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Old 09-27-2008, 12:40 PM   #15
fierodeletre
 
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haha no, man. Schnee means snow in German. And I would highly recommend driving your pa's Ford in the bad stuff. Just remember to do two things:
1. Still take your camaro to an empty parking lot to 'get a feel' for its limits in inclement weather. That way, if you get caught out in it, you'll know what to do.
2. Remember that even 4WD is not the ultimate answer. If the sh%% goes down, and it's solid ice out there, NOTHING's moving. 4WD will get you up and over stuff, but in braking, all drive layouts are created equal all other factors equal. Be careful man.
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Old 09-27-2008, 12:51 PM   #16
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Make sure you have an alternate method of transportation for when the weather gets bad. My GTO was practically undriveable the last bad snowstorm we had, partly because of the all season tires on my car. It's no fun for anyone when people have to push you at a stoplight. Which brings me to point the second:

Plan on getting some winter tires. Also see the first sentence of this post.
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Old 09-27-2008, 01:03 PM   #17
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Hey, this is my first post on the site, and I hope you guys can help me. I'm 16 and i'm looking at the camaro for my first car. Heres the only problem: the snow. My dad said I can get the camaro, but he said because its rear wheel drive it won't be as good in the snow, so i won't be able to drive it that much. My sister has a mustang (i don't buy into the whole rivalry, if its an awesome car, i like it ) and it is terrible in the snow... to the point of being undriveable. Does anyone know if the camaro is going to be any better in the snow? it only snows a few times badly a winter here in Jersey, but i wanna be able to drive it all year round... thanks guys
Sorry, bud but it going to be tough in the snow, parking and driving odds are you will have some diffuculty. I have a back up car in the winter for bad weather days, good luck. Put some sand bags in the trunk it will hurt gas mileage but it will help
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Old 09-27-2008, 01:18 PM   #18
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Hey, this is my first post on the site, and I hope you guys can help me. I'm 16 and i'm looking at the camaro for my first car. Heres the only problem: the snow. My dad said I can get the camaro, but he said because its rear wheel drive it won't be as good in the snow, so i won't be able to drive it that much. My sister has a mustang (i don't buy into the whole rivalry, if its an awesome car, i like it ) and it is terrible in the snow... to the point of being undriveable. Does anyone know if the camaro is going to be any better in the snow? it only snows a few times badly a winter here in Jersey, but i wanna be able to drive it all year round... thanks guys


Sorry but the fact of the matter is this. Both the Camaro and the Mustang are rear wheel drive vehicles and sports cars for that matter. Both light in the ass and will get all over the place. when I lived in Germany I owned a 2005 BMW M3. This was at the time a $69,000 car that was the ultimate driving machine for me. The first snow the car could have been considered retarded. I could not drive faster that say 5-8mph. In those conditions the car was not worth a shit and a death trap at that. If I were you I would get a vehicle like a pick up or SUV, jeep something that is good in all weather conditions and then get the camaro later. The camaro is a spring, summer , fall type of vehicle. The car is not desighned for doing the Canon Ball run across Alaska in the middle of winter.
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Old 09-27-2008, 02:56 PM   #19
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I'm not going to drive my Camaro in the winter, but thats because of rust not snow. Here's what I'm going to be doing. I will keep my car when I buy my Camaro, then store it ~8 months of the year. I will then drive it durring the winter and get the Camaro out for the spring/summer/fall.

Also, people managed to drive rwd cars in the winter for decades, before we had good winter tires, before we had traction control, before antilock brakes, before SUV sales took off. and no matter what you are in, if you can't drive your going to end up in a snow bank (or worse) durring the winter. I will say this though, a 300 hp V6 Camaro probably isn't a good choice for someone going through their first winter. An SS would be even less wise.
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Old 09-27-2008, 03:22 PM   #20
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The standard stability control and traction control combined with ABS will help quite a bit though. I've driven a rear-wheel drive car so equipped in the winter before, and it does make things a lot easier to handle. I remember coming up over a hill on a country road in the winter and there was a big unexpected patch of ice right in front of me at the upcoming T-intersection...on a simply wet road, I had the right braking distance, but with the ice, I would have been in serious danger of sliding through the intersection and going into the grass across from me (there wasn't any cross-traffic to worry about). But the ABS and traction control kicked in and stopped me perfectly at the stop sign.

Certainly not something you want to lean on as a crutch, but it can really help.
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Old 09-27-2008, 03:32 PM   #21
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Let's just say that if I can help it I'm keeping my 4-cylinder FWD Saab to drive in the winter. I'm sure I will love the Camaro but the Saab is damned stabile in snow.
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Old 09-27-2008, 04:31 PM   #22
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Originally Posted by fierodeletre View Post
haha no, man. Schnee means snow in German. And I would highly recommend driving your pa's Ford in the bad stuff. Just remember to do two things:
1. Still take your camaro to an empty parking lot to 'get a feel' for its limits in inclement weather. That way, if you get caught out in it, you'll know what to do.
2. Remember that even 4WD is not the ultimate answer. If the sh%% goes down, and it's solid ice out there, NOTHING's moving. 4WD will get you up and over stuff, but in braking, all drive layouts are created equal all other factors equal. Be careful man.
lol i knew the meaning in german, didn't even cross my mind though

the thing is i would only be driving like two miles to school in the snow, so it wouldn't be an inconvenience to drive the ford. Except for going to school there wouldn't be a real reason to go outside, so i think the camaro would be nice in the garage . I don't even think it would be worth it to try it.
hopefully i'll go to college somewhere it doesn't snow alot.
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Old 09-27-2008, 04:43 PM   #23
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I have a question......

What did we all do 20+ years ago, when the majority of cars were RWD, there was no such thing as traction control, and if you were lucky 40% of the vehicle's weight was back there?

My first car was a 1985 Buick Regal. I drove it through 3 Cleveland winters in my late teens - early 20's. I can't remember ever getting stuck or wiping out. There were a few close ones, but I've had close ones with every FWD car I've owned since in the winters.

I don't think it's going to be all that bad with the Camaro.
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Old 09-27-2008, 09:43 PM   #24
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I have a question......

What did we all do 20+ years ago, when the majority of cars were RWD, there was no such thing as traction control, and if you were lucky 40% of the vehicle's weight was back there?

My first car was a 1985 Buick Regal. I drove it through 3 Cleveland winters in my late teens - early 20's. I can't remember ever getting stuck or wiping out. There were a few close ones, but I've had close ones with every FWD car I've owned since in the winters.

I don't think it's going to be all that bad with the Camaro.
Hello!!
I grew up learning to drive on RWD cars. I passed my driver's licence road test in the snow and it was the 1st time I'd ever driven in the stuff.
We had no such thing as FWD, AWD, 4WD, stabilitrak or traction control on cars... and nobody drove a truck. You made sure to put on the right tires before the snow started flying and learned how to use the throttle judiciously, and to always keep your front wheels straight rather than turned if you thought you were gonna run into difficulty with getting stuck. You knew how to "rock" out of a tough spot with a manual transmission. It's not rocket science.
The new Camaro ought to be a piece of cake in the snow with all the electronic assists, as long as you're not on summer tires. To this day I'm more comfortable in the snow and feel I have better control with a RWD car than with a FWD car. I even learned how to kick the ass end around in the snow (can you spell "donut") by hitting the throttle on our FWD minivan, but it's still not the same for me. A little left foot braking while hitting the throttle works wonders on a FWD vehicle.
AWD, 4WD is not a factor for me as I really have no need for it and can't justify the extra weight/cost/maintenance.
Don't let the fear of driving this car in the snow prevent you from getting one. When my boys were learning to drive, I insisted we go to an empty parking lot and "play" in the snow so they could feel and understand the car's limits and characteristics under these circumstances. A little practice goes a long way. They are both excellent foul-weather drivers and we had a blast together as they learned how to control the car!

Best regardSS,

Elie
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Old 09-27-2008, 10:32 PM   #25
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Being from NJ, my camaro will not be seeing snow. Thats why I keeping my truck. Ive driven a camaro and a mustang in the snow. If you take it slow and easy it should be fine but if you can get a second vehicle much the better.
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Old 09-28-2008, 02:30 AM   #26
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To this day I'm more comfortable in the snow and feel I have better control with a RWD car than with a FWD car.
Man I need to move to Canada. FINALLY someone who understands my point.
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Old 09-28-2008, 11:12 AM   #27
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Okay I've lived in Northern NJ (in Morris County) all my life (im only a year or two older than you) Uh I have been driving a bit longer than I should have been but Ill tell you this. I dont care how good of a driver you are chances are you will get into some type of accident whether its a fender bender or you write a car off *cough* so IMVHO get a beater for your first year and play around with it. However if you get the camaro just be careful dont race it or anything (snow or not) Im not getting mine for a few years so I dont yet know how it feels to know your getting yours for a fact.


Moral of the post. be careful :-)
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Old 09-28-2008, 11:19 AM   #28
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Okay I've lived in Northern NJ (in Morris County) all my life (im only a year or two older than you) Uh I have been driving a bit longer than I should have been but Ill tell you this. I dont care how good of a driver you are chances are you will get into some type of accident whether its a fender bender or you write a car off *cough* so IMVHO get a beater for your first year and play around with it. However if you get the camaro just be careful dont race it or anything (snow or not) Im not getting mine for a few years so I dont yet know how it feels to know your getting yours for a fact.


Moral of the post. be careful :-)
i live in bergen so were really close. I appreciate the advice. I definitely wont be stupid enough to race it, my friend just got an audi and wants to race everyone he sees... we'll see who's laughing once he has to go to traffic court
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