I just thought I’d let everyone know how a 13 year old C5 does in extreme cold. At the beginning of last week here in NE Ohio, along with about 8 inches of snow, we had a cold snap that took temps below zero for a few days. Temps in my garage at home were in the teens and after sitting all night it started easily. Once I got underway the thermometer on the car got down to 13 below in spots. Despite the snow, the ride to work was uneventful. After sitting in the parking garage all day in below zero temps the car turned over a little slowly but started right up. I got the “Active Handling Warming Up” message on the DIC and it took about a minute or so to go away. The engine was pretty noisy too (piston slap?) The pulleys especially- not squeaking but rather a fluttering hissing sound that pretty much went away once the car warmed up. I scrolled through the gauges and my tires had each lost 6-7 lbs of pressure. The clutch and shifter were really stiff and it took awhile for them to warm up and get back to normal effort. The headlights squeaked on their way up. At those low temps everything labors; the window goes up and down slow, the seat is slow and the washer pump is extra noisy. Even the fuel pumps seem louder. Once underway the car in general was, especially the roof panel, pretty noisy and stiff. But once everything was warmed up it drove normally. It never really got warm inside though and I attribute that to the glass roof (can’t hold in the heat). There was 3 days of this and the C5 didn’t miss a beat. It’s a sturdy, honest car. Tough as nails. And the car isn’t terrible in the snow (TC off) - I have good tires (Continental DWS), a 6spd and I just take my time. Sometimes I wish I could park it but I like driving it too much, no matter what the weather. Besides, when this one is used up there is another one somewhere that someone isn’t driving much that is waiting for me.

 

fun. Here in Texas it was weird going from +128 to 20 in a span of a few months.

 

I'd be way to nervous driving mine in snow. And I would hate to have all that salt on the car.

 

and the knuckleheads on the road with me

 

We go from cleaning the radiator out weekly to keep the engine cool to cussing out the heater for not getting hot fast enough.

Then there's that occasional ice storm that shuts most of the state down. I remember one a decade or so ago that stretched from the Red River all the way to Huntsville and had a foot of ice on all of the major freeways.

 

Wow! Good for you. Haven't driven mine in the snow yet.

It was interesting in "All Corvettes Are Red" how much tough cold weather testing they did. Guess it all paid off!

Thanks for sharing.

 

-13 is extreme cold? he he he, yeah right.......

 

Now thats funny, I understand your point of view, but in this part of the world it is extreme. But i had a good laugh !!!

 

I'm surprised you run DWS and not actual winter tires. Do you run them stock size or undersized for traction in snow?

 

I don't think our thermometers here even have readings for below zero ... they start at 85 and go up from there it seems !

 

 

Wouldn't or couldn't live in an area with temperatures that cold.

 

Good for you for driving the car in all kinds of weather. I drove a previous C5 in snow before and while it got me through, it was not a stress free experience.

 

Did you use actual winter tires? I've been wondering how the C5 would handle with real winter tires rather than trying to skate by on super wide summers or all-seasons.

 

I envy your commitment. I used to drive my Ford Lightning in New England Winters for about five years. Many very scary moments with all that rear wheel drive HP but made it through. I now have a front wheel drive winter beater, which is much more expendable than the C5.

 

Good for you.

I used to drive mine in the snow, but now I have no commute.

You just need to pay attention to what you are doing and what everyone else is doing.

 

-15 degrees and 10'' of snow, I think this guy used his for snow plowing in the Detroit area

I'm jealous of you warm weather guy's

 

I have Continental DWS All Season tires. They work fine. But with such wide tires you do have to take it easy. They tend to float on top of the snow rather than cut through it.

 

You guys are nuts for driving these in the snow! First off the safety thing, second the SALT! Kinda of like when you keep banging your head on a wall repeatedly and it hurts. Its kinda of natures way of saying dont do it!

 

$20k fiberglass + titanium Corvette in salt vs. $25k steel Audi... Which one do you think is more costly to deal with the corrosion?