# Daily driver and bad weather questions



## Neo-GTO (Sep 29, 2004)

I am curious to know whether any of you northern members plan on using your GTO as a daily driver in snowy climates. Any concern with having trouble on snow and ice covered roads? The high power engine with rwd layout normally would not be too conducive to those conditions, although it does have decent weight and traction control. 

Also, has anyone seen an official minimum ground clearance figure for the GTO? I cannot find any official ground clearance numbers online. 

Finally, how does the traction control operate on the GTO? Is it simply a system that cuts power to the wheels when they slip or does it use the braking system? 

Thanks!!


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## catchmeifucan (Sep 12, 2004)

Crossing my fingers - I traded in my 4X4 for the GTO. I hope with the traction control and the even distribution of the weight, it will do alright in the bad weather.

If not, well, I had better sign up for AAA


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## LarryM (Aug 17, 2004)

The traction control system is a pretty fancy gizmo. Yes, it applies the brakes, and it even does something to make the gas pedal harder to push (a nice touch I thought).

The weather here in Chicagoland has been amazingly nice since I bought mine the beginning of August, other than some very minor rain I wouldn't even know if the windshield wipers work.

So I think this car will do better than your average RWD in the winter, but I did keep my 4WD so I probably won't have too much experience with it in the snow.

---Larry


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## Neo-GTO (Sep 29, 2004)

catchmeifucan said:


> Crossing my fingers - I traded in my 4X4 for the GTO. I hope with the traction control and the even distribution of the weight, it will do alright in the bad weather.
> 
> If not, well, I had better sign up for AAA


LOL, thats the spirit! 

I am a little apprehensive about getting a GTO mainly because of not knowing how it will handle white stuff! Right now I have a 4X4 for winter driving, but I have decided I really cannot stand driving it anymore. Its just not that much fun to drive and it costs a small fortune to operate. I figure if I am going to spend a small fortune to operate a vehicle, I might as well really enjoy it. Also, it seems to me that its not as useable in bad weather as I had thought when I bought it. Sure the 4wd is nice in the snow, but I think in two Buffalo winters, where we get plenty of snow, it really has been essential only once or twice, and on those days I could have easily avoided going out if I didn't have it.



LarryM said:


> The traction control system is a pretty fancy gizmo. Yes, it applies the brakes, and it even does something to make the gas pedal harder to push (a nice touch I thought).
> 
> The weather here in Chicagoland has been amazingly nice since I bought mine the beginning of August, other than some very minor rain I wouldn't even know if the windshield wipers work.
> 
> So I think this car will do better than your average RWD in the winter, but I did keep my 4WD so I probably won't have too much experience with it in the snow.


Thanks for the T/C explanation! I was curious as to how sophisticated the system was!!

---Larry


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## BLUSHIRT35 (Sep 13, 2004)

it simple for me here in ny when it snows if im home im staying home if the storm hits at work im leaving early my priority is to get home safely and park my baby in the driveway unscathed . i drove my ttype in a blizzard well it was raining here in nycity but by the time i got 2 hours north it was an ice storm and when i reached my destination i realized i was driving in a foot of snow. now you have turbo no traction control yet i made it with a lot praying and yes there were times on the highway i was doing only 20 and i was gliding on ice but i m here today so just use your best judgement. and yes i will never go north again in the rain in january in a rear wheel drive car lol


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## Skidmark (Sep 20, 2004)

I plan to try it in the snow, if it's as bad as I expect I'll get snow tires.


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## gtogirl (Oct 3, 2004)

We're here in Michigan (Detroit), I could barely count on 1 hand the # of days where we had bad snow - enough to close schools. I don't think my husband has put his Dakota Quad Cab in 4WD here for many years, and it's RWD in 2WD. If I have to get the kid to school (if it isn't closed), I get the Quad Cab, and hubby gets the GTO. I don't think he'll mind


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## 2004 GTO (Aug 2, 2004)

Neo-GTO said:


> I am curious to know whether any of you northern members plan on using your GTO as a daily driver in snowy climates. Any concern with having trouble on snow and ice covered roads? The high power engine with rwd layout normally would not be too conducive to those conditions, although it does have decent weight and traction control.
> 
> Also, has anyone seen an official minimum ground clearance figure for the GTO? I cannot find any official ground clearance numbers online.
> 
> ...


 I used mine last winter from January on and was in a couple 6 inch snow storms. Use a little common sense driving and you will be fine.


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## tha_derelict (Sep 30, 2004)

My 2k trans am did ok in the snow. But its lighter and doesnt have the traction control. So I think the goat will do better. Im not worried.


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## philpio (Sep 22, 2004)

I bought my GTO M6 as the daily driver.
I am planning on getting separate rims and Blizzak snow tires for the winter.
I'm in the Chicagoland area. Winters have been relatively mild the last few years, so we are due for some heavy snow...

Anyone with stock wheels for sale ?
Or know of where I can pick some 17" ers that will fit the GTO for less that $125 each ?
TireRack has a package of wheels and blizzaks. but the wheels are about $179 each !


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## BRIAN P. EWING (Aug 7, 2004)

I Ordered Some Aftermarket Wheels Last Week And Hopefully They'll Be In This Week To Put On. If No Problems Occur My Factory Wheels Will Be Available.


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## Neo-GTO (Sep 29, 2004)

2004 GTO said:


> I used mine last winter from January on and was in a couple 6 inch snow storms. Use a little common sense driving and you will be fine.


Ah, , first hand experience!  

I hope you don’t mind if I pick your brain for a moment on how your GTO handled in those 6 inch snowfalls you had. I am really interested how the T/C handled the slippery conditions, and how easy/hard it was to get the vehicle underway compared to say a fwd car, or even a different rwd car without the T/C. Do you have the manual, is it easy to modulate the power to prevent bad wheelspin/fishtailing? Or does the T/C handle those problems?

I had another thought too. Any problems with snow clogging up badly in the wheel wells. There is not much of a gap in the wheel wells, and I would imagine the snow packs up to the tires rather quickly! Was that at all an added annoyance, or really no more of a bother than any other car?

Sorry for the million questions! Thanks for all your input!!


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## LarryM (Aug 17, 2004)

philpio said:


> I bought my GTO M6 as the daily driver.
> I am planning on getting separate rims and Blizzak snow tires for the winter.
> I'm in the Chicagoland area. Winters have been relatively mild the last few years, so we are due for some heavy snow...
> 
> ...


Hey -is your car Impulse Blue and did you chat with me at lunch time in the Borders parking lot a couple weeks ago???

What's the deal with "blizzaks"? Would you absolultely need snow tires to be on 17" rims? 

---Larry


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## kevracer (Sep 27, 2004)

*Slick driving conditions*

The first weekend I had my GTO I drove over the Sierras to Nevada. On the way home Sunday morning, I first ran into light snow. Yikes! I kept seeing signs about chain installations, and remembered the "no chains" warning in the manual. I was nervous, but the snowfall never was heavy enough to accumulate enough to really cause a problem, just made the road wet. The GTO handled the wet road OK, but I would felt a lot better had the car had a dash report of the outside temperature. Later, I ran into two (2) seperate heavy rainfalls featuring BB-sized hail. Again the GTO handled everything fine. Thank goodness no body damage from the hail. Even though the car did OK, I won't be driving to Nevada again until spring


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## philpio (Sep 22, 2004)

Larry,
I do have an Impulse blue/blue.
But, I was not at Borders...

Do you live 'in da city' ?
I'm out in Schaumburg.

We should get together to compare GTO notes...


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## taylor65 (Aug 14, 2004)

Man, the car makers sure have done a good job of convincing people that rwd is scary and dangerous in the snow so they could sell fwd cars. The key to driving rwd is to take it easy and know how to slide when it's necessary (and all-season tires are good, a manual tranny is also helpful). My last sports car was a modified 300zx twin turbo with just under 400hp, and I drove it as a daily driver for 7 years, and I had no trouble driving it in the snow. I have an order in for a 05 GTO, and it'll be my daily driver, and I see no problems with that.


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## LarryM (Aug 17, 2004)

philpio said:


> Larry,
> I do have an Impulse blue/blue.
> But, I was not at Borders...
> 
> ...


Philpio - I work in Hoffman Estates, so just down the street from you. There must be at least 3 Blue GTO's in the area then, as I did talk to a guy that was pulling into Shaumburg Borders as I was leaving, maybe 3-4 weeks ago now.

Maybe we could met someplace for lunch?

---Larry


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## LarryM (Aug 17, 2004)

taylor65 said:


> Man, the car makers sure have done a good job of convincing people that rwd is scary and dangerous in the snow so they could sell fwd cars. The key to driving rwd is to take it easy and know how to slide when it's necessary (and all-season tires are good, a manual tranny is also helpful). My last sports car was a modified 300zx twin turbo with just under 400hp, and I drove it as a daily driver for 7 years, and I had no trouble driving it in the snow. I have an order in for a 05 GTO, and it'll be my daily driver, and I see no problems with that.


Personally, I've always felt that the FWD cars ONLY advantage is that they let you go on times when you probably shouldn't - because the car can go when it won't always stop.

I've only owned one FWD car, a Pontiac 6000STE - while I liked that car a lot, I will never have another FWD - and not because the FWD was problematic, I just don't care for "the feel". Gimme good ol RWD drive any day.

Chicago did have a semi-inclement weather the other day, as long as you're not flooring it, the GTO did fine.

---Larry


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