Tips for driving your C6 in the snow!
#41
Race Car Tech
#42
Race Car Tech
You know, if you work at it, you could get the snowblower blades pretty sharp. on second thought, the shute would throw the clippings everywhere on a windy day...
#44
Race Director
While I can appreciate the tips in this thread for driving in the snow.. the car IMO was just not made to drive in anything deeper than an inch or 2 of snow.... and fine if you do..its too much of a hassle to prep the car appropriately..but hey to each his own
I tried to drive my C5 in snow 1 year....ah yea not ever doing that again..and also my 99 Z28, same thing no way. Just too much torque, snow tires or not..and to easy to get stuck on a hill or something
Been there done that
Be safe if you do drive guys, these cars are a handful in the snow.
I tried to drive my C5 in snow 1 year....ah yea not ever doing that again..and also my 99 Z28, same thing no way. Just too much torque, snow tires or not..and to easy to get stuck on a hill or something
Been there done that
Be safe if you do drive guys, these cars are a handful in the snow.
#45
Race Car Tech
Tip #12 would drive me crazy... SALT, not to mention SAND
#46
Listen park it, at the Proving Grounds in Milford. No Vette is tested on the roads there untill the roads are cleared. I mean to the point that it is just a wet road. They are not driveable in snow. They do not put snow tires on them to test them. They park it!
#47
CF Senior Member
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Thanks for sharing your tips. One thing I've always found helpful when driving in the snow is to test the road conditions. I like to get a rough idea where the traction limits are before I find out the hard way. When it's safe to do so I'll accelerate, apply the brakes and even turn somewhat sharply to see how easily the wheels spin, the car skids or slides. I think we all know moderation is the key....slow and steady on the gas, avoid hard braking or turns....don't break traction. Even more beneficial and if at all possible, leave the Corvette in the garage and drive a 4WD vehicle in the snow.
#48
Le Mans Master
Here in NE Texas, we hardly ever get any significant amount of snow. A few years ago while I had my 05 coupe, I was at work when it started snowing (fire department, work 24 hrs., off 48 hrs). It was pretty early in the shift. It snowed all day and all night. When I went to go home the next morning, there was almost 6 inches of snow on the ground, and I had driven the Corvette. About 7 miles to get home. Took me almost 2 hours at no more than 3-4 miles per hour. The biggest problem was not traction, but in between the ruts where the snow had piled up by the trucks was hitting the front of the car and underneath. It was not fun. The Z will never see snow.
#49
Burning Brakes
While everything said seems about right, I totally disagree with the sandbags in the trunk.
You should add weight in the rear of a pickup truck in winter if you have problems. The reason is that the weight distribution is all on the front.
If the vehicle has 50/50 or close, weight distribution, you don't want to add weight anywhere. In the event that you are on the highway and lose traction, having a rear bias is a recipe to have a 180 in no time.
I've driven a Miata in the winter for 6 years as a DD, perfect weight distribution. I loved the handling and how predictable it was. All the same grip dynamics apply on pavement or ice, the difference is the amount of available grip. No matter the surface, being ice, pavement or a big parking lot made of glue, the car (object with mass distributed over 4 corners by rubber wheels), exceeding the level of grip will have similar paterns. Adding weight to one end to exceed the 50/50 weight distribution is a bad idea.
You should add weight in the rear of a pickup truck in winter if you have problems. The reason is that the weight distribution is all on the front.
If the vehicle has 50/50 or close, weight distribution, you don't want to add weight anywhere. In the event that you are on the highway and lose traction, having a rear bias is a recipe to have a 180 in no time.
I've driven a Miata in the winter for 6 years as a DD, perfect weight distribution. I loved the handling and how predictable it was. All the same grip dynamics apply on pavement or ice, the difference is the amount of available grip. No matter the surface, being ice, pavement or a big parking lot made of glue, the car (object with mass distributed over 4 corners by rubber wheels), exceeding the level of grip will have similar paterns. Adding weight to one end to exceed the 50/50 weight distribution is a bad idea.
#50
Team Owner
Member Since: Sep 2000
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St. Jude Donor '13
For those who say it can't be done, we used our C5 with the Goodyear winter (not A/S) runflats as a daily driver through five Chicago winters, never had a problem and the car looked like any other 66k miles C5 when we sold it. There were a few days when I happened to stay home and the C5 wouldn't have made it, but none of our other cars would have gotten through either.
The pic below is our 2006 in a motel parking lot, you can see how much snow accumulated on the roof overnight. We went about 50 yrds through the unplowed lot following the path of a previous car, and another 50 yds through virgin snow. This was on the Goodyear (no longer available) A/S tires, our current Michelin A/S seem similar.
Nowdays, I usually take one of the Toyotas in winter, the C6 can get through but it just isn't much fun.
The pic below is our 2006 in a motel parking lot, you can see how much snow accumulated on the roof overnight. We went about 50 yrds through the unplowed lot following the path of a previous car, and another 50 yds through virgin snow. This was on the Goodyear (no longer available) A/S tires, our current Michelin A/S seem similar.
Nowdays, I usually take one of the Toyotas in winter, the C6 can get through but it just isn't much fun.
#51
Le Mans Master
When I lived in Webster NY (one mile from Lake Ontario) there was a guy that drove his C5 Z06 through several Winters daily. He ran a gym and I would see this car on the road through some pretty heavy snow. Also..he pulled a trailer with a snowmobile on it. My friend, who also has a C5 Z06, use to cringe when he saw this.
#52
Safety Car
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"Idiot drivers"?, that would be anyone driving any wide-bodied C6 Vette in the snow. Light bodied, rear wheel drive cars with extra-wide tires is a formula for disaster; without snow tires on all fours is a formula for total disaster (I spent 54 years driving in the snow belt). If you live in the south, like I do now, just stay home, period! Telling people to "take it easy, be careful and watch out"" is like giving an infant a package of razor blades to play with and telling them to "be careful".
#53
Le Mans Master
For those who say it can't be done, we used our C5 with the Goodyear winter (not A/S) runflats as a daily driver through five Chicago winters, never had a problem and the car looked like any other 66k miles C5 when we sold it. There were a few days when I happened to stay home and the C5 wouldn't have made it, but none of our other cars would have gotten through either.
The pic below is our 2006 in a motel parking lot, you can see how much snow accumulated on the roof overnight. We went about 50 yrds through the unplowed lot following the path of a previous car, and another 50 yds through virgin snow. This was on the Goodyear (no longer available) A/S tires, our current Michelin A/S seem similar.
Nowdays, I usually take one of the Toyotas in winter, the C6 can get through but it just isn't much fun.
The pic below is our 2006 in a motel parking lot, you can see how much snow accumulated on the roof overnight. We went about 50 yrds through the unplowed lot following the path of a previous car, and another 50 yds through virgin snow. This was on the Goodyear (no longer available) A/S tires, our current Michelin A/S seem similar.
Nowdays, I usually take one of the Toyotas in winter, the C6 can get through but it just isn't much fun.
I drove Healeys, '67 and '69 Corvettes, '69 Camaro Z28, three hemi Dodges, other sports cars and a few other 'impossible' cars in the snow in Western Pennsylvania. I never used chains (God forbid, especially on a Corvette), although I did have a shovel, scrap carpet and salt-bags is the *** of every car I drove back then.
The GS, Z06 and ZR1 crowd are hosed since they don't have proper tires available, but my Michelin A/S tires will work in 3 - 4" of snoe. On ice, nobody should be driving, especially the four wheel drive crowd.
If it's bad or the forecast is that it will get bad, I also drive one of my other cars. However if I have to face some snow I will make it just fine. And I have never parked any car for five or six months out of the year because of some concern over some snow that occurs.
#56
Last edited by brdave; 11-29-2012 at 07:21 PM.
#57
Burning Brakes
I have to tell the truth- If I could spring for snow tires, I'd drive mine in the snow! I would love to see the looks from other drivers and if it wasn't actually snowing and not on the highway would drop the top for good measure!
/r
Allen
#59
Le Mans Master
#60
Le Mans Master
To your second; been there and done that.
I had the top down, heater going on high in the '60s while driving to work one chilly winter day when a car of four older ladies pulled alongside at a red light. They rolled their window down and the passenger asked "Aren't you cold?" I could only answer "Not really."