Marlon Targa 86

Yes, I was joking about the anti freeze Or was I ?

Thx for all the great advice! I will let you know how it goes.

Marlon

wwest

Rear-engine RWD. I would NEVER intentionally drive my 911 into conditions that I even thought might require tire chains. The car is simply too "dicey" for that kind of driving, even with years of experience (or maybe due to) on the slippery stuff.

pdxjim

I would recommend a well aged, single malt anit-freeze at the end of the day!

pdxjim

btw, I drove, 356's and 911's in the snow forever with just snow tires in the back.

Rob Heath

First winter driving the 911 and would like to add some recent newbie experiences / thoughts from driving last week here in CO where we had a fair amount of snow packed roads and one morning it was -10F as I set out to drive.

Grew up driving in snow and have been doing it for a long time, but driving the 911 the first time was the most "thrilling thing" than I have done in a long time! The car has Toyo all season tires tires on it, but were not sufficient for any long time on a snowy road.

Car drives great straight it is just turning that gets really interesting... even with a full tank of gas (weight in the front) car goes through a turn sequence starting with a lot of understeer (you are not turning) to give it gas and then suddenly you have big oversteer situation with the tail kicking out. Very gentle on the gas through the turns was the way to go and very very slowly.

Starting from a standing stop the car was not any different than most manual cars... you need to get out of the lower gears (1st & 2nd) fast or you just spin... while engine strains a little at lower speeds in 3rd you are moving forward.

I kept thinking each time I got in the car that this was like a DE event and just wanted to see how the car responded to input.

These were bad conditions and ended up driving to the bus station to take a bus to work for two days vs. 70 mile round trip drive... 5 miles each wasy was plenty of drive time. If I had been on a road trip, I would have just found a hotel, got some beers and waited.

Have been thinking about a set of snow tires....

Jay H

I drive a Boxster all year round and with snow tires, it's no big deal. All season tires work, but not real well. Many all season tires get hard as a rock under 0 degrees F. Dedicated snow tires have immense grip levels as compared to all seasons. Also, I've driven air cooled 911's in single digit temps and they start and run perfectly in that weather.

dshepp806

I wouldn't do it.....

Mike Murphy

I would...

CT944

anti-freeze is recommended, for the driver of the car

MUSSBERGER

Boxster has a lot of nanny features to help keep you out of trouble and plus they still make them so that makes them inherently disposable. They don't make these anymore.

MUSSBERGER

Those look interesting.

ricster

Why do you NEED to drive it in the winter? I would get an SUV for that trip just my 2 cents

fpb111

I have driven many cars with chains, 35 mph is pretty much max with chains. I would not run chains on a 911. The oil tank is too close to the tire. If your chains get a little bit loose (they always do) you risk taking the tank out in a big way.
OTOH I wouldn't hesitate to use Blizzaks on your 911 in the snow. I drove my 1970S through three winters in NJ with good snow tires. It was a lot of fun. There is signifigantly more understeer then in the dry but with the engine over the driven tires no problem with getting it to move. (Big rust problem from copiuos amounts of salt)
The cabel "chains" are safer for 911 oil tanks, still risky in my opinion though.. I used something called "Yetti Nets" on an old Jaguar that I had. They worked well and did not get as loose as chains.

I am currently driving my 2003 cab through the winter with snows. Ground (snow in the middle of the road) clearence is the only problem so far.

wwest

If you live in constant foul wintertime weather the winter specialty tires are a reasonable investment.

Here is the Seattle area I often go to the white stuff more often than it "comes" to me. So my '01 F/awd RX300 runs on nice and quiet and comfortably riding summer use tires throughout the year. Chains always on board for those rare times of need.

cornerhans

I would recomend doing a search on Magnesium Chloride and find out which states use the product as a deicer on their roads, you may decide it's not worth it.

Washington state puts anti-corrosive additives into its magnesium to lessen the effects of corrosion but I have seen the stuff ruin a good seet of wheels in one trip.