944 in the snow

[B944]

Well, winter is coming soon, and there will be snow soon (in about two weeks here). How is a 944 na in the snow? Just wondering if I should attempt driving it to work? or get a ride with my cousin who has a jeep.

[billy mild]

If your car has ABS and a LSD you will be okay not in great shape, but better than without those.

If you don't have either then snow tires will be your friend. Also with my some chains. These cars aren't the best in the snow from what I have heard. My old 924S was fine in the snow. It wasn't the best car, but it had brand new tires on it along with some weight in the back.

[B944]

I got new snow tires but no ABS or LSD.

[smokin_944]

Originally Posted by B944

Well, winter is coming soon, and there will be snow soon (in about two weeks here). How is a 944 na in the snow? Just wondering if I should attempt driving it to work? or get a ride with my cousin who has a jeep.

Tell me you're not in Vancouver... With all the hills that have lights you'll end up getting hit or slide into someone. I'm guessing this is your only car?

[nynor]

my car does just fine in the snow with snow tires. my '83 was the biz in the snow with snow tires. it would charge right up hills with four inches of snow. no problem.

[shinrai]

Awesome car in the snow. Get some snow tires on it and you'll be good.

[jcommin]

I have never changed tires but have LSD, and not that I have set out to drive in the snow but I have been caught in the snow; does putting your own life in your hands mean anything to you? The car has a mind of its own. I don't need an EKG or stress test either. The driving experience takes care of both.

Now there are several on this board who have changed tires and have success. I will yield to their experiences.

[nynor]

make no mistake, without snow tires, the 951 is going nowhere in the snow. i know this for a fact. it was kinda embarrassing.

[B944]

Originally Posted by smokin_944

Tell me you're not in Vancouver... With all the hills that have lights you'll end up getting hit or slide into someone. I'm guessing this is your only car?

just outside of vancouver, and yes this is my only car. I don't think i will drive it in the snow every day, I will get a ride from my cousin in his 4x4. I will take my car out in the snow, but only to see what it is like because I am a new driver, and not completely comfortable being in the snow in a rwd car.

[Tervuren]

I've driven in the snow a couple times - with ultra sticky summer tires in the rear - no rear bite AT ALL. If the snow was loose, I could travel, if it was packed into ice, I could barely get it moving from a stop, tough luck starting up an hill.

The balance of the car was quite nice - it has a lot of angular momentum, so it does things in slow motion. If you let it build too much, you're toast, but its honestly gives you plenty of time to correct it if you react well.

I'd love to try with it snow tires, I'm sure it'd be a world of a difference. My biggest issue was getting the car rolling from a stop on hard packed iced over snow, barely let the clutch in only a little and try to have as little wheelspin as possible. If I hadn't been on summer only tires it'd of probably done better.

I have a 4X4 Cut-V I could chose to drive in snow, but I prefer to drive my 944. If it snows deeper than my car, I'm the lowest car out there, and the chunks of snow getting pushed around probably do a number on my front spoiler though.

[Techno Duck]

Ive had a 944 series as a daily driver up until last year. Both my 944 and 951 have had snow tires on them at one point or another.

Snow tires are an absolute must if you want to get around. The car does reasonably well though ground clearance is the biggest issue really. If its really hilly by you it may be trouble some to get the car going uphill (ive had a few moments where the car literally was sliding sideways rather than going up!) with the likely lack of a limited slip on your car.

Even with a good set of snows i have had my share of white knuckle and pucker moments. Just know the car has its inherent limits and if you think its too bad out, it probably is. I can remember one particular time i drove home my 951 home from school in some very heavy snow (with good snow tires!) and i still wonder how i did not end up wrecking it that day.

I am just happy i have a Jeep Cherokee now with 30x9.5 all terrains .

[AaronM]

As others have said, good snow tires are important. IMO, it's best to just buy studded tires if you're allowed to in your area. Studded tires are a godsend on ice or hard-packed snow and they eliminate most of the need for chains too.

With good tires, the 944 series is actually pretty decent in the snow. Have to take things slow and not get cocky, but overall it's better than many RWD cars because at least it's 50/50 balance (many RWD cars are still nose-heavy).

That said, with the summer-only tires that I have on my 951, it definitely won't be seeing snow. Frankly, I doubt I could even get it up the hill in my driveway with the summer tires if there was snow. Good, dedicated winter-only tires make a gigantic difference and that's the direction you really ought to go.

[fiat22turbo]

Snow tires and if possible a school that uses a skid car to teach you how to control slides and recover from them. Makes a huge difference in performance driving and driving in slick conditions as in both cases you're managing the available grip of the tires.

Finally, practice, practice and more practice. Practice looking up at where you need/want to go and your hands will automatically try to steer the car towards what you're looking at.

If youre sliding, practice forcing your eyes away from what you might hit or you can be guaranteed to hit it. Eyes up and look away to where the opening or safer piece is.

Look as far ahead as possible and plan ahead as much as you can. If you have to stop at the bottom of a hill, try stopping near the top until you proceed to avoid sliding through the signal. Same with stopping near the bottom before going up a hill, keep your momentum up and don't stop once you start.

My biggest concern in the snow? Other drivers. Most are either overconfident or completely terrified while many of the rest are oblivious. I tend to view anyone with an AWD or newer SUV as clueless until they prove otherwise. I find I'm right more often than nit, unfortunately.

[HondaDustR]

Yeah, and don't follow people down a steep hill. Go down one at a time. It's also better to keep rpm low, especialy in low gears. Lifting in 1st is the worst thing you can do, especially going down a hill. Put in the clutch and carefully use the brakes to control speed. Otherwise, it's great with the right tires and horrible with the wrong ones. Narrower is better no matter what kind of tire. I got around just fine the last winter on good all-season tires when the east got all that snow. Real snow tires would have been better, but I was easily passing a few SUV's and FWD cars getting up hills. As mentioned, don't stop while heading up a hill. The real limit is ground clearance. You'd never notice the difference in snow depths until it starts getting deep enough to hit the front crossmember.

Best way is to go find a nice deserted parking lot with between 1 and 5 inches of snow that hasn't been plowed and experiment. Try evasive maneuvers, stopping, cornering, stopping while cornering, see what it takes to spin out, practice steering out of a spin... Once you get the hang of it, you'll see they are very well balanced cars and can actually be pretty good fun. Much better way to do it than my first drive out in the snow...driving home on a two way road out in the country with dry-rotted worn out pirelli's. I did end up doing a 180 at 20 mph only because I was experimenting with inducing a spin and then saving it...got it twice before getting ahead of myself. I did get home without further incident, but it was a very difficult drive. Proper tires with good tread do make a huge difference in grip, predictability, and control, though. An alignment can also help if yours is off, especially in the rear.

[tomv944]

Had a 951 when I lived in Minnesota was not a daily driver but did venture out on snow quite a bit. My suggestion is get the best rear snow tires you can find and a very good set of all seasons on the front. I also went from 225 front and 245 rears to 195 fronts and 215 rears for the snow. the biggest problem I had was clearance on several occasions in not that much snow the front of my car acted as a snow plow and the only way to go was to drive out of the previous tracks to get enough clearance. But is two inches of snow and a big vacant parking lot you can have a ball. Have a S2 cab now and it stays indoors with the top down unless it is nice out.

[nynor]

Originally Posted by HondaDustR

Yeah, and don't follow people down a steep hill. Go down one at a time. It's also better to keep rpm low, especialy in low gears. Lifting in 1st is the worst thing you can do, especially going down a hill. Put in the clutch and carefully use the brakes to control speed. Otherwise, it's great with the right tires and horrible with the wrong ones. Narrower is better no matter what kind of tire. I got around just fine the last winter on good all-season tires when the east got all that snow. Real snow tires would have been better, but I was easily passing a few SUV's and FWD cars getting up hills. As mentioned, don't stop while heading up a hill. The real limit is ground clearance. You'd never notice the difference in snow depths until it starts getting deep enough to hit the front crossmember.

Best way is to go find a nice deserted parking lot with between 1 and 5 inches of snow that hasn't been plowed and experiment. Try evasive maneuvers, stopping, cornering, stopping while cornering, see what it takes to spin out, practice steering out of a spin... Once you get the hang of it, you'll see they are very well balanced cars and can actually be pretty good fun. Much better way to do it than my first drive out in the snow...driving home on a two way road out in the country with dry-rotted worn out pirelli's. I did end up doing a 180 at 20 mph only because I was experimenting with inducing a spin and then saving it...got it twice before getting ahead of myself. I did get home without further incident, but it was a very difficult drive. Proper tires with good tread do make a huge difference in grip, predictability, and control, though. An alignment can also help if yours is off, especially in the rear.

exactly. i cannot emphasize how much snow experience this activity gave/gives me. i do it every year, at least once. my wife loves it.

[fiat22turbo]

SKIDCAR & SKIDTRUCK Systems: Complete Driver Training Solutions is another way to go.

Why wait for the snow to fly?

[rayporsche]

IMO...wooooooweeeeeeee !!!!! drifting season's coming !!!!! that time of the year to give the tail happy 911 a break.............

[msailer]

My '83 is awesome in the snow with snow tires!
I picked up my son from JFK airport last January in the worst snow storm the NY area had seen in a while. Left the airport around midnight with over a foot of snow on the ground. I was going around 4x4s who could not make it up the hills on the expressway and all the tuners sliding all over the highway. My block was not plowed and the snow was almost as deep as the wheels are tall and pushed thru it. Took three hours to get home, usually takes 1.5 hours with moderate traffic. Lots of 4x4s crushed up against the center barriers or off the road. They are the biggest menice on the road when it snows. They can go, but can't stop!

I'm driving around on Techno Duck's snow tires I bought from him. Snows go on right around Christmas time or maybe sooner if it snows earlier.

[SShaw]

Put on four good snow tires and use your head. I live in a pretty hilly area and drive around a lot of other cars. With just two on the rear steering input was next to nothing.