Hey everyone,
I just had a sleepless night running over numbers and time-lines after visiting a Chevy dealership yesterday. I'm very much considering selling my 2007 Jeep Wrangler for a Camaro V6 2LT. My last car before the Jeep was a GTI VR6 (pretty quick, albeit with tons of torque steer), and... i miss having a road warrior.

My dilemma... I'll be selling a vehicle that has gotten me through some of the worst Central New York weather i've ever seen, in favor of a rear wheel drive sports car... yes, the camaro would be a daily driver for me.

Without stating the obvious, does anyone have any thoughts on this? i'd be getting the 6-speed, of course. How unrelastic would it be to drive this car through winters in the Syracuse area? i've had my share of front wheel driving in the snow but, no significant rear wheel drive snow expirence besides when i throw the jeep in 2wd in empty, snowy parking lots.

thanks guys,

 

i have always had a rear wheel drive car in the snow and it is much different than front wheel drive. if you try to accelerate fast at all your sideways and if your on a hill its really hard to get traction i dont know how new york is but i live in the foothills of colorado in denver and it can be a pain in the *** to get around.

 

Lake effect snow is the name of the game up here... we got about 150" of snow last year. It's rarely a huge storm but more of a consistent blanketing... on average something like 2 to 3 inches a day. what that means is there's practically permafrost on the road for 4 months out of the year... but, it's never all that deep. there were two or three storms that had me driving through a few inches of powder but... those are the days I'll be calling in sick if i get a Camaro.
Something that WILL be hard to get accustomed to is having to shovel myself out of a parking spot. I'm used to just climbing over whatever's in front of me.

 

hahaha i almost toke a jeep out getting out of the snow when i was getting out of a parking space. had to get to work its our busiest time when its snowing

 

Well, you get some good winter tires (I recommend Nokian Hakkapelliita R) and keep the traction control on, and drive it carefully, and it ought to do alright for you. It won't be outstandingly good, but it should be fine.

Another option would be to just spend an extra $500 and get some POS car to drive in the winter, instead. You're already spending 20 grand, right? What difference is $500 going to make?

 

The only car I have ever owned because my camaro I've ordered is a Pontiac Firebird, so I've spent many winters driving real wheel and it does take some getting used to. The first time you swerve and get it back, you will feel in control, like I said, just some getting used to. I agree with the above though, this is a nice car to be drivin out and about in the snow (granite i will be doing it as well but we only get about 2-3 major ice storms here in oklahoma during the winter and im sure i can find someone to tow me around for those days)

It's not hard once you figure it out, snow drifts aren't your friend. . . something important to learn, and if it looks like you can make it. . .you probably can't

 

I lived in the snow belt for some time can not speak to the 5th gen but none of the previous generation of Camaros did well in the snow. I see no reason to think the 5th Gen will do well. Don't get me wrong what was said above is all true you can make it better but it will not plow thru snow like a 4WD or even a good FWD.

 

You should be able to drive it, but it's not worth the hassle. On my 3rd gen I have to be super careful or I am sideways. The good thing about the limited slip is that you will not be STUCK in a spot as much because both wheels will continue to spin, however when you do get out you just might be sideways.

My 85 was my winter driver here in NYC. Honestly, while it's doable any time you need to throw torque to the ground you will start to spin. It's doable, but I don't trust it nor like it. If I had to go out I did, and drove like I had a 4 cyl in it, but I would not recommend it.

This is with good all seasons.

My favorite time was trying to get out of a parking spot, spinning slowly (the more you gun it the less youll move usually), and finally my tire grabs to the pavement (thank god), and by the time it finished I was out of the spot. Unfortunately I was perpendicular to the direction i was parked though.

Luckily nobody was around.

 

We live in MinneSNOWta!
Get skinny all season tires siped (little grip cuts in the treads) or go with skinny snow tires.

Winter iPikes by Hankook for me on all my cars, they're cheap and very highly rated grip!

I had three older Camaros, and about 20 other rear wheel drive cars in the snow. Even with the Camaros I had no problem delivering pizzas in the 80's and early nineties... well, I may have gotten stuck once or twice. But it was Fun hanging the ***-end Sideways down the street - in a controlled drift, and under the speed limit of course!

Best advice so far has been - GET or KEEP the old 4x4.
There is no sense in risking your 2010 slamming into a mailbox.

There was an emergency, and I had to use my Corvette in the snow- With traction control and summer tires, it climbed our steepest ski hill road. I was impressed, until I tried to turn... Corvettes are not made for snow- but they are lighter, I'm not sure about the 2010 Camaro... It's supposedly weighted perfectly- so I may try it.

I love snow drifting- here is me drifting around our block with the Honda. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHT9v-rJQlM
LOL

 

i like in NY and snow and a camaro do not get along, i have a jeep for the winters so it's not really a problem for me but i wouldn't risk it for the snowy times, it's not really to safe in my opinion, i drop my car upstate to my house in albany county and it snowed up there i tried to move my car into the garage and it just didn't work lol, so i would seriously concider thinking over this before you make that decision , you won't have as much problems with the v6 because it doesn't have as much torque as the v8 i will take some use to driving the camaro in the snow but you'll get better at it,

i agree snow drifting is fun as hell.