911XTC

It snowed in Portland and I was looking forward to slicing through the slippery stuff with the AWD and Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires on my 96 C4. Well, after not making it all of the way home, I have to say I’m a bit disappointed. I’ve read and heard a lot about how its AWD system was much improved over the 964. True, it is much simplified, lighter and more transparent then the 964 system but for pure bad weather driving it can't hang with the 964. I am positive my former 964 C4 would have gotten me home. That car had as much traction as the Jeep Cherokees I have owned.



Speaking of traction, since the 993 is stranded at the bottom of the hill my only option was to drive the wife’s MB R350. That thing is amazing! Stopping and starting on steep snowy hills as if on dry pavement, the traction control intervening only when I persuaded it. At work, two of my coworkers were boasting about the traction of their Isuzu Troopers. So for fun we lined them up on the snow covered street outside our office. One Trooper with M&S tires, one with off-road tires and chains, and the wife’s R350. Traction control on or off made no difference, the Benz smoked ‘em.



I can’t help wondering how the 964 would have done against the Troopers. I miss that car.

DJF1

The slippery stuff with the Pilot Sport All seasons are not a great recipe IMO. Change your tires to winter sports like a Blizzak or an M3 or a Pirelli Snowsport and I think you will find remarkable difference.
I have the snowsports on my 2WD Mercedes E320 and while many SUV and 4x4's were in the ditch, I was straight and true with lots of traction even on the deep stuff.

Davies

Second that. Put snow tires on it. You won't believe the difference. Pilot sports in the snow is like wearing penny loafers in the stuff. Useless.

martyp

I can't speak specifically to your tires, but i'm way less than impressed with my summer compound tires on my C4 in the snow. My common dirver is an A4 turbo quatto so i've got high expectations. I've got a set of Blizzaks coming for the C4.

Wilder

Even C2s are great in the snow with the right tires. Summers or All Seasons simply don't work in the snow no matter what you drive.

drh

We're here in Portland also, but I'm not brave enough to take the P-Car out with all the retards running into each other. That being said, our MB ML320 has impressed me more than ever. We installed a set of Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armors and that thing is a fabulous in the snow and ice. The ABS is amazing as well.

tj90

The one downside to working and living in San Diego. You actually have to work in the wintertime.
How did you smoke a 4 wd with M&S tires? It must have open differentials or something....

vjd3

You should also get the car on a lift and spin a rear wheel by hand to see if the front wheels move with it. Lots of people think they are driving a C4 that is really a C2 because someone was either playing stoplight dragstrip racer and dumping the clutch, or they spun the car and kept the clutch in long enough to break the viscous coupler. If the fronts don't spin with the rears, you've found the problem.

I've driven both a C2 and a C4 in serious snow with Dunlop WinterSport M3 tires, and both were excellent drivers.

Brett - 1996 C4

+1 on that. I was just on my way back home when the snow really starting dumping here last Wednesday. Thought "great, this will show what the AWD can do." Let's just say the Pilot Sports do not impress in even an inch of snow. While it wasn't sliding all over like other cars were doing, it also didn't have the absolute stability our Subaru with M+S tires has in snow, not even close. I'm sure if I had some Blizzaks on it, it would have been a different story.

What rim diameter is everyone running with 993 snow tires? 17" or down to 16"?

martyp

Mine came with 2 sets of shoes. PO had M2s on the stock 17" cups and added aftermarket twists in 17" with Khumos. I'll be putting the Blizzaks on the cups.

98_993_cab

This gives one an idea of how bad it can get... http://www.kgw.com/video/mostpopular.html?tn "KGW viewer Derek Porter captured on video a series of cars sliding out of control and colliding from his Portland home."

Folks in the midwest laughed when I told them I was bailing from a conference call because it was snowing. I had the road pretty much to myself driving home at 10am in the Avant.

DJF1

guys you are talking about summer performance tires performing in the snow???!!!! The compound on sub zero celcius weather and pavement becomes hard as a rock! Do you really expect stability and performance in these kind of conditions even if its dry??? Moving up to Canada has tought me a lot about what a difference temperature makes in the way performance tire actually perform. On my BMW with S03's on it handles like a pig when the temperatures hover around zero, when I put on the Nokian WR which are her winter tires its night and day regardless of snow or not.

911XTC

Thanks for all of the replies. I just wanted to make one point clear. Much of the discussion has been about summer tires, indeed a recipe for disaster in the snow. However the tires I am running are A/S (all season) Michelin Pilot Sports. Certainly not on par with Blizzaks but at least as good as the A/S Dunlops I had on my unstoppable 964 C4.

vjd3 you rise an interesting point. I have observed my front wheels spinning in the snow but I wonder if they are receiving something less than the potential 40% power. I wonder if there is a way to check that the viscous coupler is operating at full capacity.

P.S. I found out the hard way, ABS does not work when sliding backward down a hill

biotechee

+1 for All Seasons being crap in the Winter. It's all marketing propaganda! I had a 318i BMW with All Seasons- not fun to drive in the snow. Put dedicated snows on steelies for the Winter- world of difference. Never got stuck, even on icy roads.

Don't drive my 968 in snow- but if I had plans to, there would be a separate set of snows, no doubt. My current daily driver (Jetta VR6) has snows on it right now- last year it was a tank in the snow- unstoppable!

Just keep in mind that snows wear quickly! The compounds in snow tires which make them extra grippy (the silicates and stuff) are found in only the very uppermost layers of the tread. I was able to get two seasons out of the snows on the BMW. In the third season, they behaved much like All-Seasons. This information has been published before by a couple of different sources IIRC. I am on my second season with Jetta snows, and if next Winter is bad, I might have to get a new set.

Jim

Thaddeus

I believe your issue is your choice of tires or perhaps your front transfer case is not working properly. My C4 with Blizzaks is unstoppable.