I am just curious to know who drives their C4 through the snowy winter months (for those who have snow in winter of course). I do not currently drive my C4 during the winter season here in Canada as I have two cars. I only want one vehicle when the lease comes up on my current utility vehicle (VW Golf). I see 996 C4's, Boxsters, M3's, M5's and even a Polar Silver 996 Turbo being driven in the winter muck here. My 964 has 125,000 KM and is in excellent shape, but I know it will never be a concours winner. What could I expect from the 964 in cold winter weather ? How about daily use for that matter ? I have a nice warm garage to keep it in when I am not out and about. The only alternative would be selling it and getting a true all season vehicle (WRX STi, Infiniti FX 45, Audi A4) Thanks for any input. Regards, Brady

 

Hi Brady,

I do...

Mine sees fairly regular use travelling to ski resorts over the winter, and has done pretty well so far. I have winter tyres (17", down to 225 on the back) and carry chains. Haven't had cause to use them yet thankfully.

Don't think the handling is up to the standards of, say, my friend's VW Golf 4-motion (to qualify this, I'm talking about on snow/slush/ice). Perhaps that's just down to weight distribution and the larger tyres, but mine has a tendency to understeer on the slippery bits if I'm not careful.

Otherwise, the heater's up to the job, and the diff-lock seemed to get me moving when bogged down once...

Hope this helps,
Dave.

 

Are John and Jen going to pipe up?

 

I drove mine this weekend in the snow with snow tires.
I took it slow, and had no problems! It slipped when leaving traffic lights, but never really quivered too much.

The only issue is when I went to park it in my steep driveway, the car started floating towards my old Land Rover Series II! I cut the wheel gently and it then started going towards the wall with full brakes on!
Finally I cranked the hand brake which locked the rears up and brought her to a standstill.. Few.. I started sweating for a moment there!

Bottom line is, if I lifted the car about 3" (coilovers) and put on some winter snow tires, the car would be quite unstoppable...

 

Mine is a daily driver. I am like the postman, neither rain, nor sleet or snow, I am in my Porsche.

 

i have no C4 but a C2 and drive in the winter also...... No problems in the snow so far, have Vredestein Wintrac winter tires. Works great on 16" D '90 wheels.

 

I used to drive my C4 in the winter. No problems, just make sure you've got good tires and drive cautiously!!

 

For 5 years in Alaska, I drove my C4 year round. With studded snow tires on stock wheels, it was unstoppable. Except for limited clearance (stock ride height) it could go nearly anywhere. I once led a geology field trip to collect fossils with a school group, and due to an early October snow, and a scheduling mix-up, I led a parade of cars up a mining road with about 12 inches of snow. Some other vehicles got stuck, including an SUV or two, but not the C4. No reason to park the car all winter (especially if winter lasts 7 months)--too much fun to miss.

 

I drive mine in the snow also, and it does better than I initially expected despite having summer tires (235 front, 265 rear). I flick that control **** on the console in front of the shifter, and it makes all the difference in the world with respect to dealing with getting going again after a dead stop. I have to deal with a lot of hills where I live, and it has not failed to climb what's been put in front of it. Now, going DOWN those hills is a different story and must be avoided!.

Two questions as part of this thread:

1. What's the difference between the two "settings" on that dial switch?
2. What strategy do people use when descending hills? In neutral and soft braking? Lugging in first with no brakes? First gear plus light brakes? I've tried it all with mixed results.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I feel reassured. I see many more expensive cars out in the snow (many rear wheelers, saw a Jaguar XKR convertible today) and feel compelled not to let my car sit for six months. I am sure Ferry would say do it. Regards, Brady

 

Well its seems like it should be snow weather here in Hong Kong at the moment. Its bloody freezing. My C4 is out rain, hail and shine, typhoon and humidity don't get in the way.

I dont really get owners who lock their cars up for sunny days only. (of course it was a concourse car thats different). A C4 is meant for tough conditions. Use it freely!

Cheers
Mark

 

I would love to know this myself... Probably why I ordered Adrian's book today!!

 

Descending (and turning, braking, cruising, and otherwise staying between the ditches) in snow or ice comes down to tires. Again, based on my Alaska experience, 4WD whether in a Porsche or a pick-up, does more harm than good if you have summer treads. Like Corey Farley said in a recent Autoweek column, 4WD just gets people in trouble faster. At least one year, I delayed changing tires until the first snow, and decided to head for the office anyway. At the first turn out of the neighborhood, the back end came around (despite all the engineering in the C4), and I just managed to keep from going down the embankement on the other side. Thus informed, I crept back to the garage and swapped on the studs. A side note: plenty of times, I had to detour around a pick-up spinning its wheels at the slight incline at the bottom of the hill to my old neighborhood. Yup, they were fearsome meaty off-road treads, but useless on snow and ice.