Driving a corvette in winter?
 

Hey guys

I was thinking of buying my first corvette next month. Since this will be my first corvette I plan on buying a used C6... and I will also drive it daily. The only problem is that I live in Chicago and winter is only a couple of months away.

My question is can I drive it in the winter season?? By driving in the winter I mean I will drive it when it is not heavily snowing and the roads are clear and there is no slush...

well to give you an idea:

i tried to move my Vette 10 feet in my driveway when there was about a 1/2 inch of snow on the ground.

after 20 minutes of spinning and fighting the TC, I got it there.

it's fine when the roads are clear, though the tires don't have much traction below 40º F.
just dont get caught in the snow.

We don't get much snow in VA Bch. I have driven on Ice and snow in No VA several times. The only problem I've had is that the front air dam acts like a snow plow on unplowed roads. This scrapes up salt & sand into the engine compartment.

:lurk:

North of the Mason Dixon line... you'd better have a second car IMHO. If you get a heavy rain the vette seems to get a little slippery... much less snow.

Go over to youtube and search for "Corvette snow" you will see what Stimpy was talking about.

The OP doesn't mention whether this will be a Z51 car or not. If it is, I would seriously recommend NOT driving in the winter. The SC tires have no ability to stick below 40 degrees, forget about snow or ice. The GS tires on the base and F55 cars are better, but I certainly wouldn't plan on any travel during a moderate or higher snowfall - the car is too low to the ground to do it without serious damage. I see Goodyear is putting out an all season F1 tire, but I don't know if it would make any real difference on the C6 - the car is just too low to be of any use in the snow.

My advice - get a beater to drive during the winter if you can afford it. Leave the Vette in the garage. It will last longer, and not be the reason for your untimely death in a snowstorm.:sadangel:

I drive mine in all seasons. I wouldn't want to do that on the SuperCar tires, though. You really want a set of all season or winter tires for the car when the temperatures are low and/or there's snow or slush on the road. Stay off unplowed roads because the air dam will act as a snowplow in anyhing over a couple of inches deep. Because of the good weight distribution of the car, it handles better than most RWD cars when the roads are slippery, if you have good tires on it. But it won't go like a FWD or AWD car. There isn't enough clearance to install chains.

Don't do it. I drove my '72 throught the first winter after I bought it new . . . and that's in Central New York, typically with well over 100 inches of snow. Sure, it can be done - and back then you could get snow tires to fit the Corvette (and I did). That car was terrible in the snow, and had nowhere near enough ground clearance for rutted, snow-covered roads. Put it away for the winter, buy an old 4x4. You'll end up using it a lot, even in the summer.

:iagree: With all the above posts - That being said I drive my car every day including the winter - Take it slow and give you're tires time to warm up and you ll be OK . HOWEVER , if there is even the forcast of a flurry , I park the vette .:cheers:

:iagree:
The biggest problem is the w-i-d-e tires... even a very thin layer of snow on the road will be dangerous. This goes for pretty much any car I've owned with wide tires, not just the Corvette.

When I lived in Salt Lake, I tried to move my Corvette out of the garage once with *maybe* a quarter inch of snow on the driveway -- it nearly slid onto the lawn with *any* attempt at movement.

It's simply not workable, in my opinion, to drive this kind of car if there's *any* chance of even the tiniest bit of snow/ice on the road.

My advice -- don't buy all season tires, buy a winter beater.

Snow + Vette = more trouble than you'd ever want.

Every garage up north should have a vette and a 4x4. At first snowflake in the air, park the vette. Bottle of Stable, a Battery Tender, a car cover... tuck it in, see you in the spring.

Drive mine every day. Now I'm not comparing Portland Oregon to Chicago. First you get real snow, but can keep the roads clear up to a point. Here we get a "snow event" once or twice a winter, and ODOT can't keep their nose dry. But I've had mine in snow up to <>3", at much more than that the air dam is a snow plow, and had no issues. I've been on thin frost ice and done OK. The Active Handling and Anti-Lock worked fine. Mine is a 2005 F55 with orginal GY.

These threads come up often. Always the answer of reason is it's almost all in the tires and the driver. The driver needs lots of self-control in gearing and his right foot, and the tires need to be narrower than stock as well as dedicated winter.

If all those things are in place, and the snow isn't too deep that clearance becomes a problem, there is no reason a C6 shouldn't perform well in snow.

I find it funny when people get all doomsday about the winter performance, citing examples where they nearly killed themselves. Duh! You were on stock tires, of course high performance summer tires on ANY car - Range Rover or Ferrari - are going to perform horribly in snow.

All seven of my vettes have been daily drivers in places like OH, CT, NY, etc.....about the same as driving a BMW, in fact I think my vette
was slightly better in the snow than my beamer....

As long as there's no snow on the ground, you will be all right. The tires won't be as sticky when its cold, so don't push it.. :thumbs:

thanks a lot for the help! Responses were quick! Since summer is almost over :sadangel: I think I'll wait till next summer to get a C6 vette (with Z51). I'll enjoy driving it in the summer and when winter comes again I will definitely garage it, and only drive it carefully when the road is clear in the winter.

Appreciate your responses! :)

I would not risk driving the vette in the snow, you have to worry about the other idiots out there. I would buy a beater or take public trans during the the winter months. The vette may be good in the snow but when other drivers are out there you will be sweating!!!

I have driven Vettes in Chicago all year 'round for over 40 years on Lake Shore Drive, side streets, the Eisenhower and Edens expressways, and around various suburbs. C3s were simpler than the c5 and c6.

I have never needed or used snow tires.

Safe driving of a C6 is a matter of understanding the use of positraction and when the C6's computer-controlled TC and AH functions will kick in and their impacts.

Be aware of the low clearance and don't drive your C6 before heavy snows have been cleared.

Let out your clutch slowly and coordinate its engagement with throttle use. Automatics need to be throttled very cautiously and conservatively.

There is every reason to enjoy living your life and drive your Corvette anytime that you feel like it -- within reasonable limits.

It's the middle of Aug.Why bring this unpleasant topic up now?:leaving:

Born and raised in Chicago. Lived mostly in the suburbs. After 43 years we left Illinois.

We had 4 Vette's ('72, '76, '86 and orginal '66) each one (except the '66) was driven daily. Rain, snow, sleet etc. Each car looked new when we traded them in. Ya gotta take extra care during the winter months, and make sure the salt is removed, top and bottom. The car was pressure washed at least once a week.

I was driving a Pontiac Grand Prix and the wife had the '86 Vette. While at work a light snow fall turned into a full blown snow storm. I got stuck with the big ole Grand Prix and the wife made it home with the Vette. Maybe she was just a better driver :lol: but the Vette faired well in the snow

AL