996 C2 or C4. My wife is all concerned about traction.
 

I'm looking at purchasing a used 996, likely a 2002, and i think ive found the perfect c2. However, i do live in NJ, we get some snow up here, and I plan to have this car as a semi-daily driver. What i mean by semi daily driver is not commuting in it daily but will use it very often.

So: how is this car if there is a bit of snow on the roads. I dont plan to take it out in blizzards, but am i going to be all over the place with the 2 wheel drive?

I have my wife convinced to go ahead and get a 911, but now she's all worried about if it would be drivable in the snow.

So i would love some opinions and info on experience on this topic.

Tell her she wont be the one driving it so what business is it of hers? Wow you really need to learn about women.

Lots of cars get around just fine in snow or worse with 2 wheel drive.

Remember it is not not the going that is the problem, it is the turning/stopping and all cars are equal in this regard.

For the going in the case of the 911 it has a very large percentage of its weight over the rear wheels so it is not like driving some front engine/rear wheel drive vehicle in which the rear end floats on the snow rather than sinks in and bites. Turning and stopping are handled by proper tire selection and by the driver's ability to drive in marginal traction conditions.

So, the biggest factor is the selection of tires. Do not scrimp on proper winter tires. None of that all season foolishness.

The next biggest factor and maybe the first is the driver. The best snow tires, AWD, heck tank treads, will not save a driver who is not winter driving savvy.

Or,, a C4S would solve your issue.

My biggest concern wouldnt be the traction under acceleration but rather keeping the rear end from breaking loose and swapping ends. These cars can and will swap ends during a hydroplane/ice encounter. Im no expert, living in South Florida, but i would absolutley take Macster's advice and run a proper tire for winter conditions. If you think there could be ice on the roads my suggestion is to park the car.

i have a 2001 C2, no traction control or PSM.....in the winter I use blizzaks, and have no issues with snow at all....

I live in CT and have a 2002 C4 Cab that I use as a daily driver including in the snow. Below is my personal experience most of which is quite obvious but I'm going to say it anyway just in case you need to know the obvious.

- This car is not built for driving in the snow but that doesn't mean that you can't drive it in the snow if you are smart about it.
- First and foremost, more than 4 inches on the ground and the car becomes a snowplow because of the low front end clearance so once you hit 4" of snow, keep it in the garage.
- The tires you have on the car now are most likely or at least should be high performance summer tires, which means that once the outside temperature drops below 50 degrees, your driving on rocks anyway so traction will drop dramatically whether there's snow on the ground or not.
- These cars are heavy in the back-end and carry a lot of power from the rear wheels, even in the AWD version, so it can be easy to lose traction, especially in a turn when driving in snow so drive accordingly. AWD doesn't give you a license to drive like an idiot, it just gives you better traction when accelerating.

With that said, my suggestion is as follows:
- Buy the car that makes you happy. If the C4 makes you feel more comfortable than a C2, then get a C4. The price differential between a C4 and a C2 isn't that big, its when you jump up to a Cab that you see a big jump in price but either way, you want to be happy with what you have - i.e. no regrets.

- Buy a 2nd set of rims and winter tires for the winter. Don't waste your money buying all season tires. For the summer, I run 18's but for the winter I have a set of 17" turbo twists with Nokian Winter Tires and the difference in traction in bad weather is remarkable. The 17" rims cut through the snow better than the 18's and the Nokian Tires blow away any other snow tire I have ever had, including Blizzaks. It is a tire made purely for cold and snowy conditions from either Norway or Sweden I think. I now use Nokian's on all three of my cars for the winter months.

For the extra set of Rims, you can get imitation Turbo Twist's very inexpensively. As for the tires, the Nokian's may cost you $50 more per tire but that's nothing compared to the money you'd have to spend on your deductible when you smack the car into a curb or pole.

If you need the name of a reputable place that can hook you up with imitation turbo twists and nokians, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the guys that I used.

Good luck!

I live south of the Pocono's and here is my experience over the past five winters in a C2. I can't comment on the C4S yet because we really didn't have any snow to speak of last year. I do believe these cars are designed for year round use.

The C2 - one of the best winter cars I have ever owned. I run proper "N" Spec winter tires. As others have mentioned, rear wheel drive and rear engine does the trick.

In certain conditions you have to be as careful as you would in any car, including a four wheel drive. I actually drove the C2 on ice, not on purpose but that's the way it turned out. Had to be very careful lifting off the throttle as the rear end does want to point front, and keeping a huge distance from other cars and trucks. I would prefer to never ever do this again, but I was amazed at just how well the C2 managed these conditions.

Also drove it to West Virginia for a funeral during February one year - ended up driving into a huge snow storm to a point where it was pretty much just me and a few trucks on the road. Real adrenilin pumper, but again, the car performed so well. I remember parking at the hotel and just staring at the car thinking "damn, I can't believe I made it here".

Although I also have winter tires on the C4S - the C2 is my primary winter car. If the weather was so bad that I wouldn't or couldn't travel in the C2, odds are that I would also decide not to travel regardless of what kind of car was available.

Take snow out of the equation and then I will say that a C4 is the better handling machine.

My suggestion, just use the same common sense as you would driving in any hazardous weather condition in any vehichle and you will be fine.

Hope it all works out for you.

Also, in SFL not much snow to contend with but we do have plenty of rain. Using mine often as a DD I find that it take a "lot" to swap ends. Trust me I know I try to evey turn I take, LOL.

I have never run into someone who could not get around just fine in any Porsche witout good snow tires. Sure AWD is best (in any car), but that does not mean with good snows you will not be able to get around fine.

Please give me a call if I can help.

My friend, you should come to the track some time. You will see that's swapping ends is easier than you think. ERME has an event next weekend at Homestead. Just saying :D

As mentioned, 4 purpose built snow tires are needed. Don't skimp. Put them on around Dec 1 and take them off around easter.

the bigger challenge will be ground clearance. As long as the snow doesn't build up under the car and leave it highsided, you will be fine.

If you are already comfortable with driving in snow, you and the car will be fine.

fwiw, on a few occasions I had to drive my '78 911, on all season tires, in slick wintry conditions. The car was FINE. I was more nervous about getting hit by an idiot thinking they were impervious in their AWD SUV.

The C4 series using the VC, Viscous Coupling, is mostly NON-FUNCTIONAL for your purposes, actually, for amost any purposes. In most cases TC or stability control will have acted to prevent wheelspin/slip skidding, plowing, etc, long before you could have gained any real functionality from the VC.

While the newer 997's with the electromagnetically controlled front drive clutch is a stellar improvement over the VC type, it also could use a simple DIY improvement. A switch to have it fully engaged whenever the driver KNOWS that conditions warrant same. The fly in that ointment is that the clutch must NEVER be engaged in this manner on any tractive, intermittenty tractive surface, nor above ~20MPH.

"Snow" tires are TOTALLY worthless unless the surface is loose enough for the tread to sink into, penetrate slightly. On packed snow or ice you will be much better off with standard summer tires with more tread surface area for the surface contact patch.

My Porsche doesn't go out in that kind of weather, my F/awd RX300 does. The RX300 runs all year 'round on the most comfortably riding, quietest summer times I can fit, tire chains at the ready...always.

My "two Cents", living here in Denver, is to do what most of us Porsche Pushers do, buy yourself a 4WD or AWD and park the Porsche. It's just not worth the worry, even if you have taken and passed the Winter Porsche Driving Experience in Sweden or Siberia. The problems come from the other drivers that have no clue about winter driving. A rear ender will absolutely ruin your day,month, year, and your Porsche will never have the same value when the Carfax reads "accident repair!"