anyone driving in snow?
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TECH Regular
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 450
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anyone driving in snow? hey guys, just wondering if anyone has been driving in the snow with their fbodys and are running winter tires. how do they do? im considering trading my cobalt supercharged for another camaro ss but in 6speed instead of auto and use it for a DD, and i just wanted to know how they would do in the snow bc it will be used year round
I live in ohio,I would never drive my camaro in the winter but I'm not saying it cannot be done,my buddy had a auto lt1 ta and he drove it all winter,as long as your careful and use your head ,I know he put a few bags of sand in the hatch to help,I hate winter I actually was thinking of getting a cobalt ss just to have something fun to drive in the winter,I hate driving my truck every day it gets old,( but it has a 6L lol) ,but overall there crap in bad weather,but as long as you put on your thinking cap you will be ok,
On The Tree
Joined: Jun 2008
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I also do not drive mine in the winter. I did live in the west suburbs of Chicago for awhile and watched plenty of people attempt to drive their F-bodys and Mustangs during the winter. My suggestion is that if you are going to do this, BUY SNOW TIRES!. It'll be useless otherwise. You can find a set of snows from pretty much any tire manufacturer these days, I just dont recommend the Firestone Winterforce Snows. Seem to to be kind of a "hard" compound for snows when compared to other brands. Every car Ive seen them on they get very choppy and noisy. I know they are cheap, but they are for a reason.
i DD my z and right now in PA its about 10 degrees and snows on the way. I drive in the snow all the time and i dont have snows, i have these old dry rotted bfgs 275's and they some how get me around in the snow, i just have to stay on flat ground, i almost got stuck going up an on ramp lol
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TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Elgin, Il
i DD my z and right now in PA its about 10 degrees and snows on the way. I drive in the snow all the time and i dont have snows, i have these old dry rotted bfgs 275's and they some how get me around in the snow, i just have to stay on flat ground, i almost got stuck going up an on ramp lol
Understatement of the year. People will **** talk a whole entire car because of its "poor" handling in the snow just because they have bad/wrong tires for the season.
On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 132
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From: Murderland
I've done it in no more than three inches. Anymore and your asking for problems and a bad day. I only do it if I get caught when more falls than the weather men say and I'm at work. Last time I waited until the plows/salt truck got around before heading out. It was fine once on the road, though parking lots suck. Im on 275/295 summers for what its worth. If I had another DD it would stay parked. FiredUpZ28 Ive seen far worse out of people in 2wd trucks. Its a safe bet the poor bastard caught in a snow storm in a Fbody its taking his time and S-ing his pants...not saying **** cant happen but hell last winter I and my family almost got hit by a *** in a 4wd lexus and I saw a 4wd toyota up on top of a snow bank beside the hwy a week after one of those 2-3 foots deals last year. BTW its was clear sunny and like 40...all i could think was how does this happen. I know its people(ratards) thinking that 4wd means go 80mph because its 4wd but bottom line is its all in how you drive. That dude from PA should be more concerned with the other dim wits on the road.
I never have and never will do it, but I have driven fbodies in the snow..along with a welded differential 240sx. It is not worth the trouble, for spending money on all 4 winter tires for winter, you can go buy a beater car just to get you around in winter. When you wind up in a ditch, or damage to your car from a curb, your going to wonder what the hell you were thinking and why you were so cheap that you couldn't just get a beater car for winter. Just saying..
some of us don't have anywhere to store a second vehicle. I park my Trans Am on my front lawn because we don't have a big enough driveway as is. I also wouldn't want to drive a $5-600 beater for reliability reasons, and right off the bat chances are you'd need a new set of tires ($300+) for it if you want to be any better off than an fbody is in the first place.
if it's a pristine, low mileage show car fine. if it's a car you bought to daily drive and have fun with just put some good winter tires on it, throw some weight in the trunk and just be smart.
if it's a pristine, low mileage show car fine. if it's a car you bought to daily drive and have fun with just put some good winter tires on it, throw some weight in the trunk and just be smart.
i have driven mine for 3 years in the snow now. i bought two snow tires for the back at $70 a piece. as long as its snow i have a lot of traction. its the best car i have had for winter driving so far and i use to have a honda
DD mine all year, and go to school up near the poconos where we get alot of snow and have mountain roads. I run blizzak tires on all 4 corners and she gets around better than my mom's audi a4 with all seasons and dad's mazda 6 with all seasons. Don't claim a car is **** in the snow just cause people try to do it on summer tires that shouldn't even be used under 50 degrees. Have driven in 5 inches of snow with no issues.
Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
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From: Eastern MA
Click the image for a larger pic. These are older pics. There is a lot more snow on the ground here now and more coming tomorrow.
As for the wheel & tire combo...
I use cheap steel wheels with Blizzak WS-50 winter tires. Blizzak stopped making the WS-50. They now have the WS-60 to replace it. It is slightly different with a higher speed rating (the speed rating of the WS-50 is 99mph). I don't know how it compares.
Winter tires make a huge difference. I have better traction in the Firebird with winter tires than FWD passenger cars with all-season tires. I've seen people slide off into a curb in a spot that I drove through without a problem.
TireRack (a sponsor) sells decently priced Winter Wheel & Tire packages. That's where I got the wheels and the original set of tires (I think this is my 3rd set of Blizzak tires since I bought the car in 2001). However, they no longer sell the cheap steel wheels.
Last edited by VIP1; Jan 25, 2011 at 10:06 PM.
How can anyone say that for the price of a set of snow tires you can buy a beater? I wouldn't go near a car that costs under a grand. You might be able to buy a POS beater for less than a grand but then you'll have to dump a bunch of money into it to keep it running, buy new tires for it, pay for registration, sales tax, property tax, inspection, etc.
I've driven my Camaro in a few inches of snow a couple times on regular all-season tires with no added weight and it did fine, although I would recommend avoiding hills. I imagine with snow tires and some extra weight it would be good to go.
Oh yeah, snow + empty parking lot = good times.
I've driven my Camaro in a few inches of snow a couple times on regular all-season tires with no added weight and it did fine, although I would recommend avoiding hills. I imagine with snow tires and some extra weight it would be good to go.
Oh yeah, snow + empty parking lot = good times.
I bought an '85 Firebird new, back in '85. It was my DD for it's first year, and I drove it through a western New York winter on plain old "all season" tires, in place of the GoodYear Eagle GTs it came with. It wasn't fun, but I survived. The following winter, there was a '76 Chevelle in my driveway for the duration, and the Bird was in the garage.
My '96 Z-28 has never been out in the snow...
My '96 Z-28 has never been out in the snow...
