lancaster

I've been lurking here for some time now and am ready to take the plunge!!

A few questions though:

1) I've read a bunch about how many of you do not drive your cars during winter. This will be a DD and I live in NE PA. I figure good rubber and smart driving is all I need. Am I wrong. Can c5's really not be driven in light snow?

2) Regarding the above. There has been a lot of recent threads referencing to salt and its damage to these cars. I have driven high performance BMWs and Mercedes for years in all weather and have kept them for well over 100K (two past 200K) as I am in sales and really rack up the miles. My understanding is that most of the c-5 is fiberglass and aluminium. Is there something specific to vettes reagarding salt or are you all just super protective of your babies?

TIA.

Oldvetter

1) Most Corvettes have summer tires, these loose over 30% of their traction under 40 F and are useless in snow. You will need all season tires to attempt to drive in snow. Still plan on only 2 inches or less on account of ground clearance. Only runflat all season tire is Michelin, which is a decent tire.

2) Most Corvette Owners are SUPER protective of their cars. The plastic body will NEVER rust. Extensive use of aluminum prevents most corrosion.

These cars were meant to be driven, but seriously, they don't do well in snow (wide tires, low weight and high horsepower).

lucky131969

There is nothing about the C5 design that will make it a good car to drive in the snow. Rear wheel drive, high performance wide tires(low tread depth), and ~5 inches off the ground. In all fairness, I'm not sure there are too many vehicles that feel equally at home at 170 mph and 6 inches of snow....I've seen a few goofballs plowing the Chicago roads with their airdams.. Yes, salt exposure does attack the aluminum surfaces, and while it will not make said surfaces fail, it makes them look like crap from the corrosion. The electrical grounds on a C5 are not happy with prolonged moisture and salt exposure either. Yes, some of us are protective of our babies, and try to keep them looking as good as possible.....for as long as possible. That means no snow/salt exposure...and for weirdos like me...no rain....

There are Vette owners..and Vette enthusiast.......sounds like you will be an owner....

webelo

Personally... I garage mine for the winter. But I was able to hold on to my crappy '92 Toyota, so I can drive that.

That being said... remember, it's just a car.

Get a decent pair of all-season tires, Be smart about driving in the snow, and Stay on top of keeping it clean (clean the undercarriage).

Then enjoy the crap out of your car.

bumble-z

pa, daily driver? Forget about it. My Vette sets in the garage in the winter months here in Michigan. I drive a 1 ton GMC Cargo van with 450 lbs of sand bags across the rear area in between the wheel wells. You get caught in a winter storm with all the driving that you do, with a Corvette, you're asking for a heap of trouble. My 2 cents. Good luck.

kingrobby25

I live in Washington and we dont get that much snow, except for last year! I drive my vette whenever I can in rain, tiny bit of snow, or shine. It has always been fine. Just don't drive it like a 4x4 in the snow, or a amphibious vehicle in the rain and you should be fine.
For snow driving: the only helpful thing the vette can offer is tires. Low clearance, low weight, high horsepower all hurt snow driving. If you slide a bit off the road in most vehicles in the snow its not that big of a deal, in a vette it will stop you in your tracks due to the ground clearance. Go get one and enjoy it, there great cars!

lionelhutz

PA doesn't seem to be a winter friendly Vette state at all. I go through N.E. PA for work heading to the parent company in the RIDC industrial park in Pittburgh. A few weeks ago we hit the tail end of a snow storm front on 79 probably about the Meadville area. The snow was wet and heavy and there were about 8 or so cars either in the guard rail or the ditch. In a Jeep it wasn't too bad but in the Vette It would have been very bad - probably have to pull over and wait it out.

I missed the triip with the worst storm a few years ago - my co-workers got back across the border into Canada literally hours before a storm closed Buffalo for 2 days.

Peter

printmanjackson

I know lots of people that have replaced the OEM run flats with a set of high-performance summer tires, including me. These tires do not do well on wet streets or in cold weather conditions. Some tires will even wear wrong running in cold weather. Other than that I don't see any problem driving a Vette year round. I would just hate to try to keep it clean in the winter

Tech

Drive it. It won't melt.

chevylad

One of the columnist for one of the corvette mags had an article on a corvette being his daily driver in winter. It was somewhere in the northeast.

For me, it was easier to get rid of the snow. Deal with brutal hot summers and enjoy a 70 degree day in January.

leadfoot4

One other thing, in any kind of snow, the front airdam will act as a "scoop", and try to fill the engine compartment with snow. Although I don't drive my C-5 in the winter, I have the Michelin "all season" run-flats, as it was either them or the Kumhos, as an alternative to the GoodYears, 3 years ago, when I bought new tires.

They are a decent tire, but I think the tread design is skewed to the "all season" designation to the point that they'd make a good snow tire if you decide to drive it year-round. Also, GoodYear does make a dedicated run-flat snow tire.



FWIW, I drive a GMC Canyon 4x4 in the winter........

jaybar

I had a C-4 when I lived in S.E. PA, I had it for 10 years but was luckey enough to have a sedan as a DD. I would not drive in wet weather let alone snow. I sat in my office once looking out the window as a C-3 made a turn onto a street heading away from my window.
The dirver must have guned it just a small amount and did a perfect 180. No on coming traffic to mess up his day. But all the years I had my C-4, I remembered that event and only drove the car in clear weather.

Now my c-5 here in Florida is not a DD either but it is used almost exclusively as a track car, its not a waxer.

I guess with the proper tires you could dirve it all year round in the N.E. but do you want to take a chance of being 100 miles from home and getting caught in 6 inches of snow.
I think a BMW with make a great salesmans car, responsive, economical to drive and safe in the rain and snow.

jaybar

I had a C-4 when I lived in S.E. PA, I had it for 10 years but was luckey enough to have a sedan as a DD. I would not drive in wet weather let alone snow. I sat in my office once looking out the window as a C-3 made a turn onto a street heading away from my window.
The dirver must have guned it just a small amount and did a perfect 180. No on coming traffic to mess up his day. But all the years I had my C-4, remembered that event and only drove the car in clear weather.

Now my c-5 here in Florida is not a DD either but it is used almost exclusively as a track car, not a waxer.

I guess with the proper tires you could dirve it all year round in the N.E. but do you want to take a chance of being 100 miles from home and getting caught in 6 inches of snow.
I think a BMW with make a great salesmans car, responsive, economical to drive and safe in the rain and snow.

leadfoot4

Doing "dougnuts" isn't limited to C-3s. I can do them in my 4x4, if the road is snowy, so that, in itself isn't a deal breaker. However a BMW 3 series, with the AWD option is a real practical, as well as fun car to have for the winter...

bobby777

Any sports car is not made for winter DD driver--save your $ amd when you can afford a DD with a vette-youll be good to go

Chevy-SS

Sorry, but based on your planned use and your location, I would say DON'T buy a Vette as your DD work vehicle. A Corvette is horrible on snow. Additionally, if you travel a lot for work, then you probably need some trunk space, and maybe you need to be able to fit more than one other person in the car.

Anyway, my opinion is - buy a good, dependable, sensible work vehicle. Then buy a nice Vette to have fun with when the sun shines......

-

c180drvr

When somebody says that the Vette won't go in the snow, I say that they have never tried it. The Vette does surprisingly good in the snow. I have tried to get our '00 to misbehave. You have to turn the traction control off and get pretty stupid to really get in trouble. The dealer here in Colo. (Purifoy) told us of a customer that uses his C6 as a daily driver in Vail. I think that pretty much says it all...mine does just fine with Michelin non-run flat all seasons (Pilot Sport AS).

As for wiring and corrosion issues: This car is a Chevy first. It undergoes the same torture testing that the Malibu, Impala, Silverado, etc get subjected to. Aluminum does corrode with the nasty stuff they use on the roads but no more than the aluminum engine/trans cradle on the front wheel drive sedans.

Buy the car and have fun. We have had a blast!!! 35k miles in 1.5 years with very little trouble (95K on the car total). Do know that there are certain days and certain places that you WILL be stuck, but the car behaves quite well in 90% of the weather.

brookman

Exactly. But I do notice that "summer style" driving causes me to lose traction a lot!