RJRSW

I lived in the Minneapolis area and drove vettes for 22 years of that time. Drove them all year around and for 1/2 that time they were my only vehicle so had to drive them every day no matter what the weather was. Ran them through the car wash once a week during the winter and never had anymore problems in the winter than any other car I owned.

I have owned 25 vettes since I was 17 and never have stored even one of them during the winter and that included a 1953, 1957 fuelie and a 1963 split window during the time I lived near Minneapolis.

R&L's C6

Seriously, what was the last model year you drove all winter in Minnesota? I bet it wasn't a C6 or C5 with the low ground clearance and wide tires of those generations...

RJRSW

Corvettes that are driven and stored near salt water areas have more corrosion related problems than the ones from Minnesota do, especially related to electrical problems. Long exposure to areas with salty air is a problem for all vehicles over time and from a personal bad experience after buying one that came from the LA area I now avoid any vettes from those areas when I'm looking to buy one.

RJRSW

I have driven the C5 convert shown below in the snow in the mountains during the winter and with the Michelin AS ZP tires didn't have any problem.

lordofwar

my view is why would you pay $70,000 or more for a high performance sportscar that handles like crap in winter and drive it in snow and salt?bragging rights?personally i do not understand why anyone would intentionally drive them in the winter.it is not fun,it is dangerous,and it defeats the purpose of owning that type of car.if you read your owners manual it says on my 2012 grandsport "your car is capable of 180 mph on a racetrack",not on salty slippery winter roads.enough said.

R&L's C6

Sorry, thats a far cry from daily driving one in Minnesota...We had plenty of days last winter, even this spring, commuting to work was treacherous at best, even with 4 wheel drive.

Patman

I owned a 98 C5 for almost 9 years and for the first 7 of those years it was my daily driver, including winters. After the first couple of winters I ran into a corrosion related issue with my ECM, the salt had eaten away at the connection and I needed to replace it. Although upon further inspection it was determined that the previous owner had some work done in that area and they did not properly put it back together, so salt got into that area when it normally would not have (and I never had the same problem again later even after many more winters of driving)

Another issue I had was with the chrome aftermarket wheels I had. Every single one of the wheels developed a slow leak at some point that necessitated a tire shop taking a grinder to the inside of it in order to remove corrosion. They told me this was a common thing that they ran into when people drove through the winters with chrome wheels.

My undercarriage did not look severely rusted at all, in fact it looked not much worse for wear than just about every other C5 I've ever seen the underneath of (unless that car was never ever driven in the rain)

With all that said, I will never drive my C6 in the winter. There simply is no logical reason for me to do this now that I have a second car (a 2006 Civic) The only reason I drove my C5 in those winters was that I didn't have parking for another car at the time, so it was either drive the C5 all year round or don't own one at all.

RJRSW

Exactly how many times have you tried driving your vette in those conditions so as to know if it works are not. I lived in the Minneapolis area for my first 39 years and never once had a 4 wheel drive or even a truck and managed to get wherever I needed to be all winter long.

These are pics I took at the cabin we stay at on Mt Lemmon near the ski area and what it looks like in the area I have driven in Feb on mountain roads about 25 miles from my home in Tucson.

If you look at the bottom one that is the road in the foreground.

R&L's C6

Well, admittedly I'm not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but since I cant get up the street to my house or my steep driveway when there's more than a few inches of snow without putting my truck in 4x4, how well do you think it will work out for me......

BTW, thats a great looking cabin.

RJRSW

Going up there during the winter is like being in Northern Minnesota and when I took the photos it was 85 degrees at my home 25 miles from there in Tucson. I can actually see some of the ski runs covered in snow during the winter from my home.

If you watched the PGA Accenture Match Play Championship in February 2013 the tournament was delayed by a big snow storm and that course is only a mile from my place.

R&L's C6

It's kinda funny, I never think of snow and Arizona..

At least it doesn't last long or you can get in your car and drive away from it.

phileaglesfan

Just need to pressure spray the bottom once in a while, more during the winter.

If you actually think about it there is a lot of garbage on the road when it rains, mostly stuff you cannot see but it is there.

I wouldn't care if my Vette had great snow traction as I still wouldn't drive it in the snow. It is not the snow/salt that I'm worried about. It is the curbs/potholes that like to hide in the snow or even a decent amount of rain. Heck since the Vette only has 4 in of clearance it would be a snow plow here in Utah most storms.

Now my wife's 300C AWD is a snow king. It'll make 4x4 pick ups look foolish in the snow.

RJRSW

There are areas of Arizona that are completely closed off during the winter because of all the snow including a lot of the Grand Canyon area. Tucson is at the Southern end of the Rocky Mountains.

The extreme contrasts in weather and scenery available within the state within a short drive was one of the big reasons that I moved to Tucson from Minnesota in 1982 and have not been back up there even once since I moved. Just Southeast of Tucson there is the City of Sonita and the surrounding area there is as high as the Denver area is.

Tigershark3

I don't worry about salt in the winter unless the roads are wet and slushy in which case I won't take them out. If the roads are dry and there's some dried salt here and there I don't worry about it. I've done this with both of my vettes with no corrosion that I could see.

JerriVette

I use all my cars whenever I want...My 6 year old C5 Z06 looked brand new underneath...Same for my now 5 year old C6..

i don't save it from the elements. GM designed these cars as daily drivers..

Rain or shine...snow too...I drive my corvette just fine and the car looks brand new..

For those that save them..thats cool if thats what you want from your car..

I'll do as I please and enjoy the drive..

JMO

michaelinmech

Looks like the underside of a work vehicle at The Morton Salt Plant

CodyC6

Any chance that is a Chevy Truck. I have noticed that of all the vehicles I've owned, nothing rusts/surface rusts on all the bits and pieces as bad as my Chevy.

mefly2

Oh ... OK, then, I won't worry about the magnesium chloride ... I guess the salesperson took advantage of me
You should see the corroded / rusted undercarriage of our 4 year old jeep from the mag chl and winter driving!

MikeyTX

Which is why I slow down and let someone else get in front of me.

MikeyTX

Must be a Ford .....................