Camaro Winter Driving

[3 SS's]

You look hard enough you can find one of these for a couple grand and forget about spending money on tires/wheels and..... keep that Camaro out of the SALT

[ScottyScooter]

My first car when I was 16 years old was a 1979 Camaro with bald tires, and I managed to drive that car until I finished high school and never go off the road, get stuck, or get into any kind of trouble during the winter.

The new Camaro has more weight over the rear tires, ABS, traction control, and stability control. If I could manage the old Camaro with no problems when I was a 16 year old kid, any adult should have no problems managing the new Camaro in the snow. You just need to be intelligent about it and respect the conditions of the road. Be slow and cautious when the roads are bad and you will be fine.

[discoteka]

I live in upstate NY and we have decent winters... That said, my Camaro is my only car and I have almost spun out on the highway numerous times while driving to school, even with a little bit of snow on the ground. I will never drive it in the snow again.

[Banshee]

I drove my 98 T/A in the winter. I do not recommend it at all. Not only do you have a traction problem, clearance an issue as well. If there is over 6-8" on ground and you have to plow through it from a stop, good luck!

Buy a $1000 Ford Festiva for winter..trust me.

[pmb1010]

Originally Posted by discoteka

I live in upstate NY and we have decent winters... That said, my Camaro is my only car and I have almost spun out on the highway numerous times while driving to school, even with a little bit of snow on the ground. I will never drive it in the snow again.

What kind of tires did you have installed - summer tires, all seasons or real snow tires (ie: blizzaks)?

[Treadstone]

Originally Posted by KJS

Although its only the end of May, Tire Rack only has two rims on their site for the Camaro. I'll be looking for a winter rim/tire package as the car will be a daily driver. Long Island has snow, some years, some years not and can't take a chance with summer only tires.

Buy some cheap Corvette wheels and mount them up.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by joepitt

Sand takes more planning. Salt will melt the snow, not give you traction. If it doesn't melt it all the way to the pavement it probably won't help.

I see. I thought you meant to carry kitty litter, you were talking about if you didn't plan ahead and got stuck anyway.

I would recommend carrying sand, you can buy "tube sand" at Home Depot/Lowes/Walmart in the winter for less than a bag of kitty litter. It's ballast until you get stuck, then it's getting you unstuck without having to trudge miles to the nearest store.

Rock salt doesn't dissolve the instant you put it on the ground, it takes a couple minutes. In the meantime, it's the crunchiest most aggressive traction you can get.

I have a set of tire cables, they're supposed to be like lame chains. Turns out they don't fit any of my tires, but they're great to put down as traction mats.

Originally Posted by Banshee

Buy a $1000 Ford Festiva for winter..trust me.

Sounds dangerous. With everyone else careening around in 5000 pound SUVs and pickups, the last place I want to be is in a 1987 badge-engineered Kia tin can weighing 1600 pounds...

[fndelta]

For the past two winters i have driven my Dodge Charger (RWD). It was certainly a learning experience in comparison with my Jeep i drove before it. If you couldn't tell from my profile, i live in michigan and the winters are lovely, but white. Here are a couple tips i have learned from having to drive my charger in absolutely appalling conditions.

1. When it first snows, make your way to an unplowed parking lot. Try getting use to the way your car handles in the safest possible way. Learn whether it will slide right or slide left.

2. Always start in 2nd gear from a stop (auto or manual) this will help if you have a lot of torque.

3. When the driving got really bad i pot 300lbs of rock salt in my trunk to help push the back wheels down. (it does help, just don't keep it in there always)

4. If you can, get winter tires as others recommended. I did not do this, but probably should have.

Lastly, and many people will object, turn of traction control. I prefer to know if/when my car is sliding. Sometime it requires a little power to get yourself out of a power slide. And ESP sometimes will rob you of it.

[lafountain]

I have been driving a 1995 Camaro since 1996 and am from Vermont originally and lived in Idaho for about 8 years, so driving in snow in the Camaro is something I have gotten used to. It is doable, you just have to be careful and know what you are doing. I was able to manage some hills in my Camaro that some friends couldn't do in their trucks, it is just a matter of being willing to slow down and take your time and have patience when driving in the snow, that goes for all vehicles, not just rwd cars.

[Andro]

Vegas Baby!

[CyberDude]

Originally Posted by chevyridinghigh

Okay, for those of you that plan to drive the hell out of this car and put on more miles than a 100 mile per year weekend car, what do you plan on doing during the winter when it snows? I've never had a rear wheel drive car, being that I'm 24 and have driven a honda civic for about 9 years. Chains on the tires???

SS comes with 20" summer tires. I won't drive it in winter at all if it's possible.