Vette winter driving??

[Pa Goose]

For the past 4 years I haave been doing a mechanical restoration of my second love. Have just gotten it to the point of being drivable again and due to a bad purchase decision for a family car and not enough money to get another one, I will be forced to drive my 81 Vette all winter. I have not yet started the body restoration. Here in Missouri we have all the bad things of winter, intense cold, sleet, ice, snow. Any advice on preparing and driving my Vette would be greatly appreciated.
John
What a Beautiful World

 

[smook]

It's the issue of getting into an accident in the winter.


I would NOT do this! Our cars are NOT good in winter!!

It's NOT you, but the other driver. A fast side or rear-end will just smack the vette.

-Bill.

 

[78SilvAnniv]

I would caution you to "Don't do it!" but that is because I don't think these vettes make good winter cars. However, if you are able to limit the driving to well maintained roads and are able to avoid the larger storms, you should be okay.
Be aware of what will pose problems for you and adjust your driving habits accordingly to stay out of the ditches:
Wide tires will not provide much traction on snow/ice. (perhaps get skinnier, taller tires?)
Low front valance can become a snow scoop.
Be aware of your power to torque ratio and use the accelerator in a gentle manner to prevent spins.
Pop up headlights may collect snow in front of them and reduce nighttime visibility.

While I don't think these vettes make good winter vehicles, I also think you should be able to survive the winter if you are judicious in your driving.
Good luck.
Heidi

 

[Pa Goose]

I live about a half mile off I44 and it is highway driving all the way to about 1 mile from work. Total distance is about 60 miles one way.

 

[Yoda]

If possible, keep your 81 garaged when not driving, if it sits outside... be sure you provide plenty of time for the car to warm up and get all the fluids up to near operating temp..

Be sure the defog, heater, wipers and all the lights are working. It would be nice if the window washer works, if not carry a squeeze bottle of water to help keep the road grime under control

Also when it's above freezing... find a power wash and keep the undercarriage and wheel wells free of salt and/or pockets of road grime from building up.. The body is fiberglass, the frame is not

AND.... Remember you car is 23-24 years old now (depending on date built )

Bud

 

[brusso]

Sorry to hear about the tough luck, on the "Family" car. I couldn't begin to advise on winter driving techniques, in a Vette. As far as protecting the frame from rotting. Wash the undercarage as often as possible. Also, if it is too cold to wash the car, your better off leaving it outside under a cover. Parking a snow/salt packed car in a, relatively speaking warm, garage will speed up the rotting proccess.


Not to contradict what Rare said, but as a compromise, maybe you could get an oil heater and leave it plugged in overnight? You know, one of those dip stick looking things with a cord on it?

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Not to contradict what Rare said, but as a compromise, maybe you could get an oil heater and leave it plugged in overnight? You know, one of those dip stick looking things with a cord on it?

C'mon guys, let's get real here. There's tens of millions of cars that operate year round in the 'frozen north'. None of them (Corvettes included) need special procedures or equipment to start or run in the winter. Why would you need to do something special on your Corvette that you don't need to do on your regular driver?

It's none of my business, but let's not go off the deep end and create more urban legends.

By the way I live near Montreal , so I've seen a few cold winters.

 

[tomtom72]

Hi all, Sorry to here about the bad family car situation. I live in NYS(by NYC) and in snow the vette is a very stable car due to the near overlap of it's roll-center and COG & it's near 50/50 WD. The only problem is the other driver and in deep snow the front air intakes get clogged(over 6 inches) and the wide tires in front. The road salt as mentioned is DEADLY and must be addressed, as all the equipment for safe winter driving. With good snow tires the car does just fine if you keep aware of good winter driving techniques and don't have too many steep hills to climb. Yes, one winter only as an expeirment, I used my 72 LT-1 after a fresh snow fall just to see what would it be like, Just once for a drive thru my neighbor hood. The only thing that would worry me is GRP's behavior in extreme low temps, would the seam strips be subject to vibration and would there be negative results? On dry pavement the snow tires will not handle at all! After my test I would not encourage a vette's use, but not because it's "bad" in snow, just because of the frame's salt collection ability. Tom

 

[81 Corvette]

I've driven mine daily for 2 years, and now i'm getting ready for my third winter with the vette.

Make sure you have good tires on the back, otherwise, it'll come around in no time.

The only issue with headlights is, if they have snow or ice on em, knock it off before popping em open. Snow and ice will melt off teh headlights as you are driving.

Defrost and wipers are going to be essiential.

I agree with teh comment on windshield washer fluid. It's a must if you have to do any serious driving.

Other then that, take your time. The Vette isn't any different then driving a truck w/ rear wheel drive. It just sits at lot lower and had POSI, but they can handle a couple of inchs of snow.

The only other thing i'd be concerned about is the door handles/locks in freezing rain.

personally, i'm glad to see other sharks on the road any time of the year. They are just becoming way to rare.

 

[Yoda]

C'mon guys, let's get real here. There's tens of millions of cars that operate year round in the 'frozen north'. None of them (Corvettes included) need special procedures or equipment to start or run in the winter. Why would you need to do something special on your Corvette that you don't need to do on your regular driver?

It's none of my business, but let's not go off the deep end and create more urban legends.

By the way I live near Montreal , so I've seen a few cold winters.

Mike,

I grew up in Nebraska, and when we got 37 days of below zero temps, my cars didn't start the same nor handle the same as in July and August I even had block heaters to help keep the oil warm.. Don't know about the urban legends, but try to pour 30wt oil at -17

Winter is hard on machines and humans and the "Stuff" they use on roads to melt the ice still cause fender cancer I knew several folks that used to drive their Corvette year round, I've also seem many very cancered frames too

Bud

 

[81 Corvette]

here is mine after returning from seeing the C6 last year at the detroit auto show



i used to smoke, so cancer probally runs in the family. at any rate, i plan on getting a new frame sometime in the next decade, so salt is of little concern to me.