 

Yes, I have the Scorpion as well. They are garbage in snow and ice. Definitely change them! As I mentioned above, the issue is braking, not traction under acceleration.

 

Yes, I read your post. What does "Remember that braking has nothing to do with traction" mean?

 

Traction on slippery roads is not really an issue with the G Wagon. With full time AWD, its weight, and lockable diffs, you can be on summer tires and won't get stuck. The issue is braking, without snow tires.