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Looking at selling my g8 gt for something more sporty and c5 corvettes are right in my price range. There are a couple concerns I have though. I live in the Black Hills which means snow and snowy hills. I've gotten around fine in my g8 thanks to snow tires and patience. Curious of anybody else's experience with driving in the snow, is it doable on snow tires? On similar note, how high is the front bumper off the ground?
Front bumper height is very dependent of whether or not the car you buy has been lowered - like many C5's. I've only used summer or all weather (Mich A/S) on mine so can't help further. I have got it home a few times when snow has hit while I was out, but it was 50:50 whether or not I was going to make it. Going up even the slightest incline was very tricky. Our old house had a very gently rising driveway - I had to leave it inn the street.
Last edited by jackthelad; Apr 7, 2021 at 04:25 PM.
If you got around in the snow in a G8, you can get around in a Vette with snow tires. Its has a bit better weight distribution so should actually be a bit better than the G8
The low point is the air dam under the bumper, it's only maybe 4-5" off the ground at stock ride height.
I wouldn't even consider driving it in snow, plus the road salt will etch and attack every aluminum piece it can.
A salvage title or beater vette might be fun to try though, not for something you want to keep long term IMO.
C5's have very little ground clearance. I have to approach speed bumps on a slight angle so the air deflector doesn't scrape. And, I will restate the fact that there is a bunch of aluminum components that will not play well with salted roads.
I love my Vette, but would absolutely never consider it equipped to drive on snow and ice.
having had my car through 5 black hills winters & working with a couple other vette owners here - it ain't fun, but it's doable.
good tires are a must; one friend swore by blizzaks on his. you also have to understand the infinite throttle positions between idle & floored.
if you're staying up here a while, i'd certainly recommend having another vehicle for the winter... but the rest of the year has some FANTASTIC roads to drive.
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I have driven my C5s in the snow and it was definitely a pucker factor, especially with all the hills we have around here. Good tires, careful throttle control and lots of patience helped. As you know, the C5 sits very low, so anything over 2-3” of snow is really going to be a problem.
And the issue of salt interacting with aluminum components is a valid concern.
C5's have very little ground clearance. I have to approach speed bumps on a slight angle so the air deflector doesn't scrape. And, I will restate the fact that there is a bunch of aluminum components that will not play well with salted roads.
I love my Vette, but would absolutely never consider it equipped to drive on snow and ice.
Also, like Walter said, maybe a C5 for the good months and a beater for the winter months. I've been doing that with my sports cars for 30 years, I store them in the winter and drive a beater in the winter.
Also, like Jack said, you are screwed in a C5 if you get more than a couple of inches of snow. The C5's front air dam would act as a snow plow.
Nah....not what it was designed for.....even with big ol' fat snow tires {if they make them in the size you will need} the fronts being damn near as wide will float in the snow., As others have stated the dam will not clear even a cross rut at intersections. It's not just the dam that will take a beating. And even stock, too much HP and a light *** end. Snow tires or not....you'd be feathering that corvette all day. JMO
I agree with what others have said. My Corvette was my daily driver for about a year. However, it didn't drive it in the snow at all. If there was snow or ice I was able to get a ride to work from my wife. I bought a beater truck so that the Vette could stay home in bad weather. It really isn't an issue of what tires you have.. Also the car has traction control, so it's not even an issue of handling on snow or ice. The issue is simply ground clearance. Even if you have winter tires with chains on them, you'll get bogged down in just a few inches of snow because the car simply can't clear it.
I guess I'm the only one who has no idea where the Black Hills are.
This is from Google:
The Black Hills is a small and isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States
I guess I'm the only one who has no idea where the Black Hills are.
That's the trouble with you youngsters, you never listened to Doris Day songs....
Take me back to the Black Hills,
The Black Hills of Dakota,
When it was new (1997) my C5 was my go-to-work/daily driver. Almost by definition, around here (mid Atlantic states) you can get caught out by snowstorms in winter. It's 24 years later - no ill effects. It's not the snow that alloy bits don't like (snow is only water after all), but all the chemicals they throw down.
As an aside, to get home in snow, my "least bad" option involves a piece of road (straight, luckily) with a significant dip, where the road goes downhill fairly sharply, and equally sharply back up the other side. So, plenty of gas on the down slope, and get up enough speed so it will make it up the other side without needing power applied. Slightly interesting under acceleration down, but it works every time.
Last edited by jackthelad; Apr 9, 2021 at 02:16 PM.
I've daily driven two of my three C5s through winter so far. If you have experience it is absolutely doable. CT where I live has a great deal of vertical shift vs a place like Texas, but maybe not so much as parts of the black hills. I
I live along a cliff line and have to go uphill, take an 80* turn while then going steeper still. It is a great litmus test because if I can get out of the neighborhood I can get anywhere in the state.
Hills will remain the core challenge for this car when the snow is accumulating quickly and has not been cleared or you have no truck ruts to run in.
Side point: as the head of ops where I work, it is known that you will catch hell if I make it to work and you don't.
Dailying a c5
