My new G5 never seems to have any traction in the snow. I know it'* not a big, heavy Bonneville or Grand Prix with a heavy 3800 above the drive wheels, but this seems surprisingly bad.

The handling is sporty and rock-solid once you get the car moving. However, from a dead stop on a badly-plowed road, the tires usually like to spin, or I climb the hill at 10 MPH with the TCS on the whole time.

Worse yet is my uphill driveway, where the car just loses all traction at the very top (the steepest part). I can either go back down and call my landlord'* plow service, or spin my wheels until I get a burning smell and the Service Traction or Service Antilock message comes on (never sets a code; it'* all back to normal after a restart).

I'm guessing it'* the tires. The tires that came with the car have plenty of tread, but by looking at them, I can't tell if they're summer tires or all-seasons. I saw the traction rating is just an A, not a AA.

Anyone have similar experiences with small cars, or cars where you didn't pick out the tires?

Yup tires make all the difference in winter driving conditions!
All seasons I call all slip radials..
For real traction only snow tires will give that extra bite.
Michelin X-ice Xi3 are superior in traction and handling for more sporty cars.
They got good thick sidewalls too. U get what u pay for. I dont know the laws there but obviously it is best to have 4 snows, but many just go two for up front on FWD and get away with it.
Look up car here: Michelin Automotive Tires: Car Tires, Truck Tires, SUV Tires and more

How old are the tires? After the third year, my tires started losing ground in the slippy stuff from dryrot.

i guess second best to ice/winter tires is bfg advantage t/a, i dont have money to be swapping tires to winter ones on both cars. these are the best all seasons and i have tried many. goodyears are noisy and have half the traction, michelins are too hard to get good traction

i get mine at bj'* wholesale, they were like 150 for the 225/50/17'* on my monte and like 125-130 for the 16'* on the bonnie. they had two compounds to choose from on those and the softer one gets better traction but wears faster so you get like 50-60k the harder ones are 75k and i got those for the first time just recently they do seem to be just as good in the ice so far but i have only had them for like a month

edit; wrong name

advantage t/a they changed it recently too.

I don't believe in one tire for all seasons. A decent snow tire compromises hot weather performance, and generally wears faster in the summer because it is softer. There is no tire that outperforms all other tires in both summer and winter. Plus, when you think about it, the only added cost of buying a second set of winter tires is the cost of the wheels. The tires aren't an additional cost since any mileage you put on the winter tires is mileage you are not putting on the summer tires. Two sets of tires will last twice as long.

Art is correct on the Michelin X-Ice Xi3'*. They are rated as the best studless snow/ice tire on the market. I put X-Ice Xi2'* on my Grand Cherokee only because the Xi3'* are not available in the size I need. They make an amazing difference on snow or ice when braking or cornering.

My son is an engine calibration engineer for Chrysler, and he travels to various parts of the US to test vehicles in the extremes of hot and cold weather. He has opportunity to drive identical vehicles with various types of tires in all weather conditions. He was the one to convince me to get snow tires based on his experience of how they handle on ice and snow versus A/* or A/T tires.

Here we have the snow flake rating in the mountains and Provinces across Canada.
As BC has now also accepted this standard as of this year, I can be turned away from entering out treacherous mtn passes and or fined for not having them shall an accident occur..
About snow flake rating:
http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/...jsp?techid=125

interesting

I don't know how old the tires are, but Google tells me that these tires are probably Walmart'* house brand. That explains why it'* bad in the snow, and I can spin them on dry pavement.

The last owner liked cheap tires, but when these wear out, I'm putting on some quality rubber.

Colin Wallmart tires hmm what brand name are they?
Personally last time I had bought 2 Wallmart tires I took them off in less than 6 months and used them as a tire swing, as they were that bad!
Personally speaking, where the rubber meets the road, I am very safety conscious and refuse to make excuses, if I know the tires are aged or simply inadequate!

Here is a video that can be a wake up call and shows how to read the code for tires in the DOT line, for year of manufacture.
We all should know how to read the code for new tire purchases or existing tires on your vehicle!
It is easy, look for the DOT line, last 4 digits in that line are week -then year of manufacture.