OMG drove my car in the snow yesturday

The dumb *** weatherman said, "Maybe a dusting" so I drove my 996 in to work yesturday. 3 inches later, I was stuck trying to drive home. Scarry.

Geez. Yeah, the snow moved in quickly around 10 AM in Tysons Corner. During the peak I saw a 996 Cab spin out outside my window (I was 4 floors up in my penthouse, "working" from home .) Luckily the 996 had a Cayenne escort car and the Cayenne driver got out to help push. Damn I live in a yuppy neighborhood! I hope you and your car made it home safely despite the weather.

I learned from my own experience that snow+996 with regular tires do not mix well. Last month I did several zig-zags on the interstate at about 40mph. Very scary! Even had a hard time driving on the street attempting to get back home. You need proper tires to drive on snow. Be careful!

Me too! Although my area (VA BEACH) was not supposed to get anything until today... I got suprised but left work early to beat the **** poor drivers and risk damage to the baby.

Yeah, I got it too yesterday, I'm picking up my snow tires this afternoon, still had my p-zeros on. Actually did pretty well, NOT GREAT, pretty well. Thank god for AWD!

Couldn't agree more. The Pirellis were ok in snow for my first year of ownership (02ttX50), but last year i had a similar white knuckle experience and had to change tunes. On snows, the car is excellent. AS

Why was it scary ? Did you not have Snows on ? For the Last week where I live I drove My Targa everyday in 3-5 inches of snow with P Winter Sport Rubber - Not one slip, nothing. The Targa hug the road perfectly, I love the look on other drivers faces when I come in the fast lane. Priceless. Trust me Gents the 996 can handle the snow without a problem, that is providing you have PSM.

Just a thought - maybe your car needs to go on a diet. Carbio?

Move to San Diego, its only 78 today!

I agree completely with RJMDAD996. When out fitted with the proper tires the 996 is a very capable car. In fact is quite fun to drive and the looks on others faces is priceless.

I have Conti Sports on it, and I can tell you it was no fun. I don't want to drive it in the snow, just was caught off guard from the poor job that the weatherman did. I have a truck for the snow. It hopefully will never happen again.

I dont trust the weatherman like I used to when the weather was predictable to a certain extent. Nowadays, I need to see that its full on sun for the whole day before I take my car out. I would hate to have been caught out there in the snow, my truck was spinning out with its 80hp!! And the salt around here is just tooo much, creating salt clouds on top of the road.

You can't beat NC for fun in the snow- we got 1/4 inch of snow yesturday and it was a state of emergency. Many co-workers took between 4 and 12 hours to drive home (yes 12 hours) due to the traffic/ accidents. We're supposed to get 1-2 inches tonight - I hope we all survive! It's not the snow I worry about (given good tires), it's the other drivers! And that's why my baby is sleeping in the garage till the sun comes out.

None of your cars sound like they will be any picnic in the snow.

happened to me too....first time in the snow in my Pcar. Had to drive 50 miles in 3 inches of snow and ice on conti sports. 40mph with flashers on all the way home....rearend came out at 40 mph 4or 5 times...really believed my car would in Part Heaven mag next month. no more winters for me

Just get snows on it you'll be fine. I'll post a report this wknd, supposed to get 4".

Have four 17" snow tires on the C4. When I saw snow this weekend, I was like a giddy little kid. I was up and out at 8 am. The car was excellent in the snow. My biggest concern was the salt trucks. I spent a little time trying to get the PSM to kick in, which it did and I instantly came back to reality... All in all, I think it does an excellent job in the snow, with the tires and the 4 wheel drive. That said, snow tires are NOT summer tires. Up until recently, its been warmer than usual in the tri-state area and pretty easy to find the limits of winter tires on dry pavement.

I'm all about driving mine year round and it rarely sits in the garage but there is just no compelling reason to take it out in the snow. Better off with snow tires I guess but when I see someone out in the snow in a Porsche (non cayenne) or any other expensive performance car, I think it's a really bad sign for many reasons and I steer clear!

Yetis, I went to a Wal Mart parking lot that was large (of course) and vacant (since people stayed home due to the snow) the last time it snowed, turned of PSM with the button on the dash and 'did a doughnut' (which is easy to do in a 911 because of the rear engine) then turned PSM back on and tried to 'do a doughnut' and found that the PSM worked so great that it wouldn't let the back of the car slide. Try it if you get a chance (if there is a place that you can do it safely). I got the idea to do this when I read about the Porsche Driving Experience School. Apparently they drive the cars over slippery surfaces with and then without PSM so the students can see how well PSM works. It is impressive indeed. My only problem was the doughnut made me dizzy since I suffered a concussion recently.

With proper winter tires an ordinary C2 is a fine snow car. The rear engine design aids acceleration and braking. Check out this video of a C2 on the snow covered ring (warning 62 meg video) http://hoheacht.free.fr/vids/nordschleife_winter.mpg

Carreramark: I hear yah on the "is the Porsche really the right car for this". That said, I only have one car. Its not that I cannot afford another one, but owning just one car when you live in NYC is nuts, owning two is just crazy if you don't have a house out in the coutry or in the Hamptons. With parking $500 a month, insurance at $300-$400 a month, its just not worth it. I can rent an SUV for the ski trips and such, I cannot rent a Porsche. When I own a spot out of NYC where I can insure and park multiple cars, then I will. Until then, its donuts in the Wal-Mart parking lot in the P-Car. Fishman: I didn't do the Wal-Mart lot, I went to a university parking lot and it was great, without the risk. However, in my anxiousness, I decided to play rally car driver on a back country road to the lot. All in the all the combo of 4W drive and PSM worked great, but it does have its limits...

I agree with you completely. That's why if anyone wants to see the PSM in action it's best to try it where there is nothing to hit and at a low speed. I'm a big believer in situational driving. I vary my driving style greatly depending upon conditions.

Chris, I also only have one car aty my disposal (wife drives the SUV), if I know it's gonna snow, I just do the train thing, but sometimes I just gotta drive, mine has never let me down. BTW sorry about the spoiler incident! Chris

Chris, no problem about the spoiler. Its my fault for not getting there sooner. Driving in the snow is not what bothers me, its cleaning the car after the fact. I had the brilliant idea of rinsing off the car Sunday night and succeeded in coating my entire car with a thin layer of ice. Well, at least the salt and stones won't hurt the paint. Where on the island do you get your car cleaned. I have access to the hose at a house, but with the 30 degree weather, its not really practical.

Got it, no offense intended!

Chris, I do my own car in the driveway, a 'high-end sports car place f'd up a rim last yr, never again. I'll wash it with a pale of warm water/soap, then douse it with buckets of warm water, wax/polish in the garage.

Programmatore -- do you have any pictures of your car that you can share? I'm thinking about the same Ruf kit. gergonzalezatmsndotcom

That must have been a wild ride home! I still had my Conti summer tires after Thanksgiving when the temps dived into the single digits. On the way to work one morning (at 6 degrees), the Conti�s protested to the cold weather by activating the ABS no less than 3 times under moderate braking. I cant' imagine trying to negotiate snow tih the summer Contis. I now have my winter wheels and 17� Blizzaks on the car and have no trouble in the snow. This is my 4th winter with the 996. I also drove my previous 911 through 5 winters (with snow tires and no traction control), although defrosting/deicing my car after sitting all day in uncovered parking was a challenge in an air-cooled car. However, I usually don�t drive the 996 if there is more than 4 inches of snow for obvious reasons. I do get some weird stares from others�especially during our latest snowfall when I pulled away from a stoplight while the person in the front wheel drive car beside my was stuck spinning. Dedicated snow tires make a huge difference.

Gerardo, Sorry, I didn't see your post buried in there. Here are a couple of pictures. The aerokit will not improve handling in the snow -- you still need winter tires.

Wow... nice first post.

Dude, chill. Porsches are meant to be driven hard daily, even in the snow. Why do you think Porsche has a testing ground in Finnland, that's where the 997TT is being winter tested now? I love driving mine in all weather and running it hard at the track. That's what these cars are meant for, not some garage queen under glass concourse thing. So what if he works in manhattan and just got his first Porsche?

Here are a couple shots taken with my camera phone from the last big storm we had. It was a blast. [IMG] I've got a great video too but I can't figure out how to upload it. Help anyone?! Pat

c4s + 4 blizzak m25 snow tires = best snow car I have ever had

The 1990C4 on snows is actually better. That car has a mechanical 4wd system that gives outstanding grip, but allows more tossability. I have an X50tt on 4 Pirellis, and agree that the psm makes it child's play to drive quickly and more safely in snow. But the older model was more controllable with lift-throttle oversteer, brake and throttle, or throttle induced understeer(corrects the tail out). Also, when you locked the differentials electronically, grip was unbelievable. I think you could put a plow on the nose and do commercial snow removal. Still, no comparison to the modern electronic marvels for ease, comfort, and of course, the idiot factor in all of us. AS

Wow, how much snow is that? If the video isn't too big, email it to me and I'll host it. [email removed]