Hello everyone :seeya: . I am looking for some info for a friend who is looking to get a new gto. Living in ny we obviously are going to get snow. How does the car handle in the snow? Anyone living where it snows drive year round or does everyone store the car over winter? I have a corvette and a camaro so I’m familiar with rwd but after explaining to him that rwd is more difficult to handle on low grip surfaces sutch as snow I think I scared him off since it would be his only car. Just wanted to know what the gto owners thought. Thanks in advance.
GTO in the snow
1 - 20 of 29 Posts
Joined
·
141 Posts
You can drive it in the snow just fine, stay out of the throttle or start in 2nd gear in the manual. I have snows on mine and have no trouble in 6+ inch snowfalls. Also, try a search-no offense- but this has been asked many times. Rear wheel drive is easier to drive in the snow than front wheel drive, lose traction, let off the gas. In front wheel drive, when you lose traction you should be hitting the gas to get things under control, never mastered that one. Winter driving+rear wheel drive=the original drift scene. Been drifting that way for 25 years, doesn't wear out the tires and sometimes you can keep sliding even without the gas.
Jeffs386 said:
Booooll....sheeeet!
I bought this thing as a daily driver and drive it I will. I had mine in 4 inches of wet snow (the car). It did well with the stock tires when they were new. With a set of 4 snow tires like Blizzaks + Traction Control + ABS there should be no reason to fear winter driving. The car handles a slide very well and seems to be very catchable even on ice (at reasonable speeds).
Why are people today so afraid of winter driving with rear wheel drive cars? Our forefathers did it this way for decades without the benefits of electronic nanny's and today's tire technology.
There are a lot of sunny, dry road days in winter. There's no reason to be driving a 92 Ford Escort.
I take that back. The one thing that causes me fear in winter driving is all the buttheads out there driving beaters running on half bald all season tires and of course the all mighty invincible 4X4 crowd also driving on half bald all season tires.
it has nothing to do with driving in the snow... wing ding............snow=SALT SALT=rust rust=30,000 car looking like swiss cheese after 5 years..also a front wheel drive is waaaaaaay better in snow at least that was my experience
I can understand you using the car as a daily driver but how will you feel when some punk kid with a three hundred dollar ford escort t-bones your ride on some icey road?(just before I moved to Fla my friend had his 87 Grand National totaled by a blue haired ol lady on a slippery interstate 81) ................to me its just not worth it,I lived in upstate NY for 25 years and always had a winter rat it not only protects your expensive car from premature rust and getting hit but also helps keep the miles down
To me a car as nice as a GTO should not be driven in winter but thats just my opinion...................in any case good luck
I can understand you using the car as a daily driver but how will you feel when some punk kid with a three hundred dollar ford escort t-bones your ride on some icey road?(just before I moved to Fla my friend had his 87 Grand National totaled by a blue haired ol lady on a slippery interstate 81) ................to me its just not worth it,I lived in upstate NY for 25 years and always had a winter rat it not only protects your expensive car from premature rust and getting hit but also helps keep the miles down
To me a car as nice as a GTO should not be driven in winter but thats just my opinion...................in any case good luck
Not everyone can afford a winter beater 
Im not too far from Levittown. I live in Oceanside and go to Hofstra. The car isn't too bad in the snow if you take it easy. When I first got the car in February, I had to drive about a mile home from high school in white out conditions. There was about 3 inches of snow and slush and I was able to get it home. It did better then I expected and it only kicked out around one turn and it was easily contolled. I thought I was going to get stuck but it pulled right out and once it was rolling it was fine. The only thing was that my driveway is somewhat steep and I barely made it up but I also wasn't going that fast.
Im not too far from Levittown. I live in Oceanside and go to Hofstra. The car isn't too bad in the snow if you take it easy. When I first got the car in February, I had to drive about a mile home from high school in white out conditions. There was about 3 inches of snow and slush and I was able to get it home. It did better then I expected and it only kicked out around one turn and it was easily contolled. I thought I was going to get stuck but it pulled right out and once it was rolling it was fine. The only thing was that my driveway is somewhat steep and I barely made it up but I also wasn't going that fast.
well now that you mention it .... I do drive my cars all year.........but then again I live in a state where I can ......so wing ding you think your GTO will like that salt and ice then go ahead and drive it.........I can afford to have several nice cars and I don't have to drive any of them in the snow
G
Guest
·DOH!Wing_Nut said:
Amen Brother...It's not just a car, it's a great car. This is the 2nd Wisconsin Winter I have had it and it does just fine. It only loses traction when I want it to. Why winterize it...just drive it!!! :cheers As far as Salma Hayek...hubba hubba hubba!!!!!Wing_Nut said:
OK Jiffy Pop. You're a grandpa who left the snow belt for the retirement belt and you got lotsa nice GM cars you can drive all year round. Is that 386 after your name your age or your room number at the home in Tampon?Jeffs386 said:
Now please don't go impressing everyone with your income or the value of your house. Just trying to save you from the next trap of internet forums!
Puhleeeze, your reverence for the GTO is amusing. It's the cheapest 400HP car you can buy in the USA, period. That's why many of us bought it. It's so cheap and available because for the most part the market has turned up it's nose at the GTO styling and Pontiackk nameplate. It's not some limited production supercar destined to become rare and valuable.
If this is your idea of a really nice car then your Park Avenue must look great cruising thru the hurricane to pick up your meds. But hey, no snow gramps.
Like I said, use it, get rid of it, get another one. It's just a car.
Joined
·
224 Posts
Well my GTO will never see a wet road again, the last time it did it cost me $500, I know how these things handle on these curvy mountain roads from experience, when there dry though it's a blast, I am fortunate to have my ol ex to get me to work and back and it goes a hole lot better in the snow and mud than the GTO but then again a lot of factors could have caused the crash, the road was just paved 2 weeks before, and it was a pretty heavy rain, as well as a popular route for logging and coal trucks the sad thing is I caught it 3 times before but the 4th time that @$#% guard rail caught me and I should have learned the first time, oh well it was a $500 lesson I learned anyway
but then again a lot of factors could have caused the crash, the road was just paved 2 weeks before, and it was a pretty heavy rain, as well as a popular route for logging and coal trucks the sad thing is I caught it 3 times before but the 4th time that @$#% guard rail caught me and I should have learned the first time, oh well it was a $500 lesson I learned anyway Wing_Nut said:
Couldn't have said it better myself. Anyhow, for some of us, the GTO is the daily driver / beater. I wouldn't even think of sitting behind the wheel of a 92 Escort, even if you paid me. Why, when I have a GTO to drive? I bought the GTO to dirve it, and drive it I will as well, snow or no snow.
But to get back to the question at hand, even after this weekend in Cleveland, OH, we had about 4 inches of snow on the ground. The GTO handled much better than I thought it would. I was pleasantly surprised. Traction has everything to do with tires, and little to do with ABS, traction control or any of that other crap. All traction control does is throttle down the engine. If you can't do that yourself when the wheels break loose, you shouldn't be driving a 400 HP car in the snow. But the factory all season BFG tires do handle fairly well in the snow. So, don't let winter driving discourage you, or your friend, from getting this car. I can't see why you would not purchase a car because you have to lay off the throttle for about 6 days out of the year. I mean, even in the worst snow conditions, it only takes the plows about half a day to clear the roads. After that, you just have to contend with slush and salt. No big deal. Tell your buddy to go for it, he won't regret it. The reasons to get one far outweigh the reasons not to...
I live in the NYC area and my experience from last winter was pretty good.
The only drove the car in the snow on days when the weatherman missed the call. I was suprised at how well the car handled in light snow and slush. Like a couple of others have said if you respect the throttle you should be OK.
My advice is if you're an experienced snow driver you should not have a problem under most NYC/Long Island snow conditions.
The only drove the car in the snow on days when the weatherman missed the call. I was suprised at how well the car handled in light snow and slush. Like a couple of others have said if you respect the throttle you should be OK.
My advice is if you're an experienced snow driver you should not have a problem under most NYC/Long Island snow conditions.
Thanks! Unlike Jiffy Pop in room 386, I kinda look forward to snow as a way to practice throttle oversteer without trashing my tires. Can't do that with front wheel drive.vette68 said:
I think the GTO's weight works for it in snow. The car is very slow to snap the tail around and recovers almost immediately if you lift off the throttle and unwind the steering just a touch. Very unlike a Vette and yes, I played with my Vette in the snow a couple of times. No fun at all. Good way to commit suicide.
G
Guest
·YOU ARE NOT LYING !!! My 95 vette was uncontrollable in 1 inch of snow. Vowed to never do THAT again....... Bald 285 tires are NOT for snow driving...
Drove the GTO in snow last Wednesday. Probably a couple inches on the ground. It wasn't bad. Much better than my 98 Vette. With the GTO's extra weight, I might be able to make it through the winter. Vette tires are quite a bit wider(Wider is not better, in snow). 275/40's for the Vette and 245/45 on the Goat. I have a beater car but its got a blown head gasket. I can drive it if I have to.
G
Guest
·I actually drove one year with 315-35-17 on my camaro in the snow. What a fun time that was.......
wing ding( I bet you got that nick name early in life)
arent you the one who said in another post that you remember 35 cent a gal gasoline??
relaxe and take your medication gramps.......its all a matter of opinion
so don't get your hemorrhoids in an uproar over this we all know you a super mach rambo man......hell I bet you even ride your Harley in 4 foot snow drifts
arent you the one who said in another post that you remember 35 cent a gal gasoline??
relaxe and take your medication gramps.......its all a matter of opinion
so don't get your hemorrhoids in an uproar over this we all know you a super mach rambo man......hell I bet you even ride your Harley in 4 foot snow drifts
1 - 20 of 29 Posts
