I really want to stop dumping $ into my alltrac and would much rather drive my T2 for the winter season. I have a set of 15 inch wheels which would have new dedicated snow tires. Anyone have experience doing this?

 

i wouldnt do it... just the salt alone would destory the car lol

 

When is actually snows in Calgary I drive my 7 in it. this winter was good i think it only snowed 3 time since the new year. Id say if your car is nice dont drive. if you really need to then a set of winter tires will get you through anything.

 

i drove my 89 t2 in the snow acouple times just got to drive carefully and you should be fine it can slide out easily if your not id get the snow tires and see how they do

 

I haven't had a chance to drive the 7 through snow yet, as it seems to be down every winter.. However, I am driving the Miata as my DD this winter. It's done smashing so far, even last night in our 6+ inches of snow, I was passing Jeeps and Subaru Outbacks with ease, and I never broke the rear end free (except when I did it on purpose ). The trick is ALL in the winter tires. I have brand new Blizzaks that I'm running, and they're sweet, I can run circles around my friends' trucks with them, but if I have my summer tires on and we get .25" of snow, I'm boned.

 

i drove mine with no problem. i live in wa state. just take your time while you drive.

 

I really want to stop dumping $ into my alltrac and would much rather drive my T2 for the winter season. I have a set of 15 inch wheels which would have new dedicated snow tires. Anyone have experience doing this?

 

Oh.... your serious..... My GTU was HELPLESS even with "winter" tires. No clue about "studded snow tires" I haven't bought them since my VW Beetle in 88

 

how deep? 1 inch?? if you want to kill yourself or get someone else killed.
it is RWD 7, period.

 

JJJEEEEEEZZZ triple post~!!!

 

I went up on a icy pass and slid across 3 lanes of traffic at 60 mph almost into a rivine, i relized right then i need a winter car.

 

I drove my 7 the first winter I bought it, never doing that again. I found an MX-6 for a bad weather car, good car for that.

 

I have no choice but to drive my 7 as it's my only car during the day. This is my second winter. It's scary. My driveway is about a 10 degree incline and I have problems with even a snow dusting... It doesn't help that I have a crappy open diff either.

 

Sure you do, move to The South. It's nice being able to drive the same car year-round.

 

Hmm.. in the flat Philly area, I have had no problem driving my 7 in the snow with decent tires (all season), and decent caution.

I did get stuck once by getting high centered trying to get out of the way of the plow truck coming down a residential road in my neighborhood.. (there was around 14 inches of snow on the ground, and I was trying to turn around in the middle of the street, so it wasn't a big surprise that it happened, and it was easy to get out of with by getting out and pushing)

Other than that, it was no problem, except for compulsively having to wash the car every time it got above freezing to get rid of the salt...

I wonder if hills, or turbo, or driving technique explains the terror you guys feel towards driving RWD in the snow... no biggie for me. Hmm.. maybe open diff would really hurt too.. but I can't imagine that my LSD has that much bite at this point.. oh well.

 

you gotta know how to handle your car. my stepdad even rolled his 2000 subaru impreza 2.5 rs in the snow, awd doesn't help much while braking.

 

No you shouldn't get it... if you can't figure out how to post a question only once instead of 3 times... you probably can't figure out how to drive a RWD car in the snow or ice.

 

^^ That's about as much snow as my FC could take this winter. I got stuck when I was screwing around in a parking lot.

 

I've been stuck in snowstorms in my TII a couple times.

I have driven RWD cars all my life and my rex is by far the worst car I have ever driven in the snow. Crabbing up hills with the car yawed nearly sideways, a strong desire to rotate if even the slightest pressure is applied to the brakes - these things are fun and challenging for about five minutes - after that it's just terrifying.

Even less fun is digging yourself out of a snowbank with your bare hands in the middle of a blizzrd - I don't recommend it.

 

Ive driven my 7 a few times in the snow. I didn't seem to have any problems.
Salt is a killer though.

 

Everyone seems to be scared of the winter. I can’t see why. If you take your time you'll get where ever you want to go. I’ve driven my 7 for 3 years in the snow and I take it skiing lots in the winter from Calgary to Golden, Revelstoke, and Whistler you name it I’ve been there in my 7. Even in the big snow storms where there’s a foot or two of snow I can make it anywhere.

The salt is what im really scared of.

 

that is a pretty ignorant statement, A RWD car in the right hands, is better in winter than any FWD or even AWD for that matter. You just need to know how to drive it.
I have driven rear wheel drive vehicles in the winter since I got my liscence. It is not too much of a problem to drive your seven in the winter if you know how to drive allthough a good set of winter tires are priceless, and how much better your car will be in the winter.
I just recently drove my car in 8 inches of fresh overnight snowfall and managed to get stuck only once clear accross the city... so not too bad in winter, or deep snow more than 8 inches would most likely be toublesome but it would be the same for any other car regardless or driveline configuration.
This comming from a place that has snow for 7-8 months of the year. and average yearly snowfall is 6'

 

i drove my gxl all winter. a couple sandbags in back and studded tires got me anywhere i wanted to go. i worked at the local ski hill and the car did the hill climb on 8 inches of snow just fine. the back end would stick to the road when i wanted it to, and slide around when i wanted it to. the only problem i had was when i did doughnuts in a parking lot and got snow in my calipers.

 

I used to do it all the time, before I saw what it was doing to the car (RUST!). No problems at all, but a set of decent snow tires are a necessity.

If you search for "winter driving", you will find tonnes of threads. This comes up every fall.

 

Even with studded tires and half a 409 engine in my hatch, I'd still get stuck in anything over 3", where even starting in 3rd gear just spins and goes nowhere, and chasing its tail even at low speeds is almost unavoidable. Considering our average snowfall per storm is at least 6-7", FC just doesn't work out.