Casper

Would it be sacrilege to put snow tires on a vette? Would you just put um on the rear or all the way around?

Teh Nam

Do they even come in our sizes?

Casper

I don't really know but they should. Lot's of cars and trucks are running 17's now. Both of my cars drive horrible with just the least bit of snow.

SLOWRIDE

I would not JMO

Perfusion

How and where you choose to drive your Vette is your choice. If you're gonna do it anyway, you might as well be a little bit safer.

redvette6spd

no vette should ever see snow

corvetteronw

Some can't avoid it. As a poor draftee PFC E3 stationed in DC in the late 60s I had to put snow tires on my 65 vert. The local regulations in the area at the time said that if you got stuck in the snow and did not have snow tires then you would face a big fine!!! As luck would have it there was only a little snow that 67/68 winter! I had to actually find a "plowed up" snow bank in the parking lot at my after-duty part time job just to try the dang things out! By the way, I was running GoodYear Bluestreaks on that Vette. Anyone out there try to drive in the rain on Bluestreaks!!!!
Actually I shouldn't be bitching as my next duty station was Long Binh Vietnam. They would not let me take the Vette and there was no need for snow tires there at all!

tonymax2

Ok guys, here's a few cents worth from a guy who grew-up in the western PA mountains and lived in CT, WV and OH (central OH is a piece of cake in winter except for the folks who grew-up here).

Corvettes can drive sucessfully in snow. Much of the development of the ABS and ASR had to do with driving on snow and ice. Corvettes have better weight distribution than your average RWD car so more of the weight is on the driving wheels to start with. All C4's have positraction, another benefit on snow. A tire/wheel combination can be found to put snow or all season tires on a C4.

There are two big problems with driving a C4 on snow that I can forsee. First, the relativly wide tires produce lower than average contact pressure which lessens the "bite" in the snow. Kinda like why mud riders and swamp crawlers use wide tires. Wide tires also tend to "snow ski". The fix is to use narrower tires with the appropriate tread pattern.

Second, 'vettes have abundant torque which is hard to control on slippery surfaces, especially on start-up. The best practical fix is to start in a "higher" gear. Stick shift guys can already do this but it takes a little modification to an automatic valve body to selectivly bypass 1st. I've seen this mod advertised somewhere. An easy foot on the gas and some "snow sense" will do for the higher gears. ABS and ASR should be a big help.

All in all, a properly set-up C4 should do well on normal snow up to about 5 inches. After that, the low ground clearance can cause it to "snow plow" and ride up on the snow, loose traction and get stuck. Used to do that in my Corvairs while "drift bustin" for fun. A larger diameter tire/wheel combination would help alleviate this "stuck" mode a bit but you'll lose some wheel travel on jounce and may want to add larger jounce bumpers. Removing the air dam would also help.

The biggest problems in driving a C4 in winter are political and humanistic. As soon as the first flakes of snow hit the road, the politicians send out the salt trucks. They don't want to be blamed for the mess and lawsuits that drivers who never learned to drive in snow will make if they don't. And, since most 'vette owners treat their cars better than their firstborn, driving in sloppy snow/salt/water is something one "just doesn't do", so few do. It's evolutionary, "use it or loose it". By and large, I think 'vette drivers have "lost it" when it comes to driving in winter weather.

I plan to drive my C4 (as soon as I find it) year round, like a real car. I intend to do the things I've described for the winter and also bolt lead weights to the rear frame to get a little more traction- kinda like the sandbags in my GP's trunk. Prior to doing this, I intend to seal the frame to prevent salt water intrusion and a few other things to make it easier to flush the chassis periodically through the winter; things I've never done on a lesser car. I figure I can take care of the "rough" metal under the skin over the years and the shiny fiberglass doesn't corrode.

Somewhere in my research on 'vettes, I read factory procedures on using tire chains! It might have been in one of the service manuals or an owners manual, can't remember 'cause I'd never do it. A broken cross chain would literally shred the 'glass! Not worth the risk. If it gets that bad, I'll take the beater or stay home.

Back in the early '60's I knew a fellow who worked in Silversprings, MD and commuted home to Cresson, PA (read "mountains") on the weekends year-round in his '61 'vette, 4spd, dual quad, positraction, Duntov cammed, 283 screamer. Now that was a 'vette driver. I hope to continue the tradition! on the snow!!

jfb

I have owned one at a time and drove/drive every day a 64, 69, 74, and now an 87 Corvette. We get snow in Cincinnati and all my vettes required snow tires on the rear wheels in winter. My 87 has Blizzaks on all 4 tires and it goes in the deepest snows. The wide tires on C4's will not move an inch on snow or ice, nor can you steer or stop. I use 255-55-16 Blizzaks and I have driven around stuck 4X4's.

kwik_ta

Snow tires and chains on the a$$ end of a vette!!???!! WHOOAA WHOOOO LOOK AT THE PAVEMENT FLY!!!!

joe3906

On Long Island, in the east Suffolk area where I live, they are expecting snow tonight. You have to listen hard to the news agencies because they are usually 100% off the mark on their predictions. When they say flurries, that means a blizzard is coming, and you better go out and buy milk, butter, eggs and bread for the rest of the winter. When they say blizzard or heavy snow, it usually misses the Island and goes out to sea. In either case, I'm wouldn't risk my car. I don't drive in the rain, so driving in the snow and ice is totally out of the question. But, that's just me.

Merry Christmas,
Joe B.

drvn2fast

i won't drive mine in the winter,up here where i am we can get feet of snow inside a couple of hours, just like those in the great white north. on top of that the salt that gets laid down. and this year the salt is having molasses added to it ,just to get a better yeild. one would stop to think...salt..molasses...deer just not a good combo. personally i think it's .

redvette6spd

here is how i look at it snows it blows its salty its dam cold proper vehicle for proper season

tonymax2

I knew there had to be someone out there who thinks a 'vette is still a real car!!

tempest

i could not find 275/40/17's, so as a compromise, i use these Dunlop M3 255/45/17's:



my new Goodyear GS D3's get pretty slick once it gets close to freezing, even on the dry, which prompted me to get these. i have driven on 10-yr old Eagles through two Michigan winters, and i can certainly say that it is a world of a difference with the winter tires. i probably even do better than a lot of the front- and 4wheel-drive cars out there with all season tires.

JohnyH

I'm impresssed! Mine is asleep, and the sight of those tires would probably give it an engine seize!

Jake T

I had studded snow tires on my '69 stingray. The car was very good in snow!

c4cruiser

One of the overlooked items is the fact that Vettes are "bottom breathers" for engine cooling. If you get into some unplowed areas, the front spoiler can easily act like a snowplow and force snow up into the radiator area and effectively cut off the flow of air. This will quickly cause overheating.

If you measure the ground clearance between the bottom of the spoiler and ground, you'll find that there is only a few inches of gap. Removing the front spoiler is not a good idea as when the roads are clear, the spoiler is required to direct air in to the radiator.

If you have to drive in snow, you should only consider doing it after the roads are sufficiently plowed to keep the radiator opening clear.

Rich Silvestris

Story time: My baby is tucked in with her BG night light right now, but there was a day when I could only afford one car and it was a 73 vert. In 1978, I drove that buggy 35 miles home in a mess that would later be called the Blizzard of 78. HUndreds of people around here did not make it home that night. Snow tires and determination were all I had on my side. The next morning, all I could see of the car was the tip of the antenna. I had plenty of time to dig her out, because the state was then shut down for a week. I wouldn't ever want to do that again, but snows, posi and IRS do a great job.

FU

I'd rather walk than drive my Vette in the snow. JMO