chregan

I drive my '44 year round in New England. I have Toyo snow/ice tires. Pretty happy with them. If I know there's going to be a blizzard before I leave for work, I'll take the 4wd truck but otherwise, the car is good enough.
I also race the car on the ice and do winter RallyCrosses with it. For that severe duty where you're purposely pushing the car to the limits, I drop 60-120lb of sand in the spare tire well. That really gets you some grip. But I don't drive all winter with that. It would destroy the dry pavement handling of the car. Stan, it looks like you do some of that too.
Bottom line, if you want a 944 as a winter beater, there's no reason not to. Anyone that tells you otherwise, either lives in Alaska or thinks they need a 4wd SUV just because it snows 2 days a year.

Bill.e1

As an old farm boy who learned to drive rwd pickups on bald bias tires, I get a chuckle from "you need snow tires" threads. I will spare you the usual "kids these days" rant, though as I agree.

Twice so far a new set of tires has really impressed. The first set were radial all seasons that replaced my Jeep pickup's bald bias snows. The second was when I put Blizzaks on my wife's Honda. Even today, if I don't change wheels before the first big snow, I get a kick out of the back-to-back comparison driving into the garage on all seasons and driving out on Blizzaks. You feel like a rally god. They stick to snow like a puppy dog to a pork chop and have wonderfully linear slip angles at the limit. They are a lot cheaper than bodywork.

One more thing- a common recomendation for a winter car is positraction. I am not a big fan. While spinning both tires sounds like a good idea, this is usually followed by a sidways slide. If you don't spin or hit anything, your rear wheels are now out of your front wheel tracks and you are stuck.

Hope this helps,
Bill

The DareDevil

I would consider driving the 944 during winter but the amount of salt they dump on the roads over here is unbelievable.

Storage it is!

Scott at Team Harco

That's why I park my 944 every winter. That and I have a couple of sacrificial AWD 'sports cars' that make winter driving a lot more fun.

Chris_924s

a big yes. Do it. make sure you wash all the road salt off underneath often.

My car LOVES running is colder weather. actually,l it makes best use of the blowtorch heater= hot in 5 minutes in sub zero weather!

ljibis

I'm still on the fence. My 944 is a little too "time capsule", and has been stored every winter since new, so I'd feel a bit bad about putting it through the salt cycle. I found a 924S that is well cared for and has been daily driven for 130,000 miles, so that might be a decent purchase.

We'll see. I need to get rid of the Audi first.

pcarfan944

[QUOTE=ljibis]Wow! Thanks for all the information.

I live in Minneapolis, MN and grew up in South Dakota, so I have been driving in snow all my life. In high school I had a 1971 Chevy C-10 2WD pickup with a big block and Posi-traction...horrendous in the snow unless it had about a ton of sand in the back. I don't think any Porsche could be that bad, but I do know what it's like on slippery stuff without ABS, traction control, etc.
QUOTE]

I drove my 944 for two winters in Minneapolis. I had no trouble, and I didn't even use snow tires, just left the P6000s on. You have to drive slow, that goes without saying, and as long as you do that you'll be fine. I remember driving the 944 up in Northern MN through terrible snow storms with all kinds of trucks and SUVs in the ditch. It must have made them very mad to sit there and watch a Porsche drive by. The only time I got stuck was trying to get out of my driveway after the plow had gone by. The biggest issue I had was starting. On very cold days, it was pretty much a toss up on whether it was going to start or not, and maybe my car is unique in that sense, but winter starting for it has been really rather poor. I'd write more but I gotta go to class. Good luck.

______
Pat
86 944
95 Audi 90

Dave in Chicago

Galvanized bodies = Drive all winter, even in the salt. They really are reasonable 4-season cars.

Mike C.

I've been driving mine the last 5 years in north east US winters and am pretty pleased with the traction (using Dunlop Graspics snow tires). Half the car's weight is on the rear wheels which is better than many rwd cars out there. I've passed a few front drivers on hills but I assume these had poor tires....

85944na

I drove mine for 2 winters in Minneapolis, and I had no problems at all. I also remember driving in a lot of snow while more sure-footed vehicles were in the ditches. You do have to drive slow and be careful, but I really had no problems and I was 16.

85944na

um, actually I have a set of 4 15inch snow tires, came off of a set of cookie cutters so I imagine they'd be fine on phones. They are 4-5 years old and used sparsely for 2 seasons, stored on their side in a garage someone who knows more about snow tires should chime in and tell us whether they're still good or not, they are michelin arctic alpin tires. If they're still good and you want them let me know, they'll be cheap.

ljibis

PM with the size if you get a chance.

The Audi is going on CarSoup today....

...P

Here are a couple of photos of 944 winter driving
http://www.network54.com/Forum/messa...eid=1122656831

With a 50/50 weight distribution, the 944 and 928 actually are pretty good in the snow, as most front engine vehicles have a front end weight bias. However, due to the dangers of "the other guy on the street", I default to a 1989 Volvo 740 (otherwise known as a bumper-car) in the winter.

regards, P

Tony K

Amen. I would just add/clarify to use snow tires.

meewosh

HAHA!

I thouhgt that in US You have never seen snow

In Poland last year we had so great winter. and never go out without winter tires. Fu** UNI & MULTI tires. With my 150hp engine it's more fun to drive in winter than in summer. 3sixty's , turnovers etc