corinnebreece

hi, im a newbie, 50year old 'girl' w/ new 2010 v6 rs (& lovin it) BUT shes my daily driver. been reading threads about winter driving, but craving more advise. id like to hear from you folks who drove their camaro last winter on the mean streets of ohio. untill a month ago, i had a pristeen 1993 supercharged bonneville that drove in snow like a tank. my camaro has 20" wheels, 8" front...9" rear.. perilli tires. how are they gonna 'serve' me come winter??? thanks, looking forward to your replies. corinne

Bill'sWS6

I see you only have two posts so welcome to the board.

Congrats on your new Camaro. I can't speak for driving in Ohio but MI driving is pretty close. Not much you can do to make that car drive well in the winter. You can add some weight over the rear tires, that will help a little. Go to Home Depot and get a couple 50lb bags of sand and put them on each side of the trunk.

Other than that not much you can do except hope for a light winter. Unless you want to go extreme & add shallow screws to your tires.

Good Luck!!!

Wild Willy

I don't know about the new Camaros, but my 4th gen is not very good in the snow- 300 horse power and a light back end will do that- Doesn't help that I have summer tires on- but, then, it is a second car and I don't drive it in the winter if I can help it.

Studded snow tires would be the best bet- does your car have posi- option G80? That helps also in slippery conditions.

rod442

If you really want to have the best chance of getting by ok in the winter; get some wheels and snow tires in the stock 18" size.

usually the best place for a package like that is the tirerack. wont be cheap, but worth not having to pay the collision man when it gets put in the ditch.

and I just checked, right now they have quite a few wheels in the 18" size that are 40-75% off. even with the wheel sale, its still gonna run a grand.

JakeRobb

She has a 5th gen. If she has an automatic, no posi. If she has a stick, she has posi.

I am not 100% sure, but I don't think studded tires are legal in Ohio.

Corinne, I think you will be okay with just a good set of snow tires. Go to your favorite national tire chain (I like Discount Tire) and tell them you want a set of winter tires for your Camaro. My preferred winter tire is the Bridgestone Blizzak, but as far as I can tell they don't yet have Blizzaks in the sizes you need. The other winter tire I have had a positive experience with are the Hankook i-Pike. I have also had a Yokohama Guardex (so-so) and a Michelin Alpin (the worst of all, despite being the most expensive). If you're lucky, the Blizzaks or the iPikes will be available for your car by the time November-December comes around and you need to start looking.

The set of tires will cost you about $1000-1200, but your Pirellis will last longer because you won't be driving on them for about four months out of the year. You'll have to store your Pirelli summer tires in your garage (or wherever you like) during the winter, and you'll have to store the winter tires there during the summer. You should expect the winter tires to last through at least three and probably four seasons of winter driving -- maybe longer.

Have the winter tires put on as soon as temperatures drop below 40 degrees (and stays there), and have the summer tires put back on as soon as it climbs back above 40.

Beyond the tires, just drive carefully. Be aware of what's going on around you, brake early, accelerate gently, take corners slowly, etc. You'll be fine.

transamtom

Welcome and congrats on the 2010 purchase.

Like Rod said get a second set of 4 18's and mount snows on them.

I have been driving F Bodies in the snow for 20+ years and 4 snows is the only way to go.

Talk to the tire people(Tire Rack,Discount) and get a narrower tire thats just as tall as your 19" or 20"stockers.

I have always run 275/40/17 in the summer and 225/60/16 in the winter

ws6transam

+1 for TransamTom's advice and what Rod said. Get an extra set of wheels in 18-inch height, mount Blizzaks on them. Put 100 pounds of sand bags in the trunk, double-bagged. With the snows and the sand, you won't have any problem; except *maybe* on days when all the schools are closed and there's ten inches of unplowed snow on your road.

transamtom

Sorry for the Hi-Jack OP.

Hey Dan how have you been?

Glad too see your having fun with your TA

How's the Oldsmobile project?