Sorry, dumb question, Snow and Camaros

[Taco101]

I live in Colorado. Unfortunately, that means I live in a place that gets a lot of snow. I want to get a new Camaro, but I can't afford 2 cars. Is there anyone out there that can give me an honest assesment of driving a Camaro Z28 or SS with Traction Control in the snow? It is safe to say that I don't have any experience with RWD in the snow before, and I have mostly been driving cars with 4WD except an occasional run in a 93 FWD Subaru Legacy.

Thanks

[Taco101]

I plan to be driving this car with the 6spd manual, no Slushboxes.

[DVSNCYNIKL]

I haven't had experience with Camaro's in particular, but I've had the experience with RWD cars with traction control. From the experience, it gets you around. But I wouldn't go as confident as with an AWD vehicle or 4x4. But it can get you around.

[wolfcall16]

I have a 1988 firebird formula basically a camaro but not a new one. My experience with it on the snow is that it shouldnt be driven on the snow. You have absolutely no control. My car is only good to be driven on a clear day with dry roads at around 70 degrees otherwise you have no control and have to drive real slow.

Hope that helps

Kevin

[Thunda Downunda]

Taco101: I have absolutely no experience with snow, or the F-body, so take the following with a grain of (road) salt.

I read an interesting Car&Driver comparison, proporting to discover what's important for snow traction. Among their conclusions was that using hi-tech snow tyres on FWD vehicles gave greater snow traction and mobility than a 4WD using summer tyres; ie basically, it's what kind of rubber hits the road that is the determinant, like with using 'street-tread' tyres in mud on a 4WD Bronco, which quickly clog up, vs say aggressive 'open' wintertread tyres on a LSD-equipped Crown Victoria sedan.

One thing you could bet on though, is that with all that V8 torque-on-demand, and a light rear end, you'll soon become expert at correcting drifts, even in the dry - no matter how many bags of pet food you jam in the trunk! Another sure thing would be the enjoyment and pride of ownership offered by such a beast .. in the dry at least. But it's probably not really suitable. I guess it's a case of practicality vs passion. Pity you can't use the $$ you'll save from buying such a performance bargain like the F-body, and use a cheap beater for the harsher months, saving your garaged asset for sunnier days.

Gee, when we look back in years to come, remembering the impressive specs of these cars (sexy styling, gutsy V8, available manual trans & convertible, advanced plastic bodywork, amazing economy/performance balance, an even more amazing $/performance deal) won't we wish we could have owned one?

[AbsurdParadox]

I have an 89 base firebird with the weak 6 cyl in it (hey, its my first car, give me a break here), and even it is hard to control on snow/ice. I live in Wichita KS, so we get all kinds of weather here, wether its 90 in december, or snowing in May (no joke), my car does "okay", you just have to be really careful. One time I was going say... about 3mph on a VERY icey street that had a slight downslope right at the stop sign, I slid throught he intersection and hit the curb on the other side (the intersection doesn't quite line up, the street connection across the street is about 20 feet to the left). So, I get off the curb, and I'm down on the road, and I could NOT get going, just TOO much ice under all my tires, so I threw it into reverse, slammed the gas to try to melt some ice, and then evetually got some traction. It was funny, idling was too little gas, but ANY touching of the peddle was too much gas :-P.

All in all, you should be fine, you just have to be really careful.

[TanRchy]

1 suggestion: buy your camaro b/c they are so cool. then 2 you need to buy a beater 4wd car doesnt have to be expensive. nothing more than $1k . 3 store your camaro durin the winters. drive the beater around in the snow. this will save you the worries, this will help the resale and value of your new f-body! Dont let snow touch it!

[Mylacc]

cars long and low to the ground have a low center of gravity so they can corner well
also means that there weight shifts considerably more cornering..so thats why sports cars spin out

i dont like how camaros drive to biggen with and i dont like how long cars drive or how rear wheel dirve cars drive in the snow

so a camaro in the snow would be exceptionally melevolent IMHO

[Blackbird01]

I live in the Chicagoland area.
I drive a 2001 Trans Am WS6.
I live in an area that gets lots of snow.

I bought my car around November of last year.
Drove it ALL WINTER LONG! Even through the BIG snow storm we had....I was only 17 and it was my first RWD V8 car and even I could manage to drive it in 4-8 inches of snow.

Buy your Camaro. Then go buy a set of 4 junk steel wheels. Also, throw on a set of Blizzak Snow Tires and keep yoru fingers crossed. If you don't like it, buy a winter beater next fall...

It'll build character :smoker:

[PART]

i agree with blackbird go for it my first car was an 86 camaro and it got me through plenty of snow, not that it didnt get interesting sometimes but just pretend ur a rally cup driver and itll be all good ...later

[joeB]

My 94 z wont go in 1 inch of snow, maybe its the tires..

[NiGhtRider_RS]

Like Blackbird, i also live in the chicagoland area and recieve considerable amounts of snow. I've had my 1991 camaro RS for about 2 years now...and the only problem i had with it durings winter was when it was snowing insanely and even people with 4wd and fwd cars were having problems. Hence, i couldnt move. I ditched it once, but that was because there was a snowplow coming down a narrow street, and i had nowhere else to turn because he couldn't see me. Other than that, just get yourself some good tires, convert to posi, and drive like a grandmother. If you're good to your car, it'll be good to you. (Some good brakes will help too..i once had to use the handbrake to avoid sliding through an intersection..not fun)

[BlkCamaroSS]

As long as you're not showboating in the snow like you shouldn't be anyway, you'll be fine. I've had no problems in the snow. Just take it easy in the snow, you should do that no matter how good of a driver you are when there's snow on the road.