[Buteman]

I live in Kelowna B.C. for the most part winter is not too severe but we can have a couple of good dumps of the white stuff.

The thought occurred that we should take our new Camaro and cover it for the winter ( we have secure underground parking ).

I do remember that my Genesis coupe with RWD was a real challenge driving it in the winter.

Any suggestions ? I'm open to any opinions ,,, thanks.

[JSH]

Take it. November thru February will probably offer limited driving but otherwise you're good.

[Vtor_ZL1]

With right tires.. it will go anywhere in winter.


*waxer warning*

[CanadianVetZL1]

Its more about the tires. The stock tires will crack in the cold if you move or drive the vehicle at approx -7C

You will notice loss of traction as the weather cools off especially below 10C

Possible solution is some of the high performance all season tires which review quite well I am considering some myself as I live in Nova Scotia and although it gets cool here there is still lots of nice driving days until Dec

[hotlap]

I have driven a gen6 SS in Wisconsin winters since they came out in 2016. I do as the GM engineer test cars and use Pirelli Sottozero winter tires and matching OE wheels.

I just bought a 1LE and bought MRR replica wheels and Sottozeros for my 1LE.

[Chef-j]

Come move to TX. Good all seasons or summer tires 365 days lol

[hotlap]

My old 16 with OE size Sottozero

[HCI2000SS]

Just buy a used set of winter tires and wheels and you'll have no problems. I got a nice set of 18's with Nokean's and it plows through anything. The whole setup with TPMS sensors was $500

[hotlap]

I still have the gray split spoke SS rims with Sottozero tires that I plan to sell. The rears are worn past the siping but the fronts are good for another five winter.

Have your beautiful car look as good in the winter as it does in the summer. Im in the southern Milwaukee suburbs. PM me if interested.

[Chutzpah]

Originally Posted by hotlap

I have driven a gen6 SS in Wisconsin winters since they came out in 2016. I do as the GM engineer test cars and use Pirelli Sottozero winter tires and matching OE wheels.

I just bought a 1LE and bought MRR replica wheels and Sottozeros for my 1LE.

Nice looking set! What did that package run you (if you don’t mind saying) Thinking about taking some trips down south (when it’s cold up here). The limiting factor in returning home, at any time, is the tires. Your setup looks like a great option.

[JamesNoBrakes]

Yeah, there's always someone that claims they run racing slick on frozen lakes and RWD.

Here are some categories:
1. Ice, impacted snow that has turned to ice, or true black ice (frost deposited on the road)
2. Snow on a cold surface that doesn't melt.
3. Snow on a warm surface that melts and turns to slush.
4. Extreme cold surface.

1 can be utterly hopeless in a RWD car without studded tires. Any slight incline can have you sliding and starting from a stop can be impossible. Even with winter tires. Braking with winter tires is not so bad, that will actually work, but your rear end throws out so easy and fast and if you get going too fast and have to slow for a turn or car or anything, it's time to pray.

2 can work pretty decent on winter tires. The colder the better, like down around 0F or colder. Summer or AS tires in these temps will be hockey pucks that have similar results to above. You can still slide, but you simply have more traction for everything, starting, stopping, etc. Still, doing it in a RWD car makes it tricky with any kid of incline, the steeper the incline the less chance you have of being able to maintain traction.

3 Unless you are penetrating down to the road surface in warm temps, which does happen quite often, this can be worse than above and IME takes much more traction to do reliably, like "chains" or big beefy tread patterns, it's hard to control the car at any speed if you are not penetrating because when it gives way it won't come back IME, you're a lot more along for the ride as compared to dry cold snow. But at the same time, this stuff usually indicates a warmer climate, warm underlying temps, sunlight that melts the top surface of the road pretty fast (which is dark and absorbs radiation), so IME, this is much less of an issue much faster in the sense of time, it will go away quickly. Also, #2 will often turn into #1 over time in places where the sun angle is low where it stays cold over extended periods.

4 Just takes good winter tires, amazing difference in ability to stop and control vehicle.

Some other things to think about, no one is going to be driving through a foot of snow where 205 section tires would actually make sense. Not saying don't get skinnier tires, but crazy skinny tires don't really do anything for you when you can't drive through the amount of snow where they would be needed. On dry surfaces with no snow, you will vastly over-power skinny tires with this car. In some places, like Fairbanks, once it gets down below -20F or so, traction actually kind of "comes back" as long as you are on winter tires. The surface is compacted snow and it doesn't really turn to the compacted ice as easily, it's just too cold, but at those temps the surface of the snow stays relatively "rough" and provides decent traction, so it's generally warmer temps on the same surfaces where you need studded tires more often, but that's also just hedging until you start going a little too fast or it does get a little warmer.

I do have a set of winter wheels/tires and I take my Camaro out a few times when it's dryish and cold to help cycle everything and keep some miles on it. It flat out sucks in the snow and don't let anyone lie to you about this. Pretty much any modern vehicle has stability control now, so while the effect can be pretty amazing, it's not unique or anything. If this car is "good" in the snow, there's no car ever made that isn't. The RWD, light weight on the rear axle and lack of studded tires really make it poor. Auto trans makes it worse.

[JamesNoBrakes]

Originally Posted by Chef-j

Come move to TX. Good all seasons or summer tires 365 days lol

It's even worse in Tx when it snows/rains ice, since there's no way to remove it and you just have to sit at home until the conditions subside.

I was just there last month, 100+ temps, no thanks!

[Vaska]

Kelowna doesn't have a winter, who are you kidding. Parking a car in BC because of the winter is just nonsense. Get some winter tires for the three days there is wet slush on the roads or run good all seasons.

[DaveC113]

I run 265/40/19 Michelin Pilot Alpin.

It works ok in snow, pretty good on cold, dry pavement.