Winter Handling

7735 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by ihawk95, Mar 29, 2008

ihawk95

Discussion Starter · Mar 28, 2008

Hey All! Newbie here, but like D2, I'm a familiar face over on solsticeforum.com and skyroadster.com!

As I posted in D2's New to the G8 Forum thread I've been keeping my eye on the G8 for some time and am interested. I currently have a fully loaded 2004 GP GTP w/ the Competition Group and a 2006 Solstice.

Anyway, the G8 will most likely be my next purchase when I beat my GP to death. The thing I like and don't like about the G8 is it's rear wheel drive. I'm wondering how well it will handle in the snow and ice as I've been extremely impressed with my GP. It's the best car I've ever owned in that regard.

What do you all think? Is it going to be a winner in the winter or is it going to be a slippin and a sliding when there is a little snow? Or a lot??

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mikep77

· #2 · Mar 28, 2008

ihawk95 said:
What do you all think? Is it going to be a winner in the winter or is it going to be a slippin and a sliding when there is a little snow? Or a lot??

Slipping and sliding, isn't so bad. It's fun.

Anyway, I thought I'd bug you over here. Although, I am interested in the G8 GXP.

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chadley

· #3 · Mar 28, 2008

I have driven a rear-wheel drive car for 4 Canadian winters now - all I can say is Blizzaks rule

With proper winter boots the G8 should be a blast to drive in the winter...especially with the traction control off

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chiefpontiac

· #4 · Mar 28, 2008

^ and at least the off button is exposed and ready for use, CTS in in glove box.

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ihawk95

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 28, 2008

mikep77 said:
Slipping and sliding, isn't so bad. It's fun. Anyway, I thought I'd bug you over here. Although, I am interested in the G8 GXP.

Well, well, well...hail, hail the gang is over on the G8 forum now!!!

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ihawk95

Discussion Starter · #6 · Mar 28, 2008

Slippin and sliding was great back in my high school days when I drove my camaro everyday! 360's were fun as all! However, that car would get stuck in about 1" of snow and I was the slowest car on the road because all it would do is fishtail if it saw any gas. Granted that car has no weight in the back end but even with 2 70 lbs sandbags in my trunk it could get really tricky to drive in bad weather on the interstate. I'd rather not relive those days unless I want to do a few 360's for the heck of it. (I'd probably take the Solstice out for those though!!

)

So it's sounds like it could be a bit challenging in the winter. Hmm....

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chadley

· #7 · Mar 28, 2008

chiefpontiac said:
^ and at least the off button is exposed and ready for use, CTS in in glove box.

That's not good

But I could live with it I suppose. Just like I could live with the V8 power since I'm already used to V8 gas-mileage in my rotary

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awd4life

· #8 · Mar 28, 2008

Okay, I actually drove a Grand Prix GXP (FWD) in the rain one time, and it was literally the scariest thing I have ever done. I will give you that it is a different feel to what I had driven before (RWD and AWD), and I understand that every drive setup needs to be driven differently, but that was just silly. It would spin the drive tires if I even breathed on the gas. That is scary to me as I tend to use my front tires to steer and, if they have no traction, it is quite hard to steer.

Anyhow, I am a firm believer in AWD systems, but the G8 wont be equipped with one of those, so I will talk about RWD. I can see the advantages of FWD in the snow as you will have a ton of weight over the drive tires because of the engine, but this doesnt change the fact that you are trying to steer with drive tires. Let me know how it works, but I would rather push the cart up the hill rather than pull it.

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ihawk95

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 28, 2008

awd4life said:
Okay, I actually drove a Grand Prix GXP (FWD) in the rain one time, and it was literally the scariest thing I have ever done. I will give you that it is a different feel to what I had driven before (RWD and AWD), and I understand that every drive setup needs to be driven differently, but that was just silly. It would spin the drive tires if I even breathed on the gas. That is scary to me as I tend to use my front tires to steer and, if they have no traction, it is quite hard to steer.

Anyhow, I am a firm believer in AWD systems, but the G8 wont be equipped with one of those, so I will talk about RWD. I can see the advantages of FWD in the snow as you will have a ton of weight over the drive tires because of the engine, but this doesnt change the fact that you are trying to steer with drive tires. Let me know how it works, but I would rather push the cart up the hill rather than pull it.

Maybe my GTP behaves a bit differently than the GXP. If my tires start to spin the stability and traction control kick in and they don't spin for very long at all. A few seconds at the most. My tires rarely spin on wet pavement and it rarely hydroplanes. It's unusual for the traction control to kick in when the pavement is only wet. But that very well could be due to the supercharged engine vs. the V8. If I don't step on the gas, the car doesn't take off like a bat outta h-e-double hockey sticks. I have to want the tires to spin. I drove my friend's GXP and that car has a lot more behind it when you step on the gas. Still I would think they would be similar.

It gets really slick in the small down I live in and they don't plow the streets well at all. I have yet to be stuck in my Grand Prix. It's come close, but it's always made it out. My Solstice would never even make it out of my garage. And I've tried a few times and given up rather quickly. The GP doesn't slide often at all...only sometimes when I try to stop and I'm on ice, but it seems to stop much more quickly than any other car I've owned. I'm somehow hoping the G8 will be similar despite the RWD and the big engine.

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