Living with a Sports Car, Winter, Canada and No Parking Spot

"Flavien Vidal" (flyingfrenchy) 02/01/2014 at 12:03 • Filed to: None

44

100

Last winter, my beloved Mustang got rammed over by a Golf that did not see the bright red light that was in front of him. I had to replace it, but what would do the trick? What could be fun, reliable, fast, RWD and somewhat cheap? A Corvette seemed like a good solution but... I live in Quebec and I have to deal with roughly 7 or 8 feet of snow every winter. Would it be doable?

Just a couple days after the Georgia mess, I'll try to get over the few things that allowed me to live with what people consider as one of the worst cars for winter driving in snowy regions: A '95 LT1 Corvette.

I bought it soon after winter 2013 ended and played around with it all summer. 9500$. Manual gearbox (of course), rebuilt everything, new paint, targa top and lots of mileage for such a car (160.000miles). Perfect! But winter 2014 was on its way already and I had to get the car ready.

1: Remove the front spoiler that would transform the whole car into a snow-plow way too fast. Once it's done, I notice that the car is not much lower than a basic Kia. First sign of relief for me, as I now had at least 6 or 7 inches of clearance

2: Find the appropriate tires! The most important step! And finding some winter tires for car with 295s in the back and 265s in the front is NOT easy. I had the choice with two models: Nokian WR tires, that used to be fitted on Porsches and Pirellis Sottozeros that are now fitted on Porsches. Pirellis ended up being my choice and I'll probably try Nokian next winter. They are both "M/S" (Mud and Snow) tires, and therefore not as good as normal winter tires, but that's the only thing that fits so it will have to work! They are still rated as "winter tires" (with the little mountain and the snowflake) and therefore are legal in Québec where it's the law to have snow tires in winter.

3: The Lt1 C4 has a 50/50 weight distribution. Great in the dry, BAD in winter. It means you end up with a 4 wheels understeer when in the snow and you just don't want that. So let's go to Canadian Tire and pack the trunk with salt bags! 80kg or rougly 180lbs of them for you americans. That should do the trick

4: "Accessories" now. Shovel. The most important thing you can have in your trunk. To get out of a parking spot or at worse, getting unstucked from the pile of snow you crashed into. Traction aid. You know this plastic or metal thing you put in front of your motorized wheels to get some traction on ice? Get some.

There it was, I was ready for winter, keeping my fingers crossed as all my friends were laughing at me, seeing an awful winter arriving for me in their crystal balls.

Early december, the first snowstorm arrived. I had to film it and with the help of a friend that's what I did. 10 inches of snow during the night from saturday to sunday. Sunday morning would be awfully quiet in the streets of Montreal, it was the perfect time to try if I could acutally deal with winter in the Corvette. If I could drive in these conditions, all winter would be fine. Here are the results!

A few more things to conclude: Dealing with a sports car in some of the worst winters is doable if you live in a city that is somewhat good at dealing with the snow. If you have to deal with more than 5 inches of snow on the road, stay home. M/S tires are not as good as normal snow tires and you will struggle like crazy. If you live in the middle of nowhere, I would not recommend it either. Also choose your car wisely. Salt kills cars. I chose a Corvette because the body is made of fiberglass, but I still have to clean up the chassis regulary. I do it twice a month on average. So the car looks dirty as hell sometimes but I do my best ot avoid rust. Cars from the early 80s are not very well galvanized so I would not recommend these also. Porsches are great in winter too, but the first galvanized models appeared in 1976 and they were not very good at it until mid-80's, so avoid early Porsches too...

So please, come and join me in my crusade against boring grey and black japanese cars that are all over the road 5 months a years and give a little smile to people who see you driving off to work in the morning! Sports cars in winter do make people smile and just for that, you should drive yours all year long ;)

BeaterGT > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 12:06

1

Nice wheels!

Brian Silvestro > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 12:07

32

...are legal in Québec where it's the law to have snow tires in winter.

This is a beautiful thing. I wish some American states would do this. Then they'd see what a difference they'd make.

Goshen, formerly Darkcode > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 12:09

2

Peter Brock did drive to Alaska in a Corvette in 1976, so...

GeorgeyBoy > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 12:11

1

Badass man. Serious props.

John Norris (AngryDrifter) > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 12:12

0

I live north west of Atlanta. Slept in my office Tuesday night. Saw two abandon Corvettes driving home at 6 AM Wednesday and one on the way to work early Thursday. I saw plenty of abandon cars but the Corvette count did seem disproportionate. I saw two school buses as well. I don't think they are any better winter vehicles than Corvettes.

C4's are my favorite by the way. Excellent purchase on your part. Two thumbs up.

Flavien Vidal > Goshen, formerly Darkcode 02/01/2014 at 12:21

2

Really, I'll have to look into that. Hope it's well documented as I love Peter Brock !

gabdere > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 12:22

0

un Québecois!

Gimmi-Sagan-Om-Draken > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 12:23

26

Flavien Vidal > Brian Silvestro 02/01/2014 at 12:23

1

It's necessary if you get out of the city here... Or if you drive a sports car with a bit of torque :)

1337HPMustang > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 12:24

0

you're my hero

Flavien Vidal > John Norris (AngryDrifter) 02/01/2014 at 12:25

2

I personally prefer C5 that are more comfortable and just easier to deal with everyday... Next one will probably be a C5Z06.

Flavien Vidal > BeaterGT 02/01/2014 at 12:26

1

C5Z06 stock wheels... bought the car with these on. I like them too :)

Flavien Vidal > GeorgeyBoy 02/01/2014 at 12:27

0

Thanks :)

JR1 > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 12:29

0

You rock man

Flavien Vidal > gabdere 02/01/2014 at 12:29

2

French actually, I arrived in Quebec six years ago :)

Goshen, formerly Darkcode > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 12:36

0

Yeah, article was called "The Northwest Passage" I think.

BJ > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 12:37

4

You're a madman. Are you commuting with it as well, or do you spend most of your time behind the wheel just looking for a new parking spot? The daily parking restrictions can drive a man crazy, I know.

Next winter, consider getting steelies that aren't as wide, which will open up a ton of possibilities for tire sizes. Slightly narrower tires will bite into the snow better, and because you'll float less, you'll need less weight in the trunk to keep from sliding about. 80kg is a lot to be schlepping around.

Group B-raaaaaaaaaap! > Gimmi-Sagan-Om-Draken 02/01/2014 at 12:38

1

I can't recommend this enough.

Flavien Vidal > BJ 02/01/2014 at 12:44

6

It's my daily driver... Every day, whatever the weather... It does much better than most would think. I would not recommend it if you are not used to driving in the snow with a RWD car already, but if you are, it's not bad. I live in downtown Montreal (Plateau) and have no choice for now but to park it on the street... Hopefully I will havea parking garage next winter which will ease things up. Meanwhile, finding a parking spot is not TOO bad in Montreal, so it works pretty well for me :)

Flavien Vidal > Gimmi-Sagan-Om-Draken 02/01/2014 at 12:45

1

Holy crap, not a fan of things like that, but this one looks awesome!!!

Flavien Vidal > 1337HPMustang 02/01/2014 at 12:45

0

haha thanks :)

Flavien Vidal > JR1 02/01/2014 at 12:45

0

Thanks :)

Flavien Vidal > Goshen, formerly Darkcode 02/01/2014 at 12:46

0

Thank you I will look into it

WhatDaFunk > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 12:52

3

Truly, you are an inspiration to all Jalops everywhere. Keep fighting the good fight and drive what you like!

Flavien Vidal > BJ 02/01/2014 at 13:01

1

Sorry read a bit too fast... my work is 12 miles away from my home and with public transportation it takes about 1 and a half hour to get there versus 20 minutes by car... So leaving it home and take public transportations is not an option ;)

Ravey Mayvey Slurpee Surprise > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:01

1

Yeah, I noticed this. The Québecois don't often use "voiture" (they use "char" instead), which is what caught me off guard.

BJ > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:11

0

It's the same for my wife - we live in Verdun and she works next to Dix-30. 15 minutes by car, 90 minutes by public transport. Not worth it at all.

McMike > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:12

3

Nice

I also drive a RWD car with 50/50 weight distribution that used to require the same prep 1. Snow tires 2. Weight in the back.

I used to have several bakeries, and HAD to get there in the morning no matter what. I used the best ballast I could get my hands on.

3-400 lbs always did the trick.

Also, the skinny Nokians and 90bhp helped out, too.

JasonStern911 > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:12

0

One of my dad's long time friends used to give me crap when I would complain about the roads, reminding me that in his day, nobody had all-wheel drive, that he drove a rear-wheel drive V8 with 70s era tire technology, etc. Like most snow/ice driving, that sounded like a blast until that moment where you cannot regain (but desperately need) traction...

BJ > gabdere 02/01/2014 at 13:17

0

There are a handful of Quebeckers here, imported or otherwise. :)

Flavien Vidal > WhatDaFunk 02/01/2014 at 13:25

0

Thank you, hopefully it motivates more people to spend the money they were supposed to waste on a winter beater in good snowtires so we see other things than grey Civics and white Corollas all day long on the roads ;)

Flavien Vidal > JasonStern911 02/01/2014 at 13:29

0

It's always a risk to take. Up to you to be as prepared to avoid any problems, but the inevitable can always occur unfortunatly (my previous car knows it :( )

ThinIce-Koe > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:30

1

A madman, but I applaud your planning. BTW love listening to French. It's like even if people are cursing/arguing in French it still sounds so nice. Then again my French is quite rusty(haven't used it since high school, and that's many many years ago...) so I'm guessing French speaking folks don't think their language is as "cool" as I make it seem :P

jhguth > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:30

0

I can understand how finding winter tires in that size is hard, but why not buy narrower cheap steel rims and mount winter tires to those? Just swap wheels during the winter and drive on steelies.

Hifrequency > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:33

1

You could move, it only snows in Vancouver maybe once or twice a year & it's gone completely usually in 2 weeks, if I lived in tornado alley I would pack up immediately, why live in these places where you are at the mercy of the worst climates.

Flavien Vidal > jhguth 02/01/2014 at 13:34

0

It's a car with 330lb/ft of low rev torque band and I still want to enjoy it when the roads are dryer... SottoZeros are known to be a good compromise for sports car users in winter. And steelies on a Corvette... Meh.. I'd love to see how it looks though :)

RafelX > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:34

0

C&D's John Phillips recreated this drive in a C6. I'm sure this had to be a sight to see. Read about it here.

Flavien Vidal > Hifrequency 02/01/2014 at 13:38

0

My work, and I like it here... I moved around enough my whole life (I'm french, 29 years old, lived inFrance, in San Francisco, Seattle, and now Montreal), Montreal is a nice city I enjoy living in, despite of the winter weather. Also they are very well prepared for snow here, and it makes winters "alright" :)

ranwhenparked > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:39

1

The unavailability of proper snow tires seems to be the biggest drawback, but it looks like you've found ways to mitigate pretty much everything else. Also, mandatory snow tires in winter is one of the smartest laws I've ever heard of, ever.

Hifrequency > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:43

0

I lived in Alberta, winters there can be troublesome with the chill factor caused by the flat lands & wind. You have to love where you live I guess, have you ever been In Vancouver?

JCAlan > Brian Silvestro 02/01/2014 at 13:44

0

http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/S…

Colorado does, I'm sure there are others as well

Flavien Vidal > Hifrequency 02/01/2014 at 13:45

1

Often yes when I was living in Seattle. I liked it a lot, but I still prefer Montreal and its people :)

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Brian Silvestro 02/01/2014 at 13:47

0

I wish they would have a blanket requirement for snow tires, as opposed to how Caltrans and WSDOT do this.

Which means snow tires only in chain control areas under certain conditions. But sometimes this happens.

[in case of Kinja: It's a newspaper clipping showing a Mitsu Eclipse Convertible having crashed into a traffic sign. Caption states she didn't have tire chains, and the sign reads "Chains Required"]

Brian Silvestro > JCAlan 02/01/2014 at 13:47

0

Wow this is awesome! I feel like it should be a nationwide thing. All cars must have snow tires/chains in heavy snow conditions.

Flavien Vidal > ranwhenparked 02/01/2014 at 13:47

0

Well, it does not stop people from still hitting the ditch regulary though... Last snowstorm, 25 accidents in one night if I recall correctly :)

Brian Silvestro > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 02/01/2014 at 13:48

0

I lol'd at the picture. I agree 100%

Flavien Vidal > McMike 02/01/2014 at 13:48

0

Sick! Love VW Kombi :)

XJguy > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:49

1

I took heed to the recommendation on Jalopnik and elsewhere about using the proper tires for the season. So for the first time ever I bought a set of proper snow tires. I searched for the best tires I could buy, those were the Michelin X-Ice Xi3. Which according to tests is arguably the best snow tire on the market, just about equal to the tires made by the company that only makes snow tires, Nokian, but easier to obtain.

Having been an SUV driver most of my life I was spoiled by their abilities. Now having gotten rid of my Yukon Denali and Hummer and both my Jeeps in a perpetual state of WIP (work in progress) I have been relegated to driving a rear wheel drive Mercedes-Benz coupe with no traction control.

Before mounting the snow tires, I was about as hopeless as an Alabama commuter in 1" of snow. My car was borderline unusable....a dusting would practically make me slide off the road, forget about actually going anywhere; that would have been suicide.

But with the snow tires, I now say bring it on. Seriously it made that much difference. I have absolutely no trepidations about venturing off in snowy weather. The car handles, accelerates, stops, turns and does not get stuck. Its amazing what the technology in these tires have done for me.

If you still are trolling around on some all seasons or worse yet high performance summer tires, even if your vehicle is AWD or 4x4, do yourself an favor and get some proper snow tires. Being a NYer these tires were a small price to pay for not only saving my low profile wheels/tires, but allowing me to actually use my car in spite of the snow and crater sized potholes.

To the mountains, in a classic Benz!

Flavien Vidal > ThinIce-Koe 02/01/2014 at 13:49

1

French accent and american girls... Works everytime hahah

I'm married now though... :D

Maxxuman > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:49

1

Your post had me wondering if you meant the American Peter Brock, of BRE Racing fame, or the Australian Peter Brock, the legendary racing driver. I hadn't realized until checking for info on the 2 that the Cobra Daytona coupe was designed by the American Peter Brock. Coincidentally that was the same car the Australian Peter Brock died in.

awe46m3zcp > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:52

0

Good for you! You didn't sell out for a boring subaru like a lot of people do.

Weather and Darkness > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:53

0

hey i know this spot!

Your car's pretty unmistakeable so i won't miss you next time you drive by.

505Turbeaux > Brian Silvestro 02/01/2014 at 13:55

0

so crap like this doesnt happen (this is my girlfriends condo building, uninsured driver to boot)

Blue2010SRT > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:55

0

I'm impressed with the ability of the car to make it through the snow like that, but unimpressed that you went driving on slippery roads where stopping distances are lengthened greatly AND LEFT YOUR TAILLIGHTS COVERED IN SNOW THE WHOLE TIME so anyone following you wouldn't have enough warning when you were braking.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:56

0

Do they even make tire chains large enough for the rear wheels on a Vette?

I mean, if they exist, I'd bet money they could be found in QC.

GXP_Addiction > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:57

0

I reccomend undercoating the frame and chassis. I did it to my 07 Solstice came in a rattle can pretty cheap just put the car in the air clean it well and prep with a wire brush then lay down a few coats.

GXP_Addiction > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:57

1

I reccomend undercoating the frame and chassis. I did it to my 07 Solstice came in a rattle can pretty cheap just put the car in the air clean it well and prep with a wire brush then lay down a few coats.

shurkon93 > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 13:57

0

Its your call obviously but I've driven a1993 300zx TT for 3 winters on Blizaaks and never got stuck once. The car was a beast in the snow with those tire.

Flavien Vidal > Weather and Darkness 02/01/2014 at 14:00

0

Really? This picture was taken at work yesterday

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 14:01

0

You still have the proper metropolitan accent. So I can understand you. It takes me a few seconds when I have to comprehend a very heavy quebecois(e) accent.

Brian Silvestro > 505Turbeaux 02/01/2014 at 14:02

0

Well shit. Only uninsured drivers are stupid enough to do that.

XJguy > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 14:03

0

Careful about the salt thing....my ex had a convertible C6 Vette that she bought new, she lived by the beach and used her SUV for winter driving. On the outside the car looked great but due to the salt in the air everything underneath that was not fiberglass, the bones of the car, and all the mechanicals, were ridiculously corroded to the point that the Vette Doctor s here on Long Island told her to get rid of that car ASAP.

zzoldan > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 14:04

1

Great write-up!

I guess it's a testament to how much a difference proper snow tires make and how great Montreal is at cleaning up snow. I'm planning on DD'ing a Miata next winter, and it should be doable. Or at least just as long as I don't put it in a snowbank while trying to find parking on the Plateau...

505Turbeaux > Brian Silvestro 02/01/2014 at 14:06

0

true, true. Choice of car is somewhat indicative too

Brian Silvestro > 505Turbeaux 02/01/2014 at 14:08

0

Ha!

Flavien Vidal > Blue2010SRT 02/01/2014 at 14:09

1

The magic of video editing ;)

The whole video was shot, the car parked back home...etc and checking at the rushes we noticed that the shots with the car going in and out of the parking spot were really overexposed. So we went back and just re-filmed everything 1 hour after just to film the car in and out of the parking spot. snow was accumulating back on the car and we did not take the time to clean the tail light just to drive 50 meters, but when I drove on the street, it was clean, don't worry ;)

burpbeepburp > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 14:10

0

Never could understand how VW could engineer our the great snow handling of the Type 2 and make the Vanagon suck in the slick. It might as well have been the Corvette, load up with 300 pounds of sand over the engine every winter. Had 16 feet of ground clearance though.

JasonStern911 > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 14:12

0

A risk I avoid when it comes to sports cars. I have a four-wheel drive XTerra for when the roads are bad. Although, it does seem to intentionally spend a lot of time sideways for a SUV... :)

Flavien Vidal > XJguy 02/01/2014 at 14:13

0

Yes, complete clean ups are required regulary. It's another expense but necessary. At the end of winter, the car will go through an extensive professional 200$ clean up. Salt is way too dangerous. My '96 Mustang dealt with it VERY well though and never got a single rust in the 5 winters I drove it eventhough I did not take care of it as well :)

Hifrequency > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 14:13

0

And Montreal's pizza's are the best in Canada!

Flavien Vidal > GXP_Addiction 02/01/2014 at 14:14

0

I work on the car myself and HATE it when a car has been undercoated... It's a mess to clean up. I avoid doing it on my own car and prefer spending 50$ a month in chassis cleaning rather than doing that :)

Flavien Vidal > zzoldan 02/01/2014 at 14:17

0

Do it! I have a friends who daily drives a Miata... He only gets a few days of snow every year but enjoys it thoroughly! Park smartly though (aka, don't throw your car in the parking spot) and make sure you install an LSD if you don't have one already. Very practical things :)

Flavien Vidal > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 02/01/2014 at 14:19

0

No idea, never looked into getting tire chains... There is some somewhere I'm sure though :)

FatGuyInALittleVette > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 14:28

1

Good on you! I daily drive my '93 6-speed regardless of the weather and it doesn't do half bad. We recently got 10" of snow here and it's taking it like a champ.

Also, the best thing for these C4's if you drive in mud, gravel, salty snow, etc. are these splash guards. I bought them from CorvetteMods for ~$20 last year and they work great!

julienjj > Brian Silvestro 02/01/2014 at 14:29

1

It was one of the worst decision made ever. You have to have them installed before the 15th of december and until the 15th of march, at least. Now you have a bunch of brainless tools that only install them on the 14 and remove them ASAP, when the temperature is stil well below 7*C and it still now often before and past those dates. People use to use judgement to decide when to install winter tires, now, why think when the govermom's decide for you ? Many other who live in the city and do not use their car a lot (where 4 seasons would have been ok) now gets the shitty-est winter tires available at wall-mart.

Do you believe there is a tire brand there named eldorado tires that sell winter tires for under 100$ each ?

FatGuyInALittleVette > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 14:30

0

'93 and up Corvette LT1's are rated at 340ft-lbs. :D The '92 had 330 but they bumped it up the next year.

gabdere > Ravey Mayvey Slurpee Surprise 02/01/2014 at 14:32

0

yeah, voiture isn't very popular!

Flavien Vidal > FatGuyInALittleVette 02/01/2014 at 14:34

0

Oh OK, not often you read someone here underrating the power of his car heh? :D

mdensch > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 14:40

1

Very nice post. Here is southern Wisconsin my '13 Mustang doesn't have to cope with quite as much snow as you have but as my daily driver it does venture out in it. These Nokian Hakkapeliitas were crazy expensive but they come in the right size (255 40 R19) and are extremely surefooted.

Thanks for posting this.

MUSASHI66 > JCAlan 02/01/2014 at 14:40

1

They are not required in Colorado - they are needed rarely when some mountain passes are covered with snow

Highball! > Gimmi-Sagan-Om-Draken 02/01/2014 at 14:48

0

Not a Vette but this guy here in Yonkers has a lifted 740 wagon

Go, Grün, Go! > zzoldan 02/01/2014 at 14:48

0

Please do and share your experiences as well!

I am in central Maine and was strongly considering a winterized Miata as my DD after my Protege5 rusted to pieces a year ago. However the practicality argument won out in the end as I knew I would be packing up and moving to Oregon in whatever I bought, ended up with a $700 CR-V. No regrets but the dream is still alive to get myself a Miata and have fun in the snow. Live the dream!

Jared Glentz > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 14:50

0

french canadians.....

Flavien Vidal > Jared Glentz 02/01/2014 at 14:51

1

Just French actually... I'm imported :)

Dead_Elvis, Inc. > BJ 02/01/2014 at 14:54

1

80kg is a lot to be schlepping around

Oh, come on - that's only like one well-fed hooker's body rolling around back there.

Jared Glentz > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 14:57

0

Twism > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 15:02

0

... I tip my hat to you, you brave Quebecer! I live in montreal too, but I hivernate my RWD car, and spend probably the same amount you did on those tires on a winter beater. mY car itself would be fairly drivable ( dodge magnum, with traction control and everything ), but the amount of salt they put on the roads is just ludicrous. I have seen brand new car develop structural rust problems after 4-5 years.

But it takes a true Jalop to enjoy his car year-round, regardless of what weather throws at you! I will keep my eyes open for a bright yellow C4 plowing trough snow from now on!

( Oh, et la prochaine fois, prend 20 secondes de plus pour enlever la neige autour des feux arrière ! :P )

Forgetful > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 15:02

0

MTY85 > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 15:02

1

Having a place to store them is generally accepted to be a prerequisite to buying toys.

Mike D F > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 15:07

1

PROPER snow tires are definitely the skeleton key to winter driving. I feel zero remorse for drivers who hit the ditch, or get into accidents, or get stuck who do not have winter tires on their car. If they aren't smart enough to realize winter is coming then I'm not freezing my ass off pushing them out.

This December in Manitoba we had something like 30000 insurance claims, I wonder how many of those vehicles had all season tires on them. It may not sound so bad but when you figure that we ha a population of about 1.2 million people, It's pretty ridiculous. I was sitting at a red light one day and saw a car skidding up behind me and almost crapped myself as I tried to giv it a bit of gas to pull up only to realize I was in neutral.

There aren't too many actual "snow" tire models left. Most of the designs have gone more towards ice or ace and snow. Honestly though even cheap winter tires are better than the best all season. Especially with size proliferation getting as silly as it has in the last 5-10 years, I'm pretty sure if you looked at the ratings for some of the factory equipped all season tires, that they would indicate horrible to attrocious winter traction ratings.

Wait did the first line say someone if Quebec didn't see the red light and ran it?

the7thearlofgrey > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 15:12

1

just stay home and eat plenty of pussy eh

Dr_Watson > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 15:14

0

Corvette is very brave in the frozen north. In other choices PRHT mx5 has been glorious in the 3 Buffalo winters its seen.

No V8 torque means I don't worry about ballast weight. Plus 50/50 makes the snow drifting very predictable.

Flavien Vidal > Mike D F 02/01/2014 at 15:14

0

Yeah but it was in the middle of a snowstorm (a bad one) ... Conditions were bad and the guy seemed honest. He was more desolated than I was.

Abussiere > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 15:16

1

I am the proud owner of a 90 Corvette that I winter with in Canada. The key is constantly checking the weather (we got 6 inches in a hour and ended up getting stuck a block away from getting home). Its a lot of fun!

Kylemaro > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 15:27

0

a better headline would have been "french man with corvette drives all winter" more wtf anyway. nice car. i too drive a GM V8 sportscar all winter, although yours is newer and faster then mine (probably faster, lets not go there)

azedo > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 15:30

1

It couldn't be worse than the Smart Car parked in front of him. By far the worst car I've ever driven in the snow. Two snowflakes and it starts sliding around everywhere.

Upshift > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 15:34

0

Well well a fellow Quebecois! Unlike some here, I don't consider you insane at all for driving a Sports Car in the winter as I drove my 2012 Mustang V6 for two consecutive winters myself. It was actually an amazing winter driver and I felt extremely confident driving it even with way more than 5 inches of snow on the ground. I must say I never packed a shovel or any sandbags in the trunk of the car dispite it's 53/47 front/back weight distribution. It never felt like it really needed the extra rear weight and if I did get any understeer during a snowstorm i'd correct it with a gentle jab of the throttle to correct the trajectory (very fun!). The standard issue limited slip differential helped keep the car going in a straight line and get some good traction in the worst of conditions. I never got stuck! Though unlike you I did have actual winter tires, by yokohama, so that helps a lot (though I did kill them in two winters, oops). In the end I decided to put her away for the winter because of the paint damage from the salt and rock chips. Nice car by the way and glad you are enjoying and driving it whenever you can!

I own dead car brands only > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 15:40

0

I love you.

No homo.

davlac89 > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 15:40

0

That's pretty cool to finally see somebody trying to drive something different in the winter. Did you thought about getting steelies? You probably would have had a wider range of tires, that probably would have been cheaper. I've just realized the 'vette bodies were in fiberglass, so it's pretty smart. Nice article man, enjoy your winter from a fellow Quebecois!

pologreenvette > Flavien Vidal 02/01/2014 at 15:48

1

I applaud you, you're not the only one who's driving a 6-spd C4 this winter! I'm doing it on summer tires, then again I'm in Massachusetts and not the North Pole... I mean Canada, excuse me.