I've been out of the loop for a bit, but whats with the skin over hanging on the back window pillars? Please of jesus of the camaros, tell me those rear window pillars won't be overhanging on the production model, if so - skip.

 

Damn, I was hoping they would be doing cold weather testing here in Finland, instead of Sweden. Oh well, these piks just get my testosterone levels raising and raging.!

 

No. Its part of the camo.

 

Any rear wheel drive car with wide tires will be "impractical" in the snow.

I've always driven Corvettes & V8 Camaros "year-round". Certainly isn't like a fwd car with skinny tires, but as long as you slow down and are gentle with the throttle & brakes, you'll be fine.

I also make it a point to fill the tank & put 2 or 3 60lb sand tubes in back whenever snow or ice is forecast. Works just fine for me

 

My 4th gen was horrible in the snow until I got some snow tires for it and put some 50lb salt bags in the back. It was seriously a night and day difference. But now that I live down here in FL I don't have to worry about that :-)

 

How much snow do you guys get in Kansas and Connecticut?

Seriously, I'm not familiar with the climates there. In Michigan, we get a 2-3 month period where encountering side roads covered with 1-2" of hardpacked ice and snow is almost guaranteed. It's packed hard enough that even the county plows can't remove it, and the salt just bores little holes in it, leaving most of the ice unaffected.

Snow tires and added weight will make driving roads like that in a RWD car with wide tires tolerable, but not "fine". I have enough trouble in my snow-tire-equipped Buick Regal.

 

Holy Cow! all this crap just to drive in the snow?? That's why I live in Florida. I want to GO SEE snow, I don't want it COMING TO ME.

 

I drove my IROC 2 winters, on 235/65/16 Blizzak's, and 180lbs of playsand in the trunk. Once in 6" of snow, and it drug the pipes here and there...
The stock tires were so wide and hard, it would spin and slide in a inch of snow.
Ofcourse, my wife hated to drive it in the rain even...
(After here spinout in 3 lanes of interstate traffic...dang puddle!..
(the Bridgestones sucked in the rain, the Goodyears were light years better)

 

Wow! I'm surprised to hear of so many problems with the 4th gen in the snow! I drove my '99 TA WS6 year 'round in Michigan - through multiple blizzards and ice storms. I won't say it was easy and it certainly wasn't something any driver can do (you actually have to pay attention to the car) - but I really didn't think it was a big problem.

I can't say I really took special measures, either. The stock Goodyears were ok in the snow - but the best tires I found for the snow were Pirelli Pzero Nero's. The last set of tires I bought seemed like they might be better, but I never got a chance to try them.

As far as weight goes, I had a multi-disc brake in the back of my car (my own design from a former job). I think it weighed about 100 lbs, but it was a nice, small package (about 1ft tall and 8 inches in diameter).

Never had to use snow tires and only got stuck in the snow twice in 8 years - and once was a 30degree slope in an unplowed parking lot with 6 inches of fresh powder.

If anyone can tell me the 5th gen will be even better in the snow, I might consider it as a year 'round driver.

 

Here's the trick to the 4th gen.

One -- Traction control

Two -- Goodyear RSA tires -- or better yet, snow tires. GSCs and F1s are for performance driving -- not snow.

Three -- about 200 pounds in the back.

The Traction control system on the LS1 is by Bosch -- and a lot of time and money was spent to make the 4th gen driveable in snow.

I have footage (somewhere) of a Taurus, an Intrepid, and a Z28 on an 18 degree slope with simulated ice.......Taurus sits and spins front tires -- Intrepid actually slides backwards down the slope......and the Z28 very slowly climbs the hill.

Mom Settlemire drives her 2002 Camaro year-'round -- with RSAs and traction control.......in Pittsburgh which is known for hills.

(it's the red one in the picture below...)

 

You probally didn't have all season tires, traction control.

As I mentioned before, I drove back to Pennsylvania in the winter my '97 Z28. Yes, it snowed even more when I was there. Also drove it to Reno often from San Fran. Not during I-80s mountain section's famous snowstorms, but with snow on the ground.

It's all in the tires and how you drive. 2WD Pickup trucks have far worse weight bias than a Camaro. But they don't have foot-wide, flat surfaced performance tires either.

 

Locking Diff helps a lot too. My Silverado has the G80 and so-so tires, it is amazing how well it does in 2WD with no weight in the bed.

 

please tell me how traction control helps? my camaro doesn't have it but my mustang does. i've never had an issue in my camaro but i've gotten stuck with my mustang. i've even had SLP engineers tell me trac control on the camaro sucks.



the RS-A's are good snow tires.


never had to do that in my camaro.

 

Not all traction control systems are the same. Your Mustang getting stuck has essentially nothing to do with a Camaro getting stuck.

 

makes it look evil.