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I'm going into my fifth winter with my Camaro. I live in an alpine area, with steep grades, sharp turns, and lots of snow. This driving is not like winter driving on flat ground... you need speed to get up the grades, but you need to be slow enough that it does NOT throw you out of a curve... on ice and snow.
I've driven lots of vehicles in all kinds of winter conditions, all over the world. I find that my Camaro (auto trans) does REALLY well in the snow... much of it because of traction control, and the ability to turn it on and off.
I leave traction control on for most snow/ ice driving. As long as the vehicle is in motion, it's helping. However, there are times when the car just isn't going any farther. Perhaps a grade is too steep, or another vehicle forced a stop in a bad place, and resuming motion isn't happening. That's when I kick TC to "off," and use some (reasonable!) wheelspin to dig through the ice/ snow to the pavement. Might need to move the car back and forth a few feet to create a clear "launch runway" in order to get moving. Clear a few feet of pavement, back up the the "start line," and launch.... As soon as motion is achieved, TC is back to "on," and I keep rolling... right on past all of the chumps who haven't figured out how to drive in this stuff.
I love driving in this stuff so much that when the snow starts falling, I just go drive, whether I have a place to go or not. It's the funnest, easiest, safest way to practice drifting, sliding, donuts, Rockford Files, reverse whips... you get the picture. Have fun, embrace the slickeriness, and use the TC judiciously.
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