jinos

I was wondering if it is possible to drive in snow with my c4 that is lowered with 18s? I sold my winter tires and was wondering if it will make it to Tahoe

dfinnegan

Clearance is an issue.
Snow tires are a must.
Other than that it goes great!

P-daddy

Lowered + 18s + no winter tires + snow = No go!

964X33

I have on occasion taken my C4 (lowered with 17s) skiing with summer tyres and had no prbs. Of course we don't generally get snow here like you do on the continents so probably depends how well the roads are graded.

MrNvgtr

Safe/smart answer - no. At least get some snow tires or extra snow wheels/tires.

However, it really just depends on the roads you'd be driving on, the temps including windchill, snow fall amount, and your personal comfort level. In Colorado Springs (relatively low snow fall, flat roads), I used to drive my daily driven, rear-wheel drive, lowered, slammed stiff, BMW MZ3 Coupe with 18" high performance summer tires in all sorts of winter weather (ice/snow) up to about an inch before switching up to my wife's car for the day. Just depends and I don't know Tahoe too well.

pcarhiway

I do not have experience with the 964 in snow. However, when I drove the 993 Carrera 4 shown in my avatar up on the top of our mountain in an early fall snow (3 to 4 inches of snow is all) I had a very rude awakening concerning the summer tires. They were stock 17s. But the rear tires were so wide that there was absolutely zero traction when I made the U turn after I realized I had gone too far. You have to eat a lot of crow to call home and ask your teenage son to bring up the pickup and pull old Dad out of the snow after being stuck in his beloved Porsche (even with 4wd).

kos11-12

We have a few ski resorts at 1 1/2 H from where we live and I always wanted to drive with my lowered 64,
concerning the tyres ! If they are summer I think best is to lower the pressure to 28/32
I was concerne about ground clearance , but also salt on the road is very bad for our old cars....

GeorgeK

In temperatures below 6°c, the rubber compund of the summer tires loses its normal flex/adhesion capacity, rendering unsuitable for even (in theory) dry roads. Wet or white is a death wish.
Look at it this way:
-4 D90s with winter tires: below 1K$
-1st crash: ???K$

FeralComprehension

I once got my summer-tire-shod Miata stuck in my flat driveway in .25" of snow. While not AWD, that thing was a riot w/ good snow tires.

jinos

Thanks a lot Renn. Wish I never sold my d90s now lol.

Makmov

I drove mine in the snow once it was awesome, the best thing I ever drove in the snow.

when it was stock ride hight it could deal with about 5 inches, but its been lowered I suspect it could deal with 2 or 3.

dfinnegan

Last time I checked D90's were cheap . . . of course, it's been a while.

They make great snow tire setups. I just swap to 'em a little before T'giving and keep on driving.

Great car! Someone here says it in their sig . . . every drive's a treat! Ain't it the truth.

Let it snow!

Johnny G Pipe

+1 on D90's and snow tyres. I'm fitting mine this weekend. I made it even cheaper by buying part worn contiwinter sports off ebay. They are going to get much less use as I have a scooby for the salty days, so no point in spending loads on shiny new tyres.

I think you'll be surprised at how far you can get with a 964C4, even lowered on 18's. You have the flat underside (in case you need to sledge a little) and diff lock (remember that!?). Plus, after a back to back carpark donut session at Glenshee a couple of years ago, I can report that the 964 C4 is significantly better at maintaining traction in snow than 993 C4, which keeps trying to be RWD..

race911

Let's go back to the original question--getting to/from Tahoe. Understand that Caltrans throws up a chain control in July if they even think there will be a speck of snow on the road in November. So it really is all about having an AWD car simply to make it through a chain control on Hwy 50 or I-80. (Now, if you need to get to your unplowed property off the beaten path, all bets are off.)

That said, I've done it numerous times, to the tune of probably 20-30K miles with both my '92 C4 and '97 4S. I even ran the 4S on the 19's one time when it was clear in the morning, and got back to the car with a foot of snow on it in the Sugar Bowl parking lot 5 hours later.

And with the '92 C4, it was being used as a track car, so I had it as low as reasonably possible given bump steer concerns. Once coming back through Nevada (from Salt Lake City) we had snow on I-80 to the extent that the floorpan was regularly bottoming. Yes, I was running winter tires.

Ultimately, if you're aware at all when driving, they work really well in foul conditions.

Brian 96C2

I have posted this before, but here's my snow setup. D-90's with Hakies. I like to go out when there has been a couple inches, but before the salt goes down. Loads of fun.