1999 Carrera with TC in the snow.

I need some advice. I just bought a 1999 with TC and plan on driving it through an Ohio winter. I am going to be running 17" wheels with Dunlop Wintersport M2s, so the tires will not be an issue. Does anyone have experience driving this set-up in the snow? I am slightly worried that this car will be a handful even with the dedicated snows. Should I buy a junker second car for the winter? I ate to do that because I want to drive the car year round. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Pat

I drive my 02 with no problems. PSM probably helps but as far as going forward, you should be ok in moderate depth snow. I run 17 dunlops as well and it is very capable. I take it to VT as well. Jeff

I planned on using the stock 17" with the standard tire sizes and Dunlop Wintersport M2s for tires. Will that work in your opinion?

I had a 2000 C2 that I drove through the winter of 2003-2004 with no problems. Before that I had 1995 C2 I drove through numerous winters. I now have a 1999 C2 with TC that I will also be driving through the winter. I run dedicated winter tires - currently Blizzaks. Basically a Porsche with winter tires has no problem in the snow as long as it doesn't get too deep. Just remember that when the road is snow covered to drive like there is an egg under both the brake and the gas pedals and you will be fine. I find the Porsche with winter tires is much easier to handle than most FWD cars only equipped with all seasons.

I do not want a C4 to handle the three months per year I need it and pay the penalty the other 9 months. The Carrera will be a much better car to do DE events in and enjoy in general those other 9 months in my opinion. I am moving up from an Audi TT, so I have had my fill of AWD cars. The TT was great, but it just does not have a great driving feel. I mostly attribute that to the Quattro system. My BMW 330i sedan had a better driving feel with the RWD and 4 Doors! Thanks again.

Very COLD snow is as easy to drive on as is beach sand, it's when it starts getting packed down and icy that the going gets rough. Or worse yet, just an ice covered roadbed, or black ice even. There is no substitute for a RWD vehicle with studs or snow chains in those instances. Winter tires will be even worse than summer ones, not as much "contact" surface area for traction on a hard frozen surface.

I know what you are`saying about contact area, but the winter tire is designed to work at those low tempetures. Summer tires becone hard as a rock and slick at anything below about 45 Deg F. A summer tire in those conditions would be like ice sliding on ice. Anyway, your point is taken, but I think that would be true with any vehicle. 4WD, AWD, RWD, FWD...it does not matter on solid ice. Unfortunately, snow cahins are not allowed in Ohio, so that is not an option.

WWEST, Saw your replies on the poll also. I think you need to check out the articles on the dedicated winter tires. These are tested on ice rinks. The silica and sipes on the tires grab onto the ice. They stay flexible. I know you deal with a lot of deep snow out west, and chains are probably better for you, but back aest we have a lot of ice and these tires are excellent at handling it. BTW Patric, i run 205 and 255. Jeff

I will just have to find a empty parking lot after the first snow and spend some time getting a feeling for the car.

WWEST - you are way off base on your comments about new generation snow tires. What you are saying may be true about old style snow tires, but the new rubber compounds are made to work on ice. The whole thing is that the rubber compounds remain soft and pliable at low temperatures. I have run the new style winter tires on an Audi TT, 2 Audi S-4's, a Honda S2000, and 3 911's through some really nasty winters here in the northeast. All I can say is that a set of Blizzaks are excellent in ice and snow. I would not consider driving my car through the winter without them.