[JBones81]

I think the car would be fine, comfort wise, for daily driving. I don't DD mine - I have an Infiniti Q50 with AWD. Being in CA, I don't ever see snow, or too much rain, but I can't imagine having to depend on the 1LE for everyday driving duty, especially in areas with bad weather. Can you afford to get the 1LE, AND something like a used Subaru outback? Then you could drive the 1LE whenever you want, but know you have something safer for rain/snow. Also, your insurance would probably decrease if you had the 1LE listed as pleasure use, and the other car as DD...

[camaroJD]

Instead of quoting everyone, I'll just say thanks for all the replies so far.

I'm leaning towards selling the stock tires and immediately getting some three seasons that will still perform. A set of 19s for winter/track sounds like a good move, maybe even a third set if I can find some wheels extremely cheap. Price is certainly a concern, but I realize it's part of owning this type of car. You guys have given me a lot of options to look into.

I will definitely be purchasing the PDR, I should have said that in my first post. It looks like a clear bra is also a must, which I figured.

[camaroJD]

Originally Posted by FlashBang23

I too live in Michigan and daily drive my 1LE.

First off stock tires are great, even in rain as long as the temp is 45 or higher IMO. That being said I def. think something like a Pilot 4S would be a more desirable daily tire. I am currently on my second set of the stock Supercar 3s and plan to pick up a third set of wheels in the spring so I can run a 4S as my daily tire and something more aggressive for the track. If I were you I would just run the stock setup daily for the fall until it's time to throw on the winter setup. This will then give you all winter to find another setup you like for daily driving come spring.

For winter, I picked up a set of 19" TSW wheels and honestly cant remember what winter tires I have (leftover from my 15 5.0 Mustang). The car handled very well in the limited snow we got last year especially while using the snow/ice mode on the car. Buying a dedicated winter wheel/tire combo is 100% the way to go. I've done this for my last 3 RWD v8 cars in Michigan and had no issues. You should even be able to sneak some 18s on and save some money on wheels/tires.

As far as clear bra, I completely recommend it. As you know our Michigan roads are in a perpetual state of construction and the debris takes a massive toll on your paint. I personally got the entire front bumper wrapped in XPEL Ultimate locally for $600. I chose the XPEL because it's self healing and seems to be one of the best materials available right now for protection/longevity. If I could go back I would definitely do it again but I would also do the quarter panels and rockers as well. Even with the ZL1 ADDONS rock guards (also a must IMO) stones and debris still are an issue for me. I had my XPEL done by a local guy in the Royal Oak/Birmingham area. If you're interested in his contact info let me know.

Yes, please send me his info!

[camaroJD]

Originally Posted by JBones81

I think the car would be fine, comfort wise, for daily driving. I don't DD mine - I have an Infiniti Q50 with AWD. Being in CA, I don't ever see snow, or too much rain, but I can't imagine having to depend on the 1LE for everyday driving duty, especially in areas with bad weather. Can you afford to get the 1LE, AND something like a used Subaru outback? Then you could drive the 1LE whenever you want, but know you have something safer for rain/snow. Also, your insurance would probably decrease if you had the 1LE listed as pleasure use, and the other car as DD...

You aren't wrong. I do have a '02 Trailblazer 4WD, but I will likely be selling it this Fall. It's seconds from a brake line/fuel line explosion due to corrosion and it also needs new tires. It also costs money to insure and store, which is sad considering it just sits. It just doesn't make sense to keep it from that standpoint.

I also wouldn't want to drive it all winter and I'd also need winter tires on the Camaro for the temperature if nothing else. In an ideal world (if I had more money to spend) I wouldn't drive the Camaro at all in the snow. All these comments are making me feel better about it though.

[TJay74]

I daily drive my 1LE right now, but I also have a new 4x4 truck to drive in the winter months. I will drive mine no matter the temps, as long as there isnt snow/ice in the forecast or on the ground.

I am with the others, drive the stock wheels/tires until they are done, get another set of dedicated winter wheels/tires for now. Then maybe pick up another set of wheels/tires with dedicated track tires and then when the OEM tires are done pick up a nice set of summer only tires.

Only bad thing is you will have 3 sets of wheels and tires at that point.

[camaroJD]

Originally Posted by TJay74

I daily drive my 1LE right now, but I also have a new 4x4 truck to drive in the winter months. I will drive mine no matter the temps, as long as there isnt snow/ice in the forecast or on the ground.

I am with the others, drive the stock wheels/tires until they are done, get another set of dedicated winter wheels/tires for now. Then maybe pick up another set of wheels/tires with dedicated track tires and then when the OEM tires are done pick up a nice set of summer only tires.

Only bad thing is you will have 3 sets of wheels and tires at that point.

Why not immediately take off and sell the stock tires and replace them with something better for three seasons/rain/longevity? And then I'll grab a second set for winter/track? Am I missing something as to why this wouldn't be a good idea?

[Trentelshark]

Originally Posted by camaroJD

Why not immediately take off and sell the stock tires and replace them with something better for three seasons/rain/longevity? And then I'll grab a second set for winter/track? Am I missing something as to why this wouldn't be a good idea?

I doubt you'll get the value of out the F1s even new to get an "all season" set with install, you're probably better off running the stocks down first. I thought about this myself but I'll be going with dedicated summers (stocks) and winters for late fall through early spring as I have on my last two vehicles. The F1s themselves aren't bad, I'd prefer more channeling for rain but besides that they seem ok.

On my Cobalt SS/TC I ran Potenza RE-11s from basically April until late October/mid November (depending on temps) and just had to be more careful as it got colder.

If you only have 2 sets of wheels and 3 sets of tires, replacing/rebalancing does eventually take its toll on the wheels but it's entirely a personal decision at the end of the day.

[JBones81]

Ok, yea, just to add to what I think everyone is getting at from their own experiences - the car is fine to DD year round, in "normal" weather. My wife dailies the 2016 SS with no issues (but again, no snow here). So drive the heck out of the 1le whenever you can, but maybe save up for a beater to drive on the worst days, or make other arrangements for transportation in those instances. I would hate to see you slide off the freeway...andon another note, arent snowy roads REALLY bad for cars' undercarriages...?

[Tomiboy]

Tire Rack will probably have some good snow tire/wheel combinations soon. Keep checking their website. I'm going to get a winter setup when they do also.

[camaroJD]

Originally Posted by Trentelshark

I doubt you'll get the value of out the F1s even new to get an "all season" set with install, you're probably better off running the stocks down first.

Ah ok, I figured I'd be able to get more out of them.

[camaroJD]

Originally Posted by JBones81

Ok, yea, just to add to what I think everyone is getting at from their own experiences - the car is fine to DD year round, in "normal" weather. My wife dailies the 2016 SS with no issues (but again, no snow here). So drive the heck out of the 1le whenever you can, but maybe save up for a beater to drive on the worst days, or make other arrangements for transportation in those instances. I would hate to see you slide off the freeway...andon another note, arent snowy roads REALLY bad for cars' undercarriages...?

I wouldn't be driving it in deep snow, otherwise it would just be a snowplow. I assume anything over ~5" means I'd make other arrangements or stay home. It's not so much snowy roads, just the salt that comes with them, but avoiding that isn't really possible unless I had another dedicated vehicle that I would drive from about Nov-March.

[camaroJD]

Originally Posted by Tomiboy

Tire Rack will probably have some good snow tire/wheel combinations soon. Keep checking their website. I'm going to get a winter setup when they do also.

Yeah, I checked last night and there was nothing.

Can people post their specific winter wheel and tire setups? A lot of the threads have conflicting info because there are members with V6 1LEs posting which doesn't really help me out. Cheap 19s seems to be the way to go, appearance isn't that big of a deal for me.

[TrackClub]

How often are you planning on tracking the car?
Keep in mind the consumables on 1LE ain't cheap albeit for rubber, stockers are by far the cheapest option as u can get a set for about $1300.
If you get all seasons, plus track tires you're looking at a large chunk of change all up front for 2 sets of rubber plus rims. Plus you'll likely lose a few bucks reselling the stockers.

Like a few have said here: just get a set of winter rims/tires and run stock set up for the summer/track days. Phone some big dealers in your area to see if they offer winter deals. Many do around Oct but unsure if they do for Camaros. I've bought a couple of sets for my SUVs from dealers and their prices couldn't be beat (times have changed). Check for regular SS take offs as well. I've seen somebody post a whole winter SS set on this forum recently but can't recall which thread.
PS I have a buddy who DDs and tracks his C6Z in summer then uses his old C6 as a winter car. I've also driven my 81 Z28 in winter back when I was young and foolish. ZL1 engineering team drove their Camaros in winter (with winter rubber on).
It is not mission impossible if you have the right tires and put the car in Snow/Ice drive mode.

[mjk3888]

Originally Posted by camaroJD

Instead of quoting everyone, I'll just say thanks for all the replies so far.

I'm leaning towards selling the stock tires and immediately getting some three seasons that will still perform. A set of 19s for winter/track sounds like a good move, maybe even a third set if I can find some wheels extremely cheap. Price is certainly a concern, but I realize it's part of owning this type of car. You guys have given me a lot of options to look into.

I will definitely be purchasing the PDR, I should have said that in my first post. It looks like a clear bra is also a must, which I figured.

Originally Posted by camaroJD

Why not immediately take off and sell the stock tires and replace them with something better for three seasons/rain/longevity? And then I'll grab a second set for winter/track? Am I missing something as to why this wouldn't be a good idea?

Unless money is no object to you it makes no sense to immediately sell the GY Supercar 3's Keep them for your track tires. As said by others, its by far the best value on the market for solid non R compound track tires. As far as clear bra. I live in SC so I don't deal with severe road salt or stuff of that nature so I decided to not get one. Some of these installers are asking for as much money as it would cost me to just repaint the damn thing. I would just live with it and use Dr. Colorchip touch up kit if you ever get any sizable chips than need repair. I love this car, but we are talking about a 40k daily driven camaro here not a 200k exotic car. But to each their own.