[DanaM]

Well tomorrow or Monday I purchas my first mod for my camaro it'll either be a 2010 Chevy Colorado 4 wheel drive with 40,000 miles on it or it will be a 2011 ranger with 80000 miles on it 4 wheel drive so I don't have to drive the Camaro in the winter.

I figure I might as well upgrade the beater mod if I'm upgrading the muscle car inventory. :-)

[joemosfet]

Heh, clever title, but it's not really a modification to the Camaro so much as it is to your winter driving capabilities.

Story time!

I knew that when I bought the '14, I wouldn't want to drive it in the winter. Coming from a '11 AWD Charger that was an absolute tank in the snow, I didn't know how dramatic it would actually be.

Well, I bought a truck before the winter came, a 2005 Ram 1500 Big Horn. The previous owner had taken good care of it, and done a few modifications, but it was missing one major thing as a winter vehicle: a remote start system.

So being the industrious fella that I am, I ordered a fancy 2-way remote start kit, and got busy installing it. Well my garage currently only fits one vehicle, which means I put the Camaro out on the driveway and manged to squeeze a giant truck into my garage.

Well I don't know if you've ever installed a remote start on an older vehicle, but it takes a little bit of work, there is quite a bit of wiring to do, especially if you want to utilize all the features of the remote start kit. Unfortunately for the Camaro, it would have to spend the night outdoors, something it's never done since the dealer's inventory lot.

Well wouldn't you know it, with my luck, it started snowing. The one time I've ever left the Camaro outside during the winter months, it actually decides to snow on it. Not a lot, but enough to cover the roads and make them snow packed.

The next day, I continue my wiring, while the autumn sun started melting the snow. Unfortunately, by the time I was done with the remote start, it was getting late again, the sun had gone down, and the thin layer of snow pack on the street had turned to ice.

Well, my drive way was clear, I like to keep it clean, so I pull the truck out of the garage and park it on the street. I then try to simply move the Camaro from one side of my driveway to the other and into the garage. Nope, I slid down the driveway and into the street. I live on a slight hill, but nothign dramatic, I figure I can just go to the bottom of the hill, head out to the main street (which is regularly plowed, and clear) and just head up to the top enterance of my neighborhood, come down the hill and into my driveway and garage. Great plan, right?

Well I slowly drove/slid down the hill to the bottom exit, keeping it as slow as possible, hoping at the bottom of the hill I don't go careening into somebody's house. Fortunately I was successful in this endeavor. Unfortunately, like the rest of my street, the bottom of the hill had a nice layer of frozen watery snow.

Now, I've driven snowy weather all my life, and have gotten stuck a few time and have had to dig myself out. But that was always in deep snow.

Never before have I been stuck on a flat surface (albeit icy) being unable to move anywhere. Traction control on or off, didn't matter. Zero throttle, foot not even on the gas, slowly slowly pulling out the clutch, no movement, just spinning of the tires, in any gear.

So I knew that I wasn't going to make it any where that night, and thus another night my Camaro had to spend outdoors - this time about 8 houses away. I grabbed the remainder of Dexter's unused kitty litter and used that to get a bit of traction to get me closer to the curb and out of the way of the bottom of the hill - in case somebody else wanted to slide down it and crash into it.

The next day, I took the truck to home depot, got six 50lb bags of sand, put them in the trunk of the Camaro. That, with the help of the midday sun, managed to get me out of the neighborhood, onto the main street, up the street, into my neighborhood again, halfway down the hill and into my driveway and garage.

Moral of this story? Those tires say "summer only" for a good reason.

[i007spectre]

Id trust my Camaro on a dedicated winter tire and wheel setup with cautious driving over lots of other cars.

[Bassment]

Camaro's with snow tires are really, really good in the snow. Camaro's with summer tires are TERRIBLE.

[Indydriver]

Haha, I did likewise with my #1 "accessory" being the 2007 4WD Tahoe I bought prior to my Camaro's first winter. I enjoy driving the Tahoe nearly as much as the Camaro.

[DanaM]

yeah and the beaters are good for quick store or food runs in the rain after your baby has been waxed.

[DanaM]

Funny, when I was younger I would drive V8 rear wheel drive vehicles all the time, some of them muscle cars. These days, it's like, oh know, I have 2.9 miles to drive to work and I seen a snow flake, better take the beater and turn the 4wd on. LOL

Originally Posted by joemosfet

Heh, clever title, but it's not really a modification to the Camaro so much as it is to your winter driving capabilities.

Story time!

I knew that when I bought the '14, I wouldn't want to drive it in the winter. Coming from a '11 AWD Charger that was an absolute tank in the snow, I didn't know how dramatic it would actually be.

Well, I bought a truck before the winter came, a 2005 Ram 1500 Big Horn. The previous owner had taken good care of it, and done a few modifications, but it was missing one major thing as a winter vehicle: a remote start system.

So being the industrious fella that I am, I ordered a fancy 2-way remote start kit, and got busy installing it. Well my garage currently only fits one vehicle, which means I put the Camaro out on the driveway and manged to squeeze a giant truck into my garage.

Well I don't know if you've ever installed a remote start on an older vehicle, but it takes a little bit of work, there is quite a bit of wiring to do, especially if you want to utilize all the features of the remote start kit. Unfortunately for the Camaro, it would have to spend the night outdoors, something it's never done since the dealer's inventory lot.

Well wouldn't you know it, with my luck, it started snowing. The one time I've ever left the Camaro outside during the winter months, it actually decides to snow on it. Not a lot, but enough to cover the roads and make them snow packed.

The next day, I continue my wiring, while the autumn sun started melting the snow. Unfortunately, by the time I was done with the remote start, it was getting late again, the sun had gone down, and the thin layer of snow pack on the street had turned to ice.

Well, my drive way was clear, I like to keep it clean, so I pull the truck out of the garage and park it on the street. I then try to simply move the Camaro from one side of my driveway to the other and into the garage. Nope, I slid down the driveway and into the street. I live on a slight hill, but nothign dramatic, I figure I can just go to the bottom of the hill, head out to the main street (which is regularly plowed, and clear) and just head up to the top enterance of my neighborhood, come down the hill and into my driveway and garage. Great plan, right?

Well I slowly drove/slid down the hill to the bottom exit, keeping it as slow as possible, hoping at the bottom of the hill I don't go careening into somebody's house. Fortunately I was successful in this endeavor. Unfortunately, like the rest of my street, the bottom of the hill had a nice layer of frozen watery snow.

Now, I've driven snowy weather all my life, and have gotten stuck a few time and have had to dig myself out. But that was always in deep snow.

Never before have I been stuck on a flat surface (albeit icy) being unable to move anywhere. Traction control on or off, didn't matter. Zero throttle, foot not even on the gas, slowly slowly pulling out the clutch, no movement, just spinning of the tires, in any gear.

So I knew that I wasn't going to make it any where that night, and thus another night my Camaro had to spend outdoors - this time about 8 houses away. I grabbed the remainder of Dexter's unused kitty litter and used that to get a bit of traction to get me closer to the curb and out of the way of the bottom of the hill - in case somebody else wanted to slide down it and crash into it.

The next day, I took the truck to home depot, got six 50lb bags of sand, put them in the trunk of the Camaro. That, with the help of the midday sun, managed to get me out of the neighborhood, onto the main street, up the street, into my neighborhood again, halfway down the hill and into my driveway and garage.

Moral of this story? Those tires say "summer only" for a good reason.

[jaymsu]

My first mod for Camaro actually is Winter tires/wheels package. I'll probably order them before the car comes.

[pkssauce]

I am concerned about the winter and tire situation. Any advice besides another car or a new set of tires? Can the dealer just give me all season tires as apposed to summer only tires? I live in Seattle, all season just make more sense around here.

[Indydriver]

Originally Posted by pkssauce

I am concerned about the winter and tire situation. Any advice besides another car or a new set of tires? Can the dealer just give me all season tires as apposed to summer only tires? I live in Seattle, all season just make more sense around here.

Any dealer worth their salt (pun intended) would be happy to accommodate your desired tire swap. Just don't expect it for free.