No Traction, No Action.(Tire failure.)(Column)

Byline: rich Ceppos

The street in front of our house goes up a hill. Well, in southeastern Michigan we call this innocuous incline a hill, but in parts of the country where they really have hills, its gentle pitch wouldn't bear talking about. The neighborhood joggers are not deterred at all. And the skateboard kids don't waste time on it.

But it snowed a few inches last night, and that changed everything. It's why I and the car I am supposedly in control of are sitting 90 degrees to the intended direction of travel, getting a windshield full of my neighbor's snow-covered front yard. Nice yard.

One second I was stopped facing squarely uphill. The next I found myself rotating in slo-mo, helplessly, into my current embarrassing position- foot still on the brake. This after a half-hour of wheel-spinning, teeth- gritting attempts to conquer this tiny lump of real estate while everyone from grandmas in Saturns to adolescents in their moms' Windstars motored placidly up, over and away.

It wasn't the fault of the Acura TL test car I was piloting. It offers all the essentials for winter-driving happiness: traction control, antilock brakes and the nose-heavy weight distribution of front-drive pressing the front tires into the snow. No, the humiliation came thanks to the tires: Z-rated high-performance donuts with as much interest in snow as someone vacationing in Aruba.

Or to put it another way: You can't take a trip if you ain't got the grip. With a month of winter still ahead for many of us, it has come to my attention that America is suffering a traction crisis. Oh, there is more than enough grip for every man, woman and child in this great slushy land of ours-if you know where to look. But judging by the number of drivers I see in ditches or standing beside crumpled vehicles exchanging license ...