Advice needed on winter driving and different types of cars.

[NastyEllEssWon]

the ion trucks through every snow ive thrown at it...and its seen a lot of snow since 07

[BurninrubberGT]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

Honestly, I have zero sympathy for anyone who lives in NJ and runs a DD with summer tires in the winter. It's not like winter surprises us. It gets cold, it snows and sleets. Either spring for snow tires or at least compromise with all seasons. I used to run summer pirellis until it got cold, say 40* or less in the day, so maybe mid December. Summer tires can act very skittish even on cold dry pavement, their compounding is not equipped to handle cold. Been there, done that, never again.

Snow tires really give you a great excuse to buy really nice summer wheels and use the OE wheels for snow tires.

lol, i like looking at tire rack comments for summer only's and seeing people complain and giving them 1 star because they suck in the snow


dedicated snow tires obviously wont be better than a 4x4/awd, but its a hell of a lot better then any other option

[maroman88]

for a fwd car.... gm's w-body's are the king of gettin around in the snow! the first winter i had a license i drove my moms 92 lumina... unstopable! as well as both of her grand prixs

[Njgunslinger]

Subaru Legacy, inexpensive, GREAT in the SNOW!

[WiMiMc]

hopefully i'll be getting an 80s k5 soon, watch, as soon as i get it, no more snow. watch.

so far i've been sucking it up and going out in the SS. i have the extreme performance summer tires in the back, and the kumhos in the front (i'll be replacing them soon)

i've just been driving smart and easy where i need to be, and avoiding certain roads.

[NastyEllEssWon]

Originally Posted by WiMiMc

hopefully i'll be getting an 80s k5 soon, watch, as soon as i get it, no more snow. watch.

so far i've been sucking it up and going out in the SS. i have the extreme performance summer tires in the back, and the kumhos in the front (i'll be replacing them soon)

i've just been driving smart and easy where i need to be, and avoiding certain roads.

driving smart with extreme summer performance tires in the snow is an oxymoron

[01SS]

Problem with getting the second car is if you dont have a lot of money the insurance on a second car can still be killer. I had taken the camaro off the rd. and put a dodge pickup on. I priced collector car ins. on the camaro so i could drive it again best price i got was 300 a year to have a 1000 mile limit while not being able to leave a 150 mile radius which sucks. I said screw it im selling the truck and putting the camaro back on the road. I hate the truck or driving pretty much anything but my camaro. As for summer/winter tires hell the price of these tires and a second set of rims can get pricey. The cheapest tires ive found so far for the 17" rims were 150 a pop. And i dont think they are even all seasons.

[HeadlessNorseman]

all you need is all season tires with good tread. anything more is overkill, any more than that and its good enough reason not to drive at all.

[Andrew R]

Originally Posted by WiMiMc

hopefully i'll be getting an 80s k5 soon, watch, as soon as i get it, no more snow. watch.

so far i've been sucking it up and going out in the SS. i have the extreme performance summer tires in the back, and the kumhos in the front (i'll be replacing them soon)

i've just been driving smart and easy where i need to be, and avoiding certain roads.

I have a beater 89 GMC K1500 -love it. Tows good -just EATS fuel.

[BonzoHansen]

Originally Posted by 01SS

I priced collector car ins. on the camaro so i could drive it again best price i got was 300 a year to have a 1000 mile limit while not being able to leave a 150 mile radius which sucks.

I find that shocking. What companies did you call?

Originally Posted by 01SS

As for summer/winter tires hell the price of these tires and a second set of rims can get pricey. The cheapest tires ive found so far for the 17" rims were 150 a pop. And i dont think they are even all seasons.

Look at it this way, the used of dedicated snows makes your other tires last longer, and your rims stay nicer longer. And you could put 16" wheels & snows on it unless you've changed brakes or something. you want to run narrower snows if you can anyway.

[bandit88]

my vote is a FWD car with snow tires.... beetle is not having any trouble this winter

[Tru2Chevy]

I voted for #2 or #5. Dedicated snow tires make a world of difference on an F-Body - the only time you will run into an issue if you go that route is if you are trying to drive through deep unplowed roads. The nose will just try to plow and that won't last too long.

Obviously I think you can't go wrong with a mid-90s cherokee. They can be found pretty cheap, parts are cheap and available anywhere, and you can't kill the 4.0 / A4 combo as long as you keep up with fluid changes.

- Justin

[Squirrel]

Originally Posted by Tru2Chevy

Obviously I think you can't go wrong with a mid-90s cherokee. They can be found pretty cheap, parts are cheap and available anywhere, and you can't kill the 4.0 / A4 combo as long as you keep up with fluid changes.

- Justin

yup... mine ran low 16's all day too

[xrelapse13]

either snow tires or a 4x4 jeep. My mom has a new g25x sedan and my T/A with blizzaks drives circles around that thing in the snow. She got stuck on our street when it wasn't really plowed recently and I got past with no issues. Our cars are not bad at all in the snow with the right tires. My car with blizzaks out does my dad's mazda 6s with good all seasons and my mom's awd g25x like stated before with w/e the dealer put on there. Also have no TCS and a good amount of power.

[WiMiMc]

Originally Posted by NastyEllEssWon

driving smart with extreme summer performance tires in the snow is an oxymoron

[ws6 jim]

Originally Posted by maroman88

for a fwd car.... gm's w-body's are the king of gettin around in the snow! the first winter i had a license i drove my moms 92 lumina... unstopable! as well as both of her grand prixs

Good to know I do like some of the w-bodies and I think the 3.8 is a versatile motor for that kind of car.

Originally Posted by HeadlessNorseman

all you need is all season tires with good tread. anything more is overkill, any more than that and its good enough reason not to drive at all.

I have newer all seasons on the 91 and it still isn't that great and it can be a white knuckle drive at times.

Originally Posted by Tru2Chevy

I voted for #2 or #5. Dedicated snow tires make a world of difference on an F-Body - the only time you will run into an issue if you go that route is if you are trying to drive through deep unplowed roads. The nose will just try to plow and that won't last too long.

Obviously I think you can't go wrong with a mid-90s cherokee. They can be found pretty cheap, parts are cheap and available anywhere, and you can't kill the 4.0 / A4 combo as long as you keep up with fluid changes.

- Justin

Thats what I wasn't sure of Justin with winter tires being so much better of an upgrade over all seasons on the same car.

I think if I do go 4x4 I would lean towards a cherokee sport, if I go FWD it would be a GM w-body. I've been researching some AWD cars and don't like what I've been reading as far as being expensive and not having the best efficiency for what they are.

In the meantime I'm just going to call tirerack and talk to them about snow tires for the 91.

If I sell the 99 I'm going to keep my eyes open and just get the best vehicle I can get when the time is right.

Just trying to be sensible about the whole situation. I realize another car would add to the insurance and maintenance budget as well as parking.

[BonzoHansen]

all season tires cannot hold a candle to snow tires in winter weather. AS tires are by design a compromise that do nothing extremely well.

[Tru2Chevy]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

all season tires cannot hold a candle to snow tires in winter weather. AS tires are by design a compromise that do nothing extremely well.

Exactly.


And Jim, if you do decide to go the Jeep route, feel free to bounce any questions off me.

- Justin

[NastyEllEssWon]

the l bodies are pretty good in the snow. id lean more towards a corsica than a beretta though, since youre a taller guy, they have a tad more room in the front. the six bangers are beasts in snow and can be found REALLY cheap

[01SS]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

I find that shocking. What companies did you call?.

It was a couple of months ago but i think it was hagerty ins. They wouldnt allow less than 15000 dollar value on a show car and i knocked all the settings down to get lowest possible price. I cant remember what the difference was if i increased the allowed mileage. Now that im thinking about it what are the lowest prices anyone has found on summer and winter tires?

[BullittSVT]

All seasons are garbage for the winter.. doesn't so much matter how good they are.

[79T/A]

I've got some perspective on this one, since I did the F Body in the snow thing through college and now have my choice of three other vehicles now that I'm an "adult." I commute about 86 miles a day (Round trip) from Sussex County to Essex County and back on Route 23 (This means hills in both directions).

My daily driver is a 2002 VW Jetta wagon. Very dependable little FWD car. I keep changing the oil and it keeps getting me to work. Drove it to work in the snow a few weeks ago and managed not to get stuck. I did have a few moments of panic, not because the car slid or skidded at all but because I was concerned that even with newer tires I wouldn't make it up some of the inclines (Like Hamburg Mountain). But I made it. Last week, during the big snow, I watched a coworker with a small FWD car (I believe a Matrix) try desperately to get home and not even make it a block from work.

My current toy is a 2001 Jeep Wrangler on 35" tires. Back when it was bone stock, that thing tracked straight and true through any snow. Like stated above, the 4.0 is a stump puller and is hard to kill. Very dependable. Once I went to bigger, more aggressive tires, it wasn't as straight or true anymore and even in 4WD High, the light back end would get a little skittish on the slick stuff.

get a nice older 4wd suburban.... cheap... great in snow ( i havent put mine into 4wd yet) lol

The family car is a 2000 GMC Yukon XL (3/4 Ton). This sucker is an absolute tank. Weighs in at over 7k pounds. I've yet to be able to make it slide or skid in the snow. Goes wherever I point it, and sometimes I don't even need to engage 4WD. Downside is that the 6.0 Vortec absolutely guzzles gas. But when I know the heavy stuff is coming, I won't hesitate to take it to work. Hands down, best vehicle I've ever owned in the snow.

Bottom line: If your daily commute isn't all that far, and you have the ability to take the day off when the really heavy snow comes down (My chosen profession makes me exempt from a state of emergency), you'll probably be fine with a good, dependable FWD vehicle. If you don't really have a need for a full-sized 4x4 other than transportation, it's probably not worth it. Middle of the road: The Cherokee suggested above. Plentiful in numbers, dependable engine, and the gas mileage isn't horrible as long as you don't start adding giant tires and stuff like some of us can't help doing.

[12secondv6]

Dedicated snow tires are good..... but putting them on an f body just doesn't make sense to me.

F body's suck in rain and snow.... so don't drive them in it.

I've had multiple 4wd Mercedes and they are great in the snow but I am always concerned about the carelsss drivers out there so this round I got a RWD one..... and I got a 2001 Ford Explorer.

It's a beast in the snow.... we see 2 ft of snow and I don't plow/ snow blow the driveway in the morning... I just put it in 4 wheel high and gun it and it has yet to let me down. The best part is.... if something happens because of a careless driver I won't worry as much because it is old.

So... I went with #5

[T69SS]

Finances permitting, buy a 4x4 and never think twice about road conditions again. Not to mention the extra fun you can have off road

[CHRIS67]

Originally Posted by T69SS

Finances permitting, buy a 4x4 and never think twice about road conditions again. Not to mention the extra fun you can have off road

......and helping to pull stuck FWD cars out of the snow.