I've just bought a black '06 Cobalt ss/sc which I should be picking up at the dealer dec. 27th so I was just curious:

How bad would this car be in Ontario weather without winter tires? Is anyone doing it?

I almost wished GM put all seasons high performance tires on there rather that the summer Pirellis........I'm sure I'll appreciate them in the summer though.

I may keep my winter beater OR might just have to pick up some steel wheels with winter rubber. I'd just hate the way that ruins the look of a car though.

With the way Ontario winters are, you'll never know how much you'll need them but better be safe than sorry.

Can anyone tell me the bolt pattern if I got steel wheels?

Thanks for all the info.
Martin

 

they suck in the snow

 

I've got an 05 Black SS/SC and live up Simcoe in Port Perry. I got black steelies in Oshawa at Menco Tire. It actually looks good black on black.

 

The Pirellis are awful in the snow. After a week of trying to get out of my driveway, which was plowed, with no success, I bit the bullet and bought some new wheels and tires. The bolt pattern is 5x110, which is somewhat unusual. I ended up buying Catera wheels with Goodyears on them. They aren't winter tires, but they do a hell of a lot better in the snow.

 

Egh, I do... I slide, I get stuck... but whatever.

 

they suck big time if ur going to drive it with snow on the ground you wont get off ur driveway.... even when its cold those tires harden to rock and you still get no traction when its frezzing outside

 

i asked this same question about two weeks ago, the best response i got, and in fact i agree with them was and i quote...."they lick nuts!"... and so they do....be cautuous and give yourself about another 100 yards to stop, even with no snow, get around 10 degrees F and they start to give up traction wise, they get to hard, and if they have sit outside in cold temp all night, when you go to leave, they have flat spots and bounce until they get warm enough to round out again ......thanks gm for an all season....im getting the perrilli p zero m&s tires check em out..............

 

brigestone blizacas 215-45 18 just undr $2000
i have a friend that owns a tire shop i got them for $1200
thats canadian
there f-en awsome

 

Moved to wheels & tires

 

im in snow wither the p's jsut drive a tad bit slower youll be fine

 

They're not too bad, better than I expected... I've been babying it in the winter though anyways.

 

Thats true, but I'd be more worried about having traction to brake or get the hell out of the way of some other ******* that forgot it snowed.

 

I guess I'll have to see for myself.

I used to drive my Z28 with all season tires and felt OK with it. I then got a winter beater Geo Metro with all season's and that damn car was more dangerous than the Z (car's too light) so I put snows on that.

What's bad to some might feel OK to others. Having driven my camaro in the snow for many years might make me feel the Cobalt is OK.

Finding decent snow tires this time of the year might be a chalenge.

 

Ive found, they work very good ins now stopping just don't slam the breaks give them short burts of tapping so the snow doesnt make your tires loose grip from sliding.

 

I am in the same position as u, since I am pickin up my 06 cobalt ss/sc on dec. 30 and I was hearing that the tires are no good in snow, that why I am keepin my honda for the winter and drive my cobalt when the weather is good during the winter and alllllll summer!!

 

They ok until u have to brake. Brake waaaaaay in advance.

 

Face it, they aren't a snow tire. Sure they may be fine being extra careful but more than a few times unexpectancies will come up and forget it, no chance. I like to have some piece of mind when I drive.

Also, I live in Saskatchewan. Our winters aren't exactly tame.

 

I think the Rosso's are horrid . The first day we got alot of snow , I could not get the car outa my street on a plowed road . If other people werent on the road , I could probably drive careful enuff to be fine . But , in an emergency situtation you have no time to correct for anything . I had 1 instince I had to stop to qwik and almost hit someone , and another where I was turning (slowly) and the ass end swung around like a RWD car spinning out . I tried Then I got snow tires . The difference is night and day . I would really have to make a serious effort to get my car stuck now and braking is very good . I havent tripped the ABS once with the snow tires yet .

My Pirellis had 13K miles on them at the time , so maybe new ones are better .

 

Sounds like I'll be getting snow tires. It's not worth crashing a brand new car just to save a few bucks.

What's everybody running? 16" steel wheels with what size tires? 16" is the minimum in order to clear the caliper right?

Please let me know what's a good deal and what tires you're running. THANKS

BTW. I ordered the car instead of taking the one on the lot, so I've got time until the car gets here to search for rims and steel rims.

Thanks again for the replies.

Martin

 

I'm running 16" G6 wheels with Dunlop WinterSport M3s:

 

At the very least you need all season tires. But if you ask me you might as well get a 2nd set of wheels and some nice snow tires. Went with Pirelli SnowSports myself.

 

I have Micheline xice. Pricey but man do they ever work!

 

I've been running the stock tires so far this winter. I have the LSD which makes a big difference and I confirmed that both wheels will spin. So I don't get stuck unless neither wheel can get traction which can actually happen pretty easily if there is more than 2-3 inches of snow on the ground. There I sit going nowhere, with BOTH front wheels spinning at the same time.

The tires aren't good that's for sure, but they are not as truely horrible as people make them out to be. The are driveable. You do have to drive slow and cautious because turning abruptly or stopping abruptly really isn't going to work well with these tires. I consider myself a pretty experienced snow driver, so I feel fairly comfortable driving it in the snow. The fear I have is when I have to stop and go again. Once I get some initial traction, I can drive it no problem, but when I have to stop and go uphill again or something like that, I do have a fear of getting stuck if there's any significant snow or there is more than an inch or two of snow on the roads.

Thankfully for me, they salt and plow the hell out of roads by me, so I haven't had any real problems aside from digging myself out of my own driveway.

We got an 8 inch storm not that long ago and that car wouldn't budge much even after digging all around it. Took me a good 2 hours to get it out.

 

I think you should do some research on what kind of tire is holding your car up.
I am not sure what you're expectations are for a tire thats
rated as a Max Performance Summer tire.


This is not even close to an all season tire. Get the right tool for the right job. You just spent like 20K+ , take the padlock off the wallet and get some steelies and snow tires It also prolongs the life of your pirellis which are an arm and a leg to replace.

Sheesh, all seasons on this car? No way.

 

It snowed here a couple days ago and I had zero problems. I came from driving light RWD 2 seaters that going 20 in the snow would make your life flash before your eyes if you ran across a patch of ice hidden under the snow. When your car will spin out going 25 if your foot flinches on the gas pedal just a hair the SS/SC tires with the LSD seems like a cake walk.