924's do great in the snow!

Scott R · Scott R's Garage

*A salute to the 924*

I don't personally own one of course, but on my way home this evening I saw one with temp plates and a brand new muffler.

Tonight we are having a mild blizzard in Denver, the streets are glare ice in most places, snow is blowing and it’s around 20 deg. Of course there are plenty of accidents and spinouts, and of course people that can not make it up even the smallest hills.

So I am driving in a slow pace in my Avalanche, which is slipping from time to time, but not seriously. And what comes up along side of me? A spectacular looking red 924! And he is just cruising along. Not a reckless pace mind you, but faster then most of the traffic, he expertly executes a right hand turn on sheer ice and continues on his way.

So to answer the age old question of how well the 924/944 does in the snow, I can safely answer that YES they do fantastic. Either that or this guy was one hell of a good driver. It takes nerve just to be out on the roads with a pack of SUV's skidding all around you.

To add top all opf this I had just passed an idiot in a 911 Targa that was up on the medium, with a huge pool of oil under his car.

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

In my experience, the 944 is not so good in snow.

todwic · todwic's Garage

I had my '84 '44 on my way to Arkansas. We stayed the night in Williams, AZ, "The Gateway to the Grand Canyon", when overnight it snowed about 10". I thought about staying on I-40, skipping the G.C. tour, but Demmit, I've never seen the hole, and I would forever kick myself in the arse if I didn't while I had the chance. So we took the G.C. road (hwy 71? 74? something like that). It then started to hail. and snow. and get colder. and hail some more. The 944 did an awesome job of handling the slippery stuff, spinning tires only when I wanted to. Took in some snow swamped parking lots and played and it responded to my every whim. I passed a lot of people that day, both on the road and off (me on all the time). Not once was I even worried about spinning out or slidding off of the road. I also **salute** the 924/944 series car for superlative handling in the snow.

1.2gees · 1.2gees's Garage

The 944 handles just fine in the snow thank you! It can be a bit weird for some I can see that with the weight spread out so far from the center of the car with 50/50 front to rear distribution...

I remember years ago taking the front spoiler off my 944 to drive it in one of the biggest snow storms in NC. It was on 255/40/17 bridgestone potenza re-71s, which weren't suited to snow all that well, but boy was it fun!
Ahmet

wawaloon · 10-30-2002, 04:09 AM

Tires, tires, tires.

fty · 10-30-2002, 06:43 AM

Its all about the tires!!!! Originally I had fuchs with general tires on them,the car was great in the snow,I changed to nittos and now yokos....the car cant even go out anymore..but thats what the crx is for right?-chris

mike944 · 10-30-2002, 07:46 AM

Snow tires! snow tires! Snow tires!

We all know all-season tires suck for handling in the summer, I have news for everybody: they also suck for handling in the snow. But..... they're acceptable enough under both conditions to meet government specifications.

In my opinion, any car that is not 4-wheel drive should have snow tires. Most Americans think a tire is a tire. what's the difference between a snow tire and an all-season tire? I won't go into deatil, but it's a big difference. When most cars in the US went from rear wheel drive to front wheel drive in the late 70's and 80's, front wheel drive handled so much better than the old, no-weight-in-the-rear, rear wheel drive cars, that nobody bothered buying snow tires, because they had no longer had a problem accellerating, and going up hills in the snow (the primairy reason most people bought snows) they forgot that they also needed to stop short sometimes and turn as well. Can you drive in the snow with all-season tires, absolutely! do i feel comfortable driving in the snow on all-season tires, hell no!

That's just one guy's opinion.

Mike

thamlin000 · thamlin000's Garage

My buddy in Colorado says his 944 is horrible in the snow. He prefers his 911 SC due to the rear weight bias.

dogslovetrucks · 10-30-2002, 09:29 PM

Funny your buddy would think his 911 is better in snow- I'd think it would would be near impossible to turn with all the weight in the back.
944's F/N rock in snow if they have good tires (as everyone has said). If you have a LSD it's all the better.
My opinion: If you are going to live in a snowy place, don't use your 944 as your winter driver. Go buy some p.o.s 70's Jeep or a ragged out Geo Tracker for $1000 and keep your car for (somewhat) nicer days.

wawaloon · 10-31-2002, 04:17 AM

Another set of wheels with snow tires works very well.

Scott R · Scott R's Garage

The 911's I see driving around in the snow are all over the road. Usually the front is slipping sideways at stoplights.

Mind you I can not imagine why yuo would be driving a car like that in a blizzard anyway, but I guess if thats your only car. But living in Colorado I have learned to keep my fun car in the garage, and my truck on the road during the winter.

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

Perhaps I need a good set of snow tires, but the one winter that I was home long enough to drive my 944 on icy streets... well, it was scary.

rben · 10-31-2002, 03:08 PM

The 944 does great in the snow. On a trip from the western slope
of Colorado to Missouri, I ran into some unexpected snow on I-70
east bound just before the Eisenhower Tunnel. I had to stop for a red light on the uphill approach to the tunnel. There was a honda civic in front of me. When the light turns green, the honda
slides a little sideways before it caught traction. I am thinking, I am screwed my 944 is wearing Perelli P-6 tires and I am going to get a ticket for holding up traffic. Boy was I wrong, the 44 pulled away without spinning a tire.

Same trip heading back, the rain turned into freezing rain in Hays
Kansas. From there it got worse all the way to Denver. There were cars, trucks and even some jerk with 4 x 4 off the road.
My 944 did great
rben

wannaberacer · 10-31-2002, 04:07 PM

American front engine, front tranny, rear wheel drive cars suck in snow just ask all the mustang owners I beat last winter

gt350mike · 10-31-2002, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Scott R
The 911's I see driving around in the snow are all over the road. Usually the front is slipping sideways at stoplights.

Mind you I can not imagine why yuo would be driving a car like that in a blizzard anyway, but I guess if thats your only car. But living in Colorado I have learned to keep my fun car in the garage, and my truck on the road during the winter.

Anyone in N. Alabama that owns a 911 is smart enough to keep it in the garage. They're terrified of all of the #$@! idiots on the roads that "THINK" they can drive in the snow!

Word to the wise......If its snowing in AL, then stay off the streets for at least the first 2 hours of snowfall; by then all of the know-it all drivers have slid off in the ditch!

ae1969 · 10-31-2002, 07:32 PM

Folks....

The 911... may handle almost well as the trusty old 944 on nice dry pavement (just a shot at the 911 owners).......but it will never handle as well in the snow!

I driver the 944 up to about 3 inches of snow. I run M+S Toyo 255 in the rears and 225 in the front on 17's. I used to run the stock size tires on the 15's.

The thinner tires on the 15's is the way to go, but I will still drive the 944 in 2-3 inches of snow on the 17's.

The only problem with the 944 is at below -15 degrees celcius. Below that it just does not like to start. It will, but it will run extremely rich until she warms up.

The 924 I used to drive in the winter felt like it would handle better mainly due to the thinner wheels, but heating in the 924 (is horrible).

The way I buy tires.

1. Proper wheel width (You should be able to go 1/2-1 inch thinner.
2. Wheel tire pattern
3. lastly brand!

Brand means **** in a real winter. Thats just the way it is.

You have to match the right tire to the right car . I have had cheap tires work better than expensive ones.

stray15 · stray15's Garage

Its all the driver...

My 944 is great in the snow.

Roadman_944 · 10-31-2002, 08:25 PM

I drove my 83 944 for two years in the snow. (Wisconsin) Saw no reason to get a beater. Bets part was watching the jaws drop when passing. When people asked why I would do such a thing, I just said I'm sure they do in Europe. I would cover the lower air dam to keep the snow out and be able to drive through snow deep enough to hear it sliding on the floor boards.