Huntervangolf

Sooooo,,,, anyone have any experience driving their C4 in snow???? And was it even remotely capable?

Railroadman

I'm sure it can be done, and some guys do. I put mine away, both to avoid the salt and to avoid the idiots who slip and slide all over the road.

zr-1 guy

guy i know used to drive his 94 all year round

Muffin

Certainly it can be done, properly tired, but I wager the skill level required is beyond that of most drivers.

Huntervangolf

Well, I normally put mine in storage over the winter. But my daily car is in the shop. So I have been driving the Vette wich has been fine since it has been a very mild winter and we havent had any snow here in MN. But, we are getting snow the next couple days and I need to be out and about. So, thinking I might keep a full tank of gas and maybe even a sand bag for weight and give it a go?!?!?!?!?

PLRX

Paul Workman

Yes...Just once on BFGs on my base 95. It was after a company Christmas dinner, came out to find 2" of snow on the ground, and falling heavily. It was a harrowing ride on the BFGs.

That said, we've got a fellow in our group that has a base C6 as his daily driver in Chicago area. Ever see a yellow C6 with salt spray dried on the side and frozen slush piled up in the wheel wells? I noticed the tires were festooned with some agressive tread pattern, but never got a chance to ask him what they were.

So, I recon TIRES would make all the difference...Long as you don't get arrested by the CORVETTE POLICE for abuse of a Corvette in the FIRST DEGREE!!!

P.

Vette Daddy

If you enjoy ice skating, then driving your C4 in the snow with stock tires is the sport for you.

PS
Let us know how it works

1993C4LT1

Mr. Peabody

Well I've actually done it several times. It doesn’t snow here in Seattle very often but over the past few years it has snowed once or twice a year. I drove my 95 as a year round dd from 2005 – 2011. It was my only vehicle at the time.

Had no problems driving in up to 4 – 5” of snow on my 50 mile daily commute which includes going up and down several hills. Anything deeper than that the front air dam begins to snowplow. One advantage that we have here is that they never (until last year) put salt on the roads.

Three things make a significant difference:

1) Tires, tires, tires. I always ran 4 snow tires 6 months of the year. Usually Conti Extreme Contacts DWS in 275-40-17 on all 4 corners. These are also excellent tires in the rain and slush. The tread compound is specifically made for cold weather driving.

2) I grew up in New England and am used to driving all sorts of vehicles in the snow and have a very light touch on the pedals.

3) When driving a vette in the snow you never use your brakes. If you need to slow down you simply take your foot off of the gas and the snow will slow you down quite effectively.

rad928music

Im in Minnesota also.
Yes, I drove mine in the winter for a few years but when it gets deep I waited until they plowed the streets before heading out.
I also but a spare tire and a couple sandbags in the cargo area.
In the light snow you have to be carefull if you have those ultra low profle summer tires though and give the person in front of you plenty of room in case of sudden stops.
I got mine in the winter and there was snow on the ground when I test drove it.

Huntervangolf

LOL!

Well, I grew up in this wonderful state of MN and grew up driving nothing but rear wheel drives. And when in highschool I drove a Trans Am year round. But, didn't know what to think about a vette. Mostly because of the weight, or lack of weight I should say. I'm not going to put winter tires on it, its going in storage as soon as my DD is out of the shop. Luckily I Just took the 315/35/17 off the back and put the stock tires back on a week ago, otherwise I think i would have rather hitch hiked.

QCVette

There have been a few threads on this. I copied one of my responses to an earlier thread below.

I drove my '88 A4 and then my '94 M6 all year in Illinois. (about 2.5 years and about 50k miles on each)

They did ok in the snow. I had Falken Ziex 512's on them and they were pretty stable in light snow. In my '88 I got caught a couple times in some deeper snow and I was surprised how well it did. I went through a few places that I could hear the snow dragging across the bottom of the floor, but was able to keep it moving and no problems.

Be sensible about it and they drive pretty well. Try to use all of your power, braking, or handling and you will be in trouble.

I made a point of spending some time every week at the local coin car wash and trying to get as much salt off as I could. It doesn't work completely and I found some rust in odd places, like the screws for the lights when I changed a rear side marker light bulb, and other small stuff like that.

I also had a chunk of ice from behind a truck's wheels fall off right in front of me. It took out the center air dam on the '94, but that was pretty easy and fairly cheap to replace.

A winter beater is a good idea, but if you need to drive the corvette you can.

Good luck.

Sweet 90

Thanks, Pete, nothing like a lead in for the dawg

Big fat tires work so well in snow

Huntervangolf

Probably the toughest or hardest thing will be swallowing my pride! I've always stored my vettes and never let them touch snow/salt. And its more the ice or hard pack I'm worried about.

RetiredSFC 97

looks like my cat C4

Huntervangolf

Well, Its snowing out right now. People in the office say the interstate is like bumper derby! And I'm heading hitting the highway right now in a Vette. If I had a beer right now I would do the old "here hold my beer and watch this!" Ha! Or all I keep thinking to myself is the Summer Vacation scene where Chevy Chase is standing at the edge of the pool about to go skinny dipping with Christie Brinkley saying"This is crazy! This is crazy!"

silverja

Wise advice.

94z07fx3

I saw this guy with a gift for snow driving last time we had some that turned to ice here. He was in a mid 90s blazer 4x4 and doing about 25mph down a slight incline toward an intersection where he wanted to turn left. About 40 feet from the intersection he started turnning the wheels and you could see them slipping and spinning in the direction of the turn but the blazer stayed in the turning lane and then into the middle of the intersection where as if by magic the front tires gripped and he went perfectly through the turn to the intersecting road. The body of the blazer moved just like it would on a dry day but the wheels were spinning all along. Ever see a spooked cat on a slick floor? if so you get the idea.

I've only been caught in snow once in the vette. It wasn't deep at all and was just begining to stick. The only thing I did differently was upshift a bit early and brake much sooner and lighter.

Bimmervet

This is one of our club members C4. SHE drives the car year round everyday even in Chicago winters. Never had a problem. Been doing it for the past 5 years. She races the car in the summer and likes guns!