Is anyone driving these cars in the winter? If so, what methods are you doing to doing to warm the engine. Pan heater,coolant heater? Any suggestions?

 

I drove mine last winter. Since there was no block heater option, I simply made due... Even at -35C (-31F), she still started every morning.

There may be some block heater options available now, but unless you live in a place colder than where I am, you'll likely be fine.

 

eh you'll be fine. I drove mine last winter and plan on doing it again this year. (on stock tires too....ssshhhhhh)

 

I plan on driving mine on stock tires this winter too. Hopefully all goes well.

 

Has anyone ever told you that you are a moron?

 

was looking at a winter beater but i dont have anywhere to safely store my cobalt for the winter and dont feel like paying $150 or so a month to store it. so winter tires and rims for me.

i drove mine through feb and mar last year and had to deal with a little bit of snow. with stock tires the ss/tc SUCKS ***** in the snow. i got stuck in my works parking lot like three time going up this tiny little incline at the entrance. if you going to drive this car in snow or ice, get winter tires, not worth the crap traction stock gives you.

as for starting up, year round i let my car run for about 5-10 minutes before i leave for the morning. in the winter i might bump this up a little longer, but i had no problems last year.

 

1) I don't live in michigan. I live in a place where we see 1 maybe 2 snow falls a year of 2-3 inches

2) Don't get mad at me because you don't know how to drive

3) I drove a 1980 trans am for 5 years before this car in the winter.

kthanxbye

 

It's not about not knowing how to drive. For you, slowbalt84, maybe it's not worth it for 2 annual snow falls. But for Shez, in NJ, GET SNOW TIRES. The SS/TC's stock Continentals are summer-only. The traction these tires get on cold tarmac or in snow is theoretical at best.

If people want to endanger themselves, cool... But don't endanger other road users by skidding around on tires designed for summer heat.

 

I drove through last winter on my stock tires and won't do it again. They put the Michelin mxm4 on my car stock but this winter I'm getting rims and tires cus I don't wanna die. Chicago winters suck

 

I picked up SS/NAs and Blizzak's for them for about $600 when all said and done. I also use them to run DR's also.

We had 1 minor snowfall in NJ/PA area and it was VERY minor when I say that. The stock Conti's sucked in that even, so I couldnt imagine a real snowfall with them.

 

Looks like I'm in the market for some snow tires then. Any recommendations for some decent tires that fit the stock 18s? I'll just use these as winter wheels and buy a set of Ultraleggeras for the summer.

 

Im not sure if you can get Winter tires for the 18's honestly, I didnt look tho to be fair!!

 

In the service manual they show a block heater option, even for the 2.0T. Has wiring information and all that jazz. Odd that they never actually gave us that option to buy though.

TireRack does sell an 18" Blizzak that would fit the stock wheels nicely, or did last I checked anyway.

I choose to just drive a POS old Nissan truck in winter, because I really don't want this car to fall apart that salt brine **** sucks.

 

I kind of figured it would be tough to get them. I'm gonna take a look though.

 

http://www.tirerack.com/snow/WinterT...=W&search=true

A whole bunch of options.

 

You can definitely get a set of 18s. I know the Michelin PilotAlpin PA3 comes in an 18.

 

i rebuilding a jeep 4 winter =)

 

Do you have a part #? Or a document #, I work at a GM dealership and have access to service manuals.

 

I don't have a part #, I can TRY to find it in the manuals again tonight. I just happened to be flipping pages one day and was like "oh thats weird". The books are like 2000 pages, so god only knows where it was :X

 

They are tough to find and also quite pricey. I picked up a set of Falekn Eurowinter HS439's (from 1010tires.com) in the stock tire size and so far they have been great but having a 40 series tire in winter sucks.

 

i drove it all last winter with no problem. only warmed it up untill the coolant was at about 90 then just drove normally.

 

The winter grip when the stock tires are cold is less that pathetic and on snow or ice its hopeless. a set of winter tires (i run goodyear ultra grips 225/40/18) the traction is like night and day. turns the balt from an uneasy car scared of winter to a snow going beast. with the lsd its damn good! way better than even expensive all seasons! the lateral grip was improved allot more than i expected as well.

 

Yep, I paid $325 Canadian / tire for the 18" Alpin PA3...mind you the tread pattern and compound is pretty ridiculous. The ad for the tire should say "for the rally racing enthusiast in all of us". For the person questioning 18s availability let me know if you want a pic I'll pull my wheels/tires off the rack (still not on) and snap one for you to give you an idea .

As for the OP's question, you should be fine but as far as I know you can buy the block heater from GM and install it on the TC same as the SC.

 

I also got the pilot alpines, makes the car drive really well in the winter. I let the car warm up until the idle falls below 1k.

 

^^
**** if you got through an AB winter with 'em I should be laughing. I know the few snowfalls I drove through (super heavy too) the car had no issues getting going, no issues stopping (I have YET to hit ABS in my TC) and cornered/handled fine, even when I got into the boost on those cold days. Lots of cash up front but work very well imo.