[DarkblueTA]

Originally Posted by cooltc2004

Camaros, Firebird, Corvettes, anything basicly rear wheel drive is not good in the snow. You put wider tires on the car (aka camaros, firebirds, and corvettes) and it becomes worse. Put more power, and its a nightmare.

No matter what anyone tells you, its not going to handle as good as a front wheel drive car in the snow / rain for that matter. But on dry land, you will be very happy that you picked an american v8.

As reliable, I wouldn't trust any jap car over an american car, period. Thats just me tho, and I wont buy anything thats not American. Mods can look down on me for saying this, but I refuse to support the jap government by purchasing their cars.

Now onto stuff about the cars If you want to really beat him, I suggest getting a 2000 - 2002 WS-6 Transam. It will have the LS-1 engine in it, which has 350 hp stock. A few mods will get you into the 400 hp.

cooltc2004...you're talkin' out your butt on snow days. I lived in Delaware and PA. I drove my car through snow/sleet/rain/name it. RWD is just different then FWD in snow. Light foot and if the back end kicks out, you steer to that side while rolling out of the throttle. I have had NO problem going up and down the moutains of northeast PA(bloomsburg/danville area) in my years of driving with 2 fox bodied 5.0 Mustangs and my Trans Am which was procharged at the time. Its all about patience and ability to handle your car.

Now, Vtech......As far as getting 400hp out of a LS1...its going to take more then boltons. You can get there with boltons + cam(if you're talking engine not at the wheels). 00-02 WS6s are nothing more then a hood and different lid(ie. air intake) over a Trans Am. its not 350hp stock either...310(TA) and "325"(WS6). usually close to that at the wheels. mine made 290rwhp/331rwtq stock and 310rwhp/337rwtq with a lid/cutout(otherwise all stock).

These cars are reliable. If you do get an LS1 with a 6 speed and want to race it, I would suggest a clutch(spec/mccloud/etc) and always be ready for a 12 bolt swap just incase your 10 bolt decides to go to 10 bolt heaven. Mine lasted but I didn't do any 5k clutch drops either. The only thing about the cars that you might have to replace is the window motors. they're very small and trying to push the big window back up takes a little bit. I've replaced my drivers side window 2 times in 5 years, but its up and down all the time.

As far as handle'n. They handle alright stock. Much different from a FWD car. You can get it to oversteer very easy by just laying into the gas. If you want to make it a corner carver, add subframes, lower control arms, pan hard rod bar, strut tower brace and poly bushings.

If you have any questions feel free to AIM me(darkblueta). I'm currently working in CT, so if you want someone who has experience with looking at these cars(LS1s) I'll help you out any way I can. Good luck with your search.