1979 C3 Performance on Snow?
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
1979 C3 Performance on Snow?
Hi,
I am considering buying a 1979 C3 and was wondering if anyone has any experience driving it on snow? Now before anyone has a heart attack, I do have a winter beater for daily driving. This is Minnesota and it can snow at anytime for six months of the year. However, most of our winter days are bone-dry with no salt on the road and lots of sunshine. I would hate to drive it somewhere in the sun and get stuck on the way home.
Andy
P.S.: This is a used driver, not a trailer queen or car show shiner.
I am considering buying a 1979 C3 and was wondering if anyone has any experience driving it on snow? Now before anyone has a heart attack, I do have a winter beater for daily driving. This is Minnesota and it can snow at anytime for six months of the year. However, most of our winter days are bone-dry with no salt on the road and lots of sunshine. I would hate to drive it somewhere in the sun and get stuck on the way home.
Andy
P.S.: This is a used driver, not a trailer queen or car show shiner.
Pro
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 530
Likes: 10
Hi,
I am considering buying a 1979 C3 and was wondering if anyone has any experience driving it on snow? Now before anyone has a heart attack, I do have a winter beater for daily driving. This is Minnesota and it can snow at anytime for six months of the year. However, most of our winter days are bone-dry with no salt on the road and lots of sunshine. I would hate to drive it somewhere in the sun and get stuck on the way home.
Andy
P.S.: This is a used driver, not a trailer queen or car show shiner.
I am considering buying a 1979 C3 and was wondering if anyone has any experience driving it on snow? Now before anyone has a heart attack, I do have a winter beater for daily driving. This is Minnesota and it can snow at anytime for six months of the year. However, most of our winter days are bone-dry with no salt on the road and lots of sunshine. I would hate to drive it somewhere in the sun and get stuck on the way home.
Andy
P.S.: This is a used driver, not a trailer queen or car show shiner.
Largely I would say it was because I knew the limitations of the platform and didn't do stupid stuff (up north I'd see tons of 4wd vehicles in the ditch because people think they are invincible... and they can get going... but can't brake or turn any better than most other cars)... Also because I always had good all season tires (even though they were "wide" which is supposedly a no-no on snow (and I call BS on that))... and also because Positraction realllllly helps.
But... I'd recommend throwing a bag of (non-"scoopable") kitty litter in the luggage area of your Vette... not only will the weight help a little... you can break into it to throw some under the tires for extra traction should you actually get stuck... and 2... a small snow shovel... But living in the north, I should assume you already know the latter things.
FWIW, I no longer willingly go north of Waco between Nov and Apr.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,943
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From: Southern NH
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,697
Likes: 139
From: Syracuse NY
Theres a reason why new cars are all front wheel drive or all wheel drive....because they handle better. A old corvette in the snow is going to behave like every other real wheel drive care. They will be prone to sliding and drifting. I know all these old times will tell you they drove their 62 Impalas in 10 foot snow banks, but take it from a 'Snowbelter'....a Corvette in the snow is a bad idea. No ground clearance+RWD=you in a ditch.
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Verdad Gallardo
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,118
From: Crossville TN
Lessons learned from driving C3 in snow: (decades ago, when it was OK to drive the car anywhere, anytime)
1. Wide tires on ice or packed snow will make it almost impossible to get traction. You must be VERY light on the throttle. If you have a manual tranny, start in 2nd gear; if automatic, just release the brake and allow the car to 'creep' to a start.
2. Traction and driving are pretty easy in soft, dry (very cold) snow....as long as it isn't over about 6" deep.
3. If roads have been plowed, there will be 'piled' snow at the sides of the road, etc. These piles can be much firmer, and if you run into them or try to push through them, you can damage the air dam under the nose of the car.
4. Ice and/or packed snow is very difficult to stop on. Give yourself LOTS of room ahead so that you can let off the gas and downshift (gently) to scrub speed. Use brakes only when you must. If you don't have to come to a complete stop, all the better. In these conditions, the rear of your car is at more risk than the front!
Good luck.....if you dare.
1. Wide tires on ice or packed snow will make it almost impossible to get traction. You must be VERY light on the throttle. If you have a manual tranny, start in 2nd gear; if automatic, just release the brake and allow the car to 'creep' to a start.
2. Traction and driving are pretty easy in soft, dry (very cold) snow....as long as it isn't over about 6" deep.
3. If roads have been plowed, there will be 'piled' snow at the sides of the road, etc. These piles can be much firmer, and if you run into them or try to push through them, you can damage the air dam under the nose of the car.
4. Ice and/or packed snow is very difficult to stop on. Give yourself LOTS of room ahead so that you can let off the gas and downshift (gently) to scrub speed. Use brakes only when you must. If you don't have to come to a complete stop, all the better. In these conditions, the rear of your car is at more risk than the front!
Good luck.....if you dare.
Last edited by 7T1vette; Jan 15, 2015 at 06:24 AM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,136
Likes: 62
From: West Kingston RI
Theres a reason why new cars are all front wheel drive or all wheel drive....because they handle better. A old corvette in the snow is going to behave like every other real wheel drive care. They will be prone to sliding and drifting. I know all these old times will tell you they drove their 62 Impalas in 10 foot snow banks, but take it from a 'Snowbelter'....a Corvette in the snow is a bad idea. No ground clearance+RWD=you in a ditch.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 2,844
Likes: 99
From: Orrtanna Pa.
I drove my 80 year round for the first 6 years I owned it. Snow, rain, sleet, ...you name it. It was my only transportation.
One day I drove to work,...sun was out. Then the snow started......By the time I got off work there was 8 inches on the ground, and I had a 40 mile commute. I managed to get all the way home to my driveway,...then got stuck pulling in. My kids helped me push it into the garage. This was running P295 50 15 rear tires.
The key to driving in the snow and ice is to use common sense. Start and stop gradually. When you know a sharp turn is ahead,..slow down gradually for it. If a hill is coming up,....try and build momentum and speed to help make it up the hill.
By all means......Get that Vette!
One day I drove to work,...sun was out. Then the snow started......By the time I got off work there was 8 inches on the ground, and I had a 40 mile commute. I managed to get all the way home to my driveway,...then got stuck pulling in. My kids helped me push it into the garage. This was running P295 50 15 rear tires.
The key to driving in the snow and ice is to use common sense. Start and stop gradually. When you know a sharp turn is ahead,..slow down gradually for it. If a hill is coming up,....try and build momentum and speed to help make it up the hill.
By all means......Get that Vette!
Pro
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 508
Likes: 36
From: Ia
Oh, I forgot to mention....
When you get tired of people at the gas stations asking you:
"So... how does that thing get around in the snow?"
Put racing numbers on the side, and they will avoid you like the plague....
weird but true
When you get tired of people at the gas stations asking you:
"So... how does that thing get around in the snow?"
Put racing numbers on the side, and they will avoid you like the plague....
weird but true
Pro
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 535
Likes: 8
From: London Ontario
Theres a reason why new cars are all front wheel drive or all wheel drive....because they handle better. I know all these old times will tell you they drove their 62 Impalas in 10 foot snow banks, but take it from a 'Snowbelter'....a Corvette in the snow is a bad idea. No ground clearance+RWD=you in a ditch.
My daily driver is a full size Dodge Ram that spends most of the winter in 2WD on my daily rural commutes of 50+ miles. All I have seen in the ditch this year have been minivans and compact FWD cars!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 987
Likes: 7
From: Surrey British Columbia
Only drove my '80 once on the snow and it was purely by accident. The car was brand new; it was a beautiful warm and sunny May morning so I left the "Beater" AMC Pacer (Hey... it was 1980!!!) in the garage and took the Vette to work for the very first time. In the morning we were hit with a freak Spring snow storm. I had no choice but to drive the Vette home. There was 5" maybe 6" of snow on the ground. Ten minutes after hitting the road the engine overheated. I pulled over and opened the hood to discover the entire engine compartment was full of snow!!! 
It turns out that the front valence with the rubber extension acted like a snow plow and scooped the snow off of the road and threw it into the engine compartment. How it got past the rad I'll know, but I let the engine heat melt the snow, then restarted the car and finally got the Vette home. Never again did I drive it in the snow.
It turns out that the front valence with the rubber extension acted like a snow plow and scooped the snow off of the road and threw it into the engine compartment. How it got past the rad I'll know, but I let the engine heat melt the snow, then restarted the car and finally got the Vette home. Never again did I drive it in the snow.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 4,101
Likes: 10
From: NorCal
Yup, and that explains why so many of us up here in the north drive 2 wheel drive pick-ups in the winter; so we can tow the Priuses and Civics out of the ditch!
My daily driver is a full size Dodge Ram that spends most of the winter in 2WD on my daily rural commutes of 50+ miles. All I have seen in the ditch this year have been minivans and compact FWD cars!
My daily driver is a full size Dodge Ram that spends most of the winter in 2WD on my daily rural commutes of 50+ miles. All I have seen in the ditch this year have been minivans and compact FWD cars!
Not pretty, but fun to watch!I used to race my room mate home in his similarly equipped, lighter Falcon, he routinely kicked my a**. only the early Subies could touch us, even with absolutely no power! 4x4 trucks were too heavy, and jeeps just sucked at speed.
Most fun we ever had was doing huge drifts across the empty parking lots. redline (or more) in 3rd, Roostertails like a hydroplane... Try that now without getting arrested and molested
Thanks for brining back some great memories, wish we had GoPro's.
Hans
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 4,101
Likes: 10
From: NorCal
Hmm, maybe a Corvair?
This thread got me to thinking maybe I should mount up some studded doughnuts on my beater '67 Corvair and go have some fun...
Automatic+no power+rear drive and engine= good time!
A plan is forming
Hans
Automatic+no power+rear drive and engine= good time!
A plan is forming
Hans
Racer
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 341
Likes: 29
From: vancouver washington
Lived in Wyoming in the 70s and had a 69 Z28 daily driver. Posi was very interesting at times. I had a full set of skinny snow tires mounted on stock steel rims, studs on the rears. Got around just fine. Put the meaty tires back on in the summer. I had buddys with 4 wheel pickups and big fat mud and snow tires that just slip and slide all over.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,091
Likes: 40
I used to drive my 65 coupe in the snow 30 years ago......it was funny , it was better than my Z28 Camaro in the 70 's .....it was a horrible snow goer. It would get stuck 10 ft out in the drive way from the garage.