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Winter Driving Concerns

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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 07:57 PM
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Default Winter Driving Concerns

Moved to Washington DC from Arizona and this will be first winter weather for my '02 coupe dd, any suggestions for snow driving other than blocks in the garage for the duration?
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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 07:59 PM
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4-5" or less....be careful....have fun
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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 08:02 PM
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thanks
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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 08:03 PM
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Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes open!
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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 08:05 PM
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The best advise I could give you is to buy a beater DD. If you don't have winter driving experience, and you're in a strange land that is covered in white, slippery s**t, the vette is NOT where you want your **** to be planted. If not a beater, can you say Mass Transit?
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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 08:08 PM
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Originally Posted by ptdrummer54
The best advise I could give you is to buy a beater DD. If you don't have winter driving experience, and you're in a strange land that is covered in white, slippery s**t, the vette is NOT where you want your **** to be planted. If not a beater, can you say Mass Transit?
I agree. If you're not well versed in snow driving, the Vette is NOT the way to learn. Especially in the DC area

Mass transit or a beater DD is my advice. And not because Vettes melt in the snow and salt.

PS. Never turn of TC/AH in those conditions.

Good Luck
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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 08:12 PM
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Buy a beater.... FWD or if you can afford it get a AWD car or 4x4 truck.

Also AWD and 4x4 does not make you invincable! Take the same pre-cautions one would normaly take when it snows and you will NEVER have problems. I've seen one too many Soccer mom SUV's with AWD/4x4 capabilties in accidents for flying down a snow covered road or highway only to end up in a tree or telephone pole.
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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 08:16 PM
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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 08:20 PM
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With good snow tires there is no need for a beater. The C5 with good snow tires will get through a few inches of snow just as good as any front drive car will.
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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 08:25 PM
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If you have to drive it, consider getting a spare set of wheels and some EMT snow tires. You will probably get better traction with them than the regular EMTs.

Just be careful driving the car and you should be OK.
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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 08:32 PM
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Originally Posted by DE3SVAZ
Moved to Washington DC from Arizona and this will be first winter weather for my '02 coupe dd, any suggestions for snow driving other than blocks in the garage for the duration?

Vettes are not that bad in the snow. If the roads are plowed and if you have proper tires, you can go just about anywhere a regular passenger car can go. You would want at least A/S or preferably M&S tires. I think that one reason Vettes have a bad rap is that we do not want to shell out the bucks for snow tires and have someone mount and remount and maybe mess up things in the process. Then we try it with summer tires once or twice in the wet and ice and don't like it.

I learned snow driving growing up in the Northeast in the non-ABS, non-Stabilitrac, non-AH days, so I am fairly comfortable. However, the guys are right to say that the Vette is not the ideal car in which to learn snow driving mainly due to its power and wide tires, despite AH. If the C5 is your DD, I would strongly suggest taking a winter driving course that includes snow, ice, skid recovery, etc.

P.S. I am not dissing your driving ability!! Only that it is really easy for a Corvette to swap ends in icy conditions.
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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 09:22 PM
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Nobody in DC knows how to drive in the snow,you'll fit right in
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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 09:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Frizzle86
Buy a beater.... FWD or if you can afford it get a AWD car or 4x4 truck.

Also AWD and 4x4 does not make you invincable! Take the same pre-cautions one would normaly take when it snows and you will NEVER have problems. I've seen one too many Soccer mom SUV's with AWD/4x4 capabilties in accidents for flying down a snow covered road or highway only to end up in a tree or telephone pole.
I have a good friend on the East coast. He says you can always tell the first day of snow... all the new 4WD SUVs are upside down in the ditches.
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Old Nov 22, 2004 | 09:33 PM
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Spend a couple hundred bucks a get you a beater-the best couple hundred bucks you could ever spend..
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