ANybody have an SRT-8 in the Snow Country?

[Dr. Rocket]

I know that it may be heresy, but I would like to know if anyone has driven their SRT8 in snow. I have been considering (lusting) an MSRT8 for a while, but last winter I was reacquainted with the fact that it does snow in much of the country. Since I cannot get away with having a truck for winter and a MSRT8 for three seasons (wife says no), I need a four season Magnum, or none at all. I have seen several magazine reviews etc, that said that the RWD RT Magnum was fairly capable in snow, but nothing on the SRT8. I know that the 3 season tires are just that (during last winter's snow, I had to help a neighbor push a BMW on three season performance tires into his driveway--he was just polishing the snow with the tires), and that the all season tires, or dedicated winter tires would be required. I don't want to go through snow that the airdam will plow, but I don't want to be stuck because of an inch of white stuff either. So, anybody have any experience with this?

[bipto]

Personally, I wouldn't recommend it. Take it from a guy who lives in snow country and owns two Magnums - an MSRT and an AWD R/T.

[CaseyC]

ill be able to let you know soon. i know there are members that have them, ive seen people around here with them. i have heard both sides of the spectrum, that they are heavy enough and the ESP does a good job in snow if you have THE RIGHT TIRES. as you said, depending on the type of snow, you wont move at times. other people (like Bipto just said as i was posting this) have said its a no go.

at this point, i am basically just considering getting winter tires for my car for the stock wheels.

as far as the front air damn goes, thats really the least of the concerns. i have had lowered cars with front lips, both fiberglass and plexiglass. both were perfectly fine in the snow, and both were considerably lower than the srt8. our bumpers are plastic, so unless you ram into some ice, they arent going to be damaged. you hit the snow, it smooths it out, and you move along, it doesnt do much else. hopefully some other members will chime in with their experiences for you tho.

[Token]

There are a few SRT8 owners here locally (Canada) that have gone through winter now.

First thing is to make sure you have proper winter tires. The F1's are a summer tire only, and the RSA's are not good enough for snowy conditions.

The ESP makes the LX a capable winter car. Even the SRT8 will have few issues unless the snow is really deep, then anything else besides a true 4X4 would have problems as well.

[Smoke20]

IMHO...you need 2 things to make an SRT8 work in the snow.

1) 18" wheels with Bridgestone Blizzaks...there are a few that fit.
2) Prudence!

You might also look at it this way:
Out of 365days , how many days do you see measurable snowfall?
Of those days, do you travel plowed roads or sideroads?
Are you blazing tracks...or driving after the plows have been out?

To me, the SRT8 is way too fun to allow a few snowy days to discourage me.

[Hemi31]

I used mine a little last winter,but not in the snow.As Token said the RSA's are not very good with white stuff on the ground.

[Super T]

Absolutely no problems last winter, at all. It was hella-fun, actually. as long as you have some control over your right foot, staying in control is easy, and you get to have lots of fun going sideways if you want to!

[GasGunR]

I drove mine the winter I bought it (Jan 06) and last winter with RSA's. Not a problem.

The biggest thing I had to watch out for is when there are drifts across the road especially if they have thawed and refrozen. Also deep slush can be a problem, not from handling, but from a ground clearance issue for the front end.

As far as traction? Keep the ESP on and remember that you are driving a 4500 lbs rear wheel drive car, common sense stuff if you have lived in snow country for any amount of time

[Super T]

^^ To elaborate on what Don said, there are times when you have to turn the ESP off to get rolling (at least I did). If you stop on a slick spot, the ESP cuts the throttle when you get wheel spin but then you can't move :-) Simple thing to deal with the one or two times it might happen.

[Buckola]

I put on 18" rims with Blizzaks and had virtually no problems. I was actually impressed with how the esp kept it all in line. As others have posted ...just be careful of frozen snow banks.

[tbyrne]

I posted this after driving mine in the snow a couple of years ago -

My favorite local weatherman is usually right when he predicts storms so I took his word that it wasn't going to start snowing until 3-4PM today. I had an appointment at 12:30 so I figured I'd take my SRT-8 into work and then after the appointment swing by my house to put that away and pick up the truck before it started snowing. Well, I went to leave at 12:10 and found that it was snowing pretty good. Hum... seems like he was wrong this time. The shop is kind of in the middle of nowhere so I had about 10 miles of untreated back country roads to drive on before I got to any of the main roads. I turned off the ESP and hung the back of the car out while leaving the driveway. Yeah, that was fun! Cruised sideways for about 1/8 of a mile up the road. There was nobody around so that was fun too! It was time to do some normal driving. At that point I found that it couldn't be done.

The turned the ESP back on and found that the road was extremely slippery. Power was reduced to almost nothing to try to keep the tires from spinning. So besides working the throttle, I also keep turning the ESP on and off to get some power to move the car. Either way, any throttle input would break the tires lose and bring the back of the car out. It did this over and over and over. Actually took me about 3/4 of a mile to get enough momentum to reach 25-30 MPH. The ESP did a good job of keep the car straight when needed but the roads were just to slippery to be driving this car. Everytime the back drifted out towards a pole I kept thinking "limited production car, it might take awhile to replace". I did what I had to, made it home later and life was much better after I got behind the wheel of my 4WD Sierra.

For you guys and girls that use these year round, be VERY careful out there! We want to keep you and the cars around for awhile.

[Guest]

Sheeeeeeet, VA ain't snow country! I moved from NoVA to MN and then discovered WTF snow REALLY is. In VA when it snows 3" EVERYTHING including the Federal Gubment shuts down. In MN you don't even call out for work in 3 FEET of snow.

I have driven my Mag SRT8 through winters with zero issues. I drove it through one full winter, but now that we have a Jeep GC it never sees the white stuff.

You do not need 18" wheels, or crazy tires. RSA's work great, but if you can... slap some Blizzaks on there to be assured of an uneventful winter.

Only one thing ya gotta learn.... how to work around HAL.

HAL cuts the throttle and applies the brakes anytime he detects slippage. Well beginning from a stop on an icy or snowy road you're gonna have slippage. Next thing you know, you're halfway across an intersection with oncoming traffic and HAL cuts the throttle and you stop moving. BAD situation.

To procede from a stop on abnormally slippery surfaces simply flick off the ESP (no need for the 6 second hold, just flick it off) and autostick to SECOND gear. No slippy, no Nanny, no problem.

Enjoy the car.

[Jaak]

The whole damn continent drove with rear wheel drive cars 50 years ago. Just because some people forgot how to drive, doesn't mean you can't.

Two things to bear in mind. If you're going outside of a major city where the roads are plowed regularly, you must get snow tires. And for gods sake, the thing puts out 425 HP so stop stomping on the gas pedal! DUH!

Feather it like your Grandfather did and think about ground clearance. If the car's sitting on snow, the wheels are in the air.

Anyone tried a Quaife in the winter?

[Dr. Rocket]

Sheeeeeeet, VA ain't snow country! I moved from NoVA to MN and then discovered WTF snow REALLY is. In VA when it snows 3" EVERYTHING including the Federal Gubment shuts down. In MN you don't even call out for work in 3 FEET of snow.

I have driven my Mag SRT8 through winters with zero issues. I drove it through one full winter, but now that we have a Jeep GC it never sees the white stuff.

You do not need 18" wheels, or crazy tires. RSA's work great, but if you can... slap some Blizzaks on there to be assured of an uneventful winter.

Only one thing ya gotta learn.... how to work around HAL.

HAL cuts the throttle and applies the brakes anytime he detects slippage. Well beginning from a stop on an icy or snowy road you're gonna have slippage. Next thing you know, you're halfway across an intersection with oncoming traffic and HAL cuts the throttle and you stop moving. BAD situation.

To procede from a stop on abnormally slippery surfaces simply flick off the ESP (no need for the 6 second hold, just flick it off) and autostick to SECOND gear. No slippy, no Nanny, no problem.

Enjoy the car.

While I agree that VA is not real snow country, at some level it doesn't matter if there were three feet of snow or three inches, after the plows go by, there is about 2 inches, and it's packed down. On the other side of things, in some ways it is worse where they get snow infrequently, because no one is ready for it. I am in NoVA, and although it happens a couple of times every winter, every snow fall is a surprise to the road crews, and the city/county/state DOT doesn't have the resources (plows, etc) to deal with it.
Part of my background on this is: I am in the military, and thus, get moved a lot, so the odds of getting somewhere that has real snow while I own my next car are good. I used to be in N. Dakota, and had the occassional several foot snowstorm, and then we lived with the snow until April. While I was up there I drove my '68 Firebird a couple of times in the winter and gave that up as a bad idea, because it had wide, all season, but performance oriented tires, loads of power/Torque (335 hp/450 lb-ft from the factory, before headers, removing the factory stop on the secondaries, etc) 4-speed and limited slip. On snow it was virtually impossible to keep from spinning tires or stop the spinning tires after they started, and sideways motion, without forward motion, was the normal result. My essential questions here were if the ESP programming was immensely different than the R/T (for snow traction, and it sounds like it is not), if the All-Season Performance tires were a viable solution (mixed reviews here, but generally it sounds like probably), and general impressions. Like I said, if I'm going to be plowing the snow, I don't expect a lot of success in something as low as a Magnum, but I would like to know that if I am at work, I won't be stuck in the parking lot if we get a few inches of white stuff.

[STAGE 3 R/T]

what is snow? we don't have that here in Hawaii! lol




sorry had to post it!