Help me not succumb to temptation

[Don]

Not to sound sarcastic or judgmental, but isn`t a rear-wheel drive car like a Camaro a little dicey to drive in the winter? Do you have winter-rated tires for driving that you change to, or are you driving on all-season-rated tires year-round? I see a few sports or muscle cars driven here in the Upper Midwest (Wisconsin) and those are the individuals who HAVE to drive 20 MPH on the highway in a light snowfall. God forbid you get behind them on hill or slight incline at a stop sign or traffic light when it`s snowing!!! Not saying you are like that nor do I know what your winter-driving skills are like or the particular geographic terrain that you drive in is like.
(Yes, they LAUGH at my (very) slow, non-drag-strip or non-slalom-course Subaru Outback in summer, but it`s "see-yah" during white-knuckle winter snow driving. Or as my dad said, "He who laughs last did not get the joke until it was explained to them!"... Wait! What?...)

I have the 3.6L V6 in my Camaro (which is a heavy car to begin with). I also have a 6 speed manual trans a posi rear end, traction AND skid control as well as a 4,500 rpm torque peak and over 160# of water softener salt in the trunk over the rear tires. Plus I have new FALKEN ZIEX ZE950 A/S tires on all 4 corners. I just did a heavy snow update on their performance over on AG.

Falken ZIEX ZE950 A/S snow update

With the high torque peak combined with the posi and slip control it`s VERY easy to start from a stop and accelerate (driving WITH respect to the road conditions of course). And I have yet (knock on wood) to have issues related to my car or my abilities. (If you can`t tell, I consider myself well above average in skills )

Not to wander off topic, but I actually prefer driving a RWD car in slick conditions when equiped with the proper tires. I owned a RWD, manual transmission BMW for eight years in areas which frequently see snow and ice and never had issues. It`s actually much easier to control than FWD.

I too prefer a RWD over a FWD in slippery conditions, especially if you have a manual, you have soooo much more control. AWD or 4WD is probably the best, but you still have to know how to drive. 4WD/AWD will get you into just as much if not more trouble than front or rear drive because it makes some people feel invincible since they can go so easily, but they forget that in turning and stopping on slick surfaces 4W-AWD doesn`t handle much different than 2 wheel drive.

[MattPersman]

That weight in the back with fresh tires helps a ton ! Weight was one of the biggest things I did when I drove rwd cars in the lake effect Lake Michigan snow years ago


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lonnie]

Back in the 60`s and 70`s, RWD is what was driven then (unless you had a FWD Saab, GM Caddy Eldorado or Olds Toronado, or Mini-Cooper). It was standard operating procedure to switch over to snow-rip (bias-ply, not radials) tires in those days, unless you wanted to attach chains to the rear tires during snow and ice events and go no more than 20 MPH.
Don S. glad to see you are covered on all accounts for winter driving with a RWD Camaro:
1) Winter-rated tires
2) Extra weight in the back for more traction to offset the front-to-back weight distribution of your vehicle
3) Manual transmission (nothing like being able to push in the clutch to instantaneously stop power to the rear and just counter-steer out of a skid OR select a gear as needed, like starting in 2nd gear to get going without excessive wheel spin)
4) Just using common sense for the type of weather-driving conditions happening on the road.
I say the last one is crucial. "Artificial Intelligence" (AI) is very prevalent in vehicles these days; too bad it belongs to SOOO many drivers behind the steering wheel of those vehicles!!

My bad, I am so off topic! I go from tunnel touch-less car washes in the winter to sarcastic (but true) jokes about winter drivers!!!

[Desertnate]

4WD/AWD will get you into just as much if not more trouble than front or rear drive because it makes some people feel invincible since they can go so easily, but they forget that in turning and stopping on slick surfaces 4W-AWD doesn`t handle much different than 2 wheel drive.

So true. As a kid growing up in Denver during the 70`s and 80`s we had a weather man on one of the local TV stations who`d always say, "Four wheel drive equals four wheel slide." Sadly he was true. Over time I lost count of all the 4WD SUV`s rented by tourists which ended up in the ditches and and/or upside down on the way to the ski slopes. Meanwhile all the locals in their cars just kept going.

One of the most nerve wracking experiences I`ve ever had in a car was driving a Subaru Outback I once owned in an ice storm. I was able to start moving OK, but turning was a nightmare. Even the slightest throttle application put torque to the turning wheels would cause them to loose traction. In similar conditions a FWD car simply understeers or plows straight ahead. With AWD, the car would start to slide sideways. Strangest sensation from behind the wheel.