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cobalt in the snow

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Old 08-27-2008, 06:32 PM
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cobalt in the snow

I was wondering, for those of you who drive yours in the winter and get a snowy winter, how does the cobalt do?

I got an 07 SS/NA 5 speed, my first 5 speed car. Before this i had a 4x4 jeep so this will be a big step down for the winter. I was wondering how these do in the snow with a proper set of tires.
Old 08-27-2008, 06:42 PM
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I'll be driving my 09 SS/TC in the snow. I'm from Northern Ontario, where we get -45C days and more snow than any American could dream of. With a proper set of snow tires, most cars are fine for the winter. All seasons are a lie, mind you; they're not even acceptable for true winter driving.

A set of Bridgestone Blizzaks, Kuhmo KU11s, Michelin X-Ice, etc. are all good alternatives. I've driven both of the 3.5SE Altimas (250bhp, 245lb/ft) my dad has owned for years in the winter, and have yet to have a problem.

Ideally it would be nice to keep the SS off the road in the winter time, but I can't afford two cars... But proper cleaning/maintenance and a good set of snow tires will keep the car in good shape and out of the ditch.
Old 08-27-2008, 06:58 PM
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in bc canada they dont use salt on the road so im not concerned about rust, in the future if i decide to keep this and modify it, then it will not see the winter roads.

For now i only got 1 vehicle, thanks for some tire suggestions, hopefully it does decent
Old 08-27-2008, 07:16 PM
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I live in northern Minnesota and while we don't get northern ON snow, we still get a fair bit and my Cobalt did fine with the regular all-seasons, but proper snow tires would have been a lot better. Get good tires and take it slow an you'll be fine.
Old 08-27-2008, 07:59 PM
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alright, good to hear
Old 08-27-2008, 08:01 PM
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I run steelies with studded snows in the winter. It goes just fine. I haven't had any problems.
Old 08-27-2008, 08:03 PM
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They use mag chloride here, and sand. Better than the salt, but when we have a warm wind come through the roads are literally covered in mud.
Old 08-27-2008, 08:03 PM
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Originally Posted by hobbie2k
I live in northern Minnesota and while we don't get northern ON snow, we still get a fair bit and my Cobalt did fine with the regular all-seasons, but proper snow tires would have been a lot better. Get good tires and take it slow an you'll be fine.
for the love of god dont run our crappy pirelli's in the winter. snow tires are a must.
Old 08-27-2008, 08:06 PM
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i have a ford tarus for the winter cobalt stays in the garage
Old 08-27-2008, 08:11 PM
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I also have a 2007 SS N/A, and I ran it through one New England (Western MA) winter so far. It did well enough on the open roads, but my driveway is something horrible. So this year I've got a spare set of steelies and will be putting some studless snow tires on her. My last car did AWESOME with some Yokohama IceGripper tires, we'll see how the Cobalt does with something similar. I wouldn't necessarily suggest running on the Stock Pirelli P6's, but if you must you should be alright with some care and patience. If you can, definitely get some winter tires on there.
Old 08-27-2008, 08:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Force
I'll be driving my 09 SS/TC in the snow. I'm from Northern Ontario, where we get -45C days and more snow than any American could dream of. With a proper set of snow tires, most cars are fine for the winter. All seasons are a lie, mind you; they're not even acceptable for true winter driving.

A set of Bridgestone Blizzaks, Kuhmo KU11s, Michelin X-Ice, etc. are all good alternatives. I've driven both of the 3.5SE Altimas (250bhp, 245lb/ft) my dad has owned for years in the winter, and have yet to have a problem.

Ideally it would be nice to keep the SS off the road in the winter time, but I can't afford two cars... But proper cleaning/maintenance and a good set of snow tires will keep the car in good shape and out of the ditch.
Bet Alaskans get it worse :P
Old 08-27-2008, 08:26 PM
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my perellis are bald as is lol. I be getting steelies and some snow tires.

then when spring comes i have a good excuse to buy some rims and tires muhahaha lol
Old 08-27-2008, 08:29 PM
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yea their horible in the snow...last year in pa we got a lucky winter not mucg snow..but im def picking up some steelies this winter any idean how much would they run me?
Old 08-27-2008, 08:32 PM
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I've driven my Cobalt SS/SC in two Midwest winters (last winter was pretty bad), and it's done great. Never got stuck in it. But the summer performance tires gotta go. Get some nice all seasons, or winter tires and you'll be fine!

Some may disagree with me but, I only used my stock summer performance Pirelli P Zero Nero's for the first summer I had the car up until the first Nov. I've had the Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S All season tires on all year round since then and they've been great.
Old 08-27-2008, 08:37 PM
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my 07 LS is awesome. until i have to hit the non-ABS brakes.
Old 08-27-2008, 09:46 PM
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I ran ContiExtreme Contact @ 225-40/18 all winter on the 2.4 in Cleveland - no problem. That was with a daily 30+ minute drive from across the West Side.

The 2.0 with the Rosso's, not so lucky. That thing was a god damned death trap.
Old 08-27-2008, 10:02 PM
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I ran the stock Conti's last winter on my LS with no problems. If you know how to drive in snow/ice the all seasons are fine.
Old 08-27-2008, 10:04 PM
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cobalt is fine in the snow with tires designed for the snow and some common sense. with decent winter wheels i'd be more worried about some ******* in a truck thinking they're invincible than you losing control.
Old 08-27-2008, 10:15 PM
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yea, i just never driven a 5 speed in the snow. And going from a 4x4 jeep with very nice A/T tires on it to a low to the ground 5 speed car is going to be a big step down for me.
Old 08-27-2008, 10:19 PM
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yea, the pirellis suck ***** in the winter....... aside from that, the balt is decent in the snow
Old 08-27-2008, 10:28 PM
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heres an exampke of some of the snow we can get here.

pic is of my old jeep i sold in replacement of the balt:

Old 08-27-2008, 10:29 PM
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The Hankook optimo 205/55r16 tires on my car are strange (i hate them BTW) on SNOW, the car drives like a dream, as long as you dont let your foot get too heavy, but the strange part is, in slushy/wet snow conditions, it becomes a handful for some reason, it acta like it wants to hydroplane , it almost feels like torque steer, which i know isnt happening with a bone-stock 2.2...haha All in all it does pretty well. I cant wait till these tires wear down so I can get something else...
Old 08-27-2008, 10:33 PM
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Winter tires FTW. I'll be purchasing my set in a few months. I rocked the factory pirellis last winter... never again.
Old 08-27-2008, 10:37 PM
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NOKIANS are great snow tires.
Old 08-27-2008, 10:39 PM
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I'm moving to where it doesn't snow.

But if I had to do it again...anything less than dedicated winter tires in the lsj or lnf is just stupid stupid stupid with snow and particularly ice. Too much torque too many trees.

Contiextreme contacts were **** as well...you need Q tires (I believe that's the rating); haven't tried winter "sport" tires (m3's...but sti guys seem to run them fine).


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