[PFWiz]

Setup - I have General G-Max all season tires on my SS. They are decent high performance all season tires, but definitely not snow tires.

Conditions - We had about 3" of light fluffy snow fall this morning.

The test - On a carless almost virgin stretch of snow covered road I floored the car from a standing stop with the stabilitrack on. I repeated the test a total of two times and results were very similar.

Results - The tach spiked to 3000 - 3500 rpm, the rear end jumped sideways and then the stabilitrack / TC cut in. The rpm dropped quickly to 2500 and then slowly to 1500. The rpms then started to slowly climb as the car slowly accelerated. Overall I felt that the stabiltrack / TC was allowing way too much power to the rear wheels for the road conditions. The rear wheels were spinning continuously under the stabilitrack / TC. Not nearly as bad as they would have without it, but spinning none the less.

In my opinion while the stabilitrack / TC may be great for normal higher performance driving it leaves a lot to be desired for snow and ice. The best answer in my opinion would be for GM to update the stabilitrack software and add a "snow" setting. Considering that 60 -70% (I made this number up) of the country sees at least some snow or ice each winter I think GM should give some real thought to this.

 

[DrewDogG8]

must be tuned differently than my G8 - she does great in the snow, the stabilitrack really holds your hand to get you through the white stuff.

but i suggest snow tires if you see a lot of snow - many times this winter i would've been stuck with all seasons.

 

[Natedeezy]

FYI. That's more of a traction control feature. I didn't know the SS was supposed to compete in the Olympics. You need to look up what the stabilitrack is for. It's good for what it is.

 

[PFWiz]

FYI. That's more of a traction control feature. I didn't know the SS was supposed to compete in the Olympics. You need to look up what the stabilitrack is for. It's good for what it is.

Ok, then the traction control leaves some to be desired....

I don't need to compete in the Olympics, I and my wife do on the other hand need to be able to get around in northern Ohio winters... I did for some reason expect my SS to be at least as good in the snow as my G8 was...

None of this obviates the need for a snow setting...

 

[copacetic1]

My only comment...don't floor it in the snow.... Kidding somewhat, I know you were testing the limits of the system, but I wouldn't be surprised if it works fairly well with more conservative go-pedal.


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[PFWiz]

My only comment...don't floor it in the snow.... Kidding somewhat, I know you were testing the limits of the system, but I wouldn't be surprised if it works fairly well with more conservative go-pedal.


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Actually it doesn't seem to. This is why I ran the test. First I played with the stabilitrack button to make sure I did not have it turned off.... It really felt as if it might be turned off!

 

[copacetic1]

Ok - since you've got the car and I don't (darn you), I got nothing other than to say my snow "mode", if forced to drive a RWD 6.2L V8 in the snow on summer tires, would be stay light on the throttle, start out in 2nd or 3rd gear and know that the "nannies" won't protect from everything. I'm fortunate in that the G8 stays in the garage when weather is bad so can't say how well that version of Stabilitrak works in those conditions.


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[Pathy01]

I got my car in mid December, and put on Michelin Pilot Sport AS3 all-seasons which are probably one of the lowest rated all seasons for snow and ice on Tire Rack, but are certainly better than a summer tire. Living in NY where we've had snow pretty much at least once a week this year, my SS has performed reasonably well. As previously mentioned, your right foot is the biggest factor. If you are very light on the throttle, you can get through the snow fine. The only issue I've had is with my incline driveway when it had a coating of ice with fresh snow on it. I still made it up the driveway, but it was a struggle for the second half as momentum was lost.

You really have to let the engine torque get you going from a stop without even touching the go pedal and then you just need to slowly build speed by lightly hitting the gas. This has worked for me in several inches of unplowed snow, on packed snow, ice, slush and every combination of these elements all winter. In hindsight I would go with Conti DWS all-seasons that are much better rated in the snow, or pure snow tires for added confidence, but hopefully I'll be moving to a warmer climate soon and won't have to worry next winter.

 

[PFWiz]

I have decided that as soon as I sell my OEM Potenzas I am going to run my G-Max tires for 8 months and real snow tires the other 4 months of the year. Any one want to buy a set of OEM tires with <400 miles on them cheap? (well relatively cheap....)