My TC + snow where I live = Car will be pushing snow, and going no where. You need a truck for the winters here.

 

Where would that be ?

 

Ok So I need snows tires/rims asap. What has been confirmed to fit the 09 SS/TC? Can anybody help? Also, where do I get them?

 

^id like to know that also. in addition to where i can find spacers for the front and if you guys think its better to drive in the snow with the traction control on like normal or to manualy put it in esc? every one seems to say on the first page that the esc is good so why not put it in that from the get go?

 

Ok Well I called a place and I am getting tires/rims for $1700 boo fuking boo. Stupid

 

The car defaults to full ESC and TCS when you turn it on. Press the button once, you it kills the TCS and leaves ESC on; this is the setting you should use in the winter time.

TCS is bad in the winter, period. In the snow or on ice, you're bound to get wheelspin... You have to or you won't get anywhere! As a result, keeping TCS off all winter long saves the brutal driveline shunts you get when it cuts power due to wheelspin.

ESC has proven to be fantastic in the snow, however. The only way to turn this off is to hold the button down until it flashes "ESC OFF" - between 5 and 10 seconds held, I believe. Don't do this in the snow, as I've yet to find a scenario where the ESC hurts snow driving safety.

Trust me on these suggestions, it's been snowing here for practically 3 weeks straight and I've been playing around with the SS/TC in pretty brutal conditions.

 

Interesting on the TCS comments. I thnk the last time I drove in deep snow (last week) I felt like the TCS was hurting me. My car slowed to almost a stop a few times, even with shifting down, like I was pushing against an invisible wall. I WAS pushing slush somewhat, but it was unexpected like I had 0 power all the time. The ECS saved me a few times when the car kicked completely sideays even at 15 mph. WHY DON'T I LIVE IN ARIZONA???haha then I could also ride my bike all year....

 

Take it from a guy who drives up a steep, snow-covered driveway every single day... TCS is useless. It's part of my "start-up habit" when I get into the car to immediately kill the TCS.

Just manage the wheelspin... If you're attentive you won't zing the car off the limiter or something stupid, just keep the revs low and let the tires spin. The thing with snow is that even with some wheelspin, you're still making progress. Even if just 10% of the power gets transmitted down to the ground, it beats the 0% you get when the TCS is cutting the throttle out.

If that **** happens on my driveway... I slide backwards!

 

does ESC stay on in competion mode. i always drivin in that lol i never never gone anywhere in my car with the TCS on haha

 

Well, if you handle your throttle well enough, the TCS shouldn't engage all that much.

I happen to appreciate it and I've lived in northern Quebec most of my life. I know how to drive.

I'm that guy that keeps getting people out of snow banks.

Argh, I can't believe people still won't park backwards in parking lots and driveways during snowstorms.

Anyhoooow, I find the TCS convenient as it's not too intrusive in the Cobalt. My Hondas have been way more intrusive. Works well once you get going & are cruising along at normal speeds with proper throttle input. If you're stuck, turn it off though.

 

Finally got a little bit more snow sticking here in OH. Ive just got all season tires on my car now and its not too bad. I even tried it with the traction control off and didnt have a problem.

Ive read that some people have attempted to leave the summer tires on. I did it once and while not scary I wouldnt push my luck more than a few times.

 

Well I went and got snows today. They are pretty good but damn expensive! The rims aren't that bad also lol

 

Pics, NAO

 

Got a buttload of snow today into tonight, so I decided to try the "no-TCS" theory on my wau home from work, about 25 miles into BFE. The car did very well, and the roads were quite dicey. The road I live on is 7 miles to my house from where I turn on to it, and it hadn't been touched for hours. It had pretty good "drift-ripples" if you know what I mean, about 6 inches with no tracks. I had no problems. On the first 18 miles to there the car went well too, I just had a slight slipping on one hill, I was in 3rd doing about 30. It started to slip enough to slow me down some and go to the side a little, but then it dug right in. The Cobalt sure puts my last car, an 06 Si, to shame!

 

Here are my pics










They work awesome. Yesterday it snowed alot and I just charged through the snow like any thing.

I turned off traction control and it was fine. I could fit if I started to drift, it would lock up the back wheel!

 

Looks awfully familiar





Ignore the filth on the car... The picture was taken intentionally to show it off

 

lol Nice rims *runs and checks outside to see if rims are still on car*

What tires did you go with and did you have them ship you the rims or did you come all the way down here and pick it up?

They were expensive as hell but I have no idea what else fits for a cheaper price!

 

It seems we're playing post tag between the two threads

Like I said, I drove to get them... Not a big deal, I like the drive.

There's really nothing close in terms of price, those boys at Steelcase practically give the damn things away compared to anything else that fits the car. As for tires, see my signature... I got them on recommendation from a friend's dad.

 

I would have to agree this Cobalt isn't as good as I thought it would be in the snow.
I have 205/50/17 all season Pirellis. I did a back to back comparison with my girlfirends G6 iand it is much better in the snow than my coabalt. The G6 weighs more which helps but I am not how the LSD, and manaual trans come into play.

Hopefully next year I will have a winter car. Not a beater, but a more practical less fun car.

 

You're using all-seasons, that's why your car isn't doing well in the snow. If you were running proper tires you'd have no issues... Plenty of the members here agree that the TC is damn near unstoppable with full-on snow tires.

 

lol yeah I noticed that too. The guy Dan at steelcase said after somebody posted on here that they have rims that clear Brembo's, that is exploded in there and they sold so many of those rims. He asked where I found out about it and told him and he told me he has somebody come from North Bay to get winter rims/tires but what was also weird was a person from Manitoba was in talks with driving down to get them installed.

Crazy

 

hey can sumone post a link or site for those bsa rims in the pics above please

 

No point posting a link to where we got our wheels, they don't have an online catalogue or anything - just a local shop.

As for hearing about them, I actually heard from a friend's dad locally about them... Our biggest shops here in North Bay charge way too much and are a pain in the ass to deal with. I do know that someone mentioned Steelcase on here before I did, though...

In fact, when I got to the shop the guy looked at the Brembos, laughed, and told me he'd to ring in the whole setup; I didn't even have to ask for the rims/tires in question, he just knew. The guy he mentioned from North Bay is definitely me

 

Well sure, any vehicle will perform better in snow with snow tires. I am comparing two vehicles that both had all season tires. I guess I should have spent the $800 for snow tires but my allseason 17s with great tires only set me back $200.

 

My all-seasons are working just fine. I ran with Traction Control off today. I thought it worked a bit better that way. Black Ice might be different... we'll see..