well, we have gotten our first ice/winter storm of the season and the first that i have experience since ive moved to texas. i just so happened to be out on the road when the roads started to freeze and i have to say that my cobalt did fairly well in the ice. for those of you who live in texas, i was on the president george bush turnpike on the overpasses. the only things that i didnt like were that the windshield wiper fluid froze in the nozzle and the windshield wipers didnt really keep the windshield clear. this was my first winter experience in this car, so i thought i would share.....has anyone else been out with their car in the snow/ice?

 

I had my car out in a snow storm that we had about 4 inchs total and I thought the car handled like crap, but then again the last two winters I have had a 4x4 truck. I think if I got some better tires than what comes stoc it would be much better. Just my 2 cents. Boy I sure don't miss that dallas ice! I would much rather have the snow in iowa than the ice in texas where people arn't used to driving on it!

Dan

 

seriously. in the snow , the ss is the worst car I have ever had, but I bought it for the summer, i'll get a truck for next winter, the car as no traction at all, i got stuck getting out of my driveway in 5 inch of snow....

 

I've been stationed in PA and lived in TN for a good portion of my life. As soon as I found out ice was coming I parked my car. I know I'm stereotyping but I don't care, people don't know how to drive in snow or ice, much less rain here in NE TX. I'm not trying to get hit here.

Oh and my last car, a Dodge Stratus, kicked ace in the snow, if you know what I'm sayin'. No really it was good.

 

i agree....im not really worried about my driving but i am very concerned about those who almost never have to drive in these conditions.....i grew up in michigan and i basically learned how to drive in the snow as apart of drivers training

 

NNNNOOOOO traction whatso ever
im out in lewisville by the DFW airport and itsall ice
wiper nozzles froze but no CEL...good news

 

I knew the SS was going to handle like ass in the winter, some people didn't believe me because they think tires fix everything. Front wheel drive on a power house doesn't really help either and the absolute best brakes isn't going to stop you on an road full of snow and ice. That's reality.

I lost count how many FWD and RWD cars ended up in the ditch, Even AWD have issues.

My sedan really isn't much better in this **** and if I was you I would use the rest of that washer fluid and put de-icer in there, the dealership uses the cheapest **** for the wipers.
It's 3/4's water and 1/6 the real deal, of course it's going to freeze :P .

4x4's trucks are just a heavy ass object sliding on ice when they stop. 4 wheel drive doesn't stop you but it sure does help with your take offs.

I just hope I don't hear a horror story about a Cobalt crashing and someone getting hurt. Hate to hear about that. I know I am preaching to the choir about this **** but I am sure some of you know someone who says all the **** above helps when in reality nothing really helps, sure it does a little but not to the point where you don't have to worry..

 

My SS does ok but thats prob because its non-sc. I drive 100 miles a day, and i havent had any probs in the snow yet. My road doesnt get plowed at all and its hilly...car goes right up it. We are supposed to get like 6 in. tonight so we shall see how it does tonight/tomorrow.

 

My ls handled alright through the ice. I was also in the texas ice storm. Only lost traction a couple of times. Nothing too bad.

 

i managed to do a complete 180 on aa 6x6 sheet of black ice

ABS catch on quick and then the brakes are useless, i wass gonna go play in the parking lot but it was like 9 degreeF
single digit weather blows

 

I drive in the snow and on ice all the time. But I have Ice tires. Cost me 1200 bucks tho

 

I've got a set of Revo's on my SS for the winter and I drove around in all the snow today and they are absolutely amazing!!!!(even on the SS) I can break hard at 60 km/h and not slide at all!!!!!

 

This car handles better in the snow then my Z28 and my z24(2.4 5spd with summer tires). People just need to slow down. Plan to take longer distances to stop. No sudden change in direction/speed. Start in second gear, power through the take off(your not going to get traction).

We had 4 inches of uncleared snow when i drove to work yestuday. I watched one Nissan altima spin out into the guard rail. I seen three trucks in ditches, one in to a concriet medium.(ouchie) And a mini-van down a hill. Two of the trucks were 4x4. Im sure they handle better in the snow but the drivers were morons.

Changing tries will help, but not if you dont slow down and pay attention. You can not drive in the snow like you can on a clear sunny day. Plan and simple.

 

I see that **** all the time here when its sunny! just imagin what it was like then the snow hit...
Anyone getting lake effect snow... looks like cool ****, from what i've seen!

 

St Louis hasnt even cleared washington street yet. Its pissing me off.

 

Drove throgh drifts that were at least 3-4 inchs deep with no problem at all. We got a total of 7.7 inches( at the airport?? who lives there). And mine and the wifes non-ss did fine.

 

heh yeh... there were 200 wrecks here that day. damn rednecks dont know what to do when it ices. they shut all the local towns down.... over a half inch of ice. i was embarrassed. but the drive to work was open roads all the way. its almost that bad in the rain too... turns into bumper cars. and you guys are farther up in north TX... i live in kempner, tx about 50 miles north of austin. it was hell. google earth it if you dunno where it is. next to killeen/ft. hood.

 

Yea I agree. I live in Buffalo NY and the first night we got hit with snow I had to drive home with my ss ( before I put it in storage ). What was normally a 20 min drive took me an hour+. It was lake effect so there were a lot of accidents. Regardless, I had to do 15-20mph to get home safely. I WAS GETTING PASSED BY SEMI'S, IT WAS THAT BAD.

 

You mean your summer *only* W rated performance tires don't have good traction in the snow and your suprised why ?

 

It only takes that much ice to make the situation very dangerous. I would rather have a foot of snow than any ice.

We have the problem in DC of it snowing and the snow melting during the day and freezing when the sun goes down. I was in one instance where cars were simpling sliding off the road when there were completely stopped on a banked turn. The weight of the car simple pushed the car down the bank of the road onto the sholder. Needless to say black ice is more dangerous that anything, IMO.

 

FWD, RWD, AWD all have 4 wheel brakes That and good tires keep you out of the ditch.

The different drive mechanisms just keep you from getting stuck.

 

It doesn't matter how many wheels drive the car, the front two are the ones that due the majority of braking.