2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Long-Term Road Test

Driving our long-term 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray in a blizzard.

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diondi

Surprised you didn't try Onstar instead of 911 - they might've been faster?

yellowbal

Winter tires are awesome but the rear tires are way too wide to be able to bite into deep snow. You're running 295s in the rear right?

desmolicious

How did u get the photos of the car in the road? Was someone with u or did u just quickly get out and take a snap?

allthingshonda

I agree with diondi, you should have called Onstar not 911. And GM and Porsche are the only two companies I know who design and test their ultra high performance cars to operate in all types of conditions. Desert heat, snow and ice and heavy rain. Also starting in 2nd gear would be better in slippery conditions.

subytrojan_2

Nice story-telling, Scott!

explorerx4

The traffic cleared because someone behind you crashed, blocking the lanes.
I hope you at least topped off the tank before heading into the snow.

blueprint1

Geez, a Californian just experienced a Canadian commute!

bassrockerx

interesting how you guys made it in the jaguar to alaska on all seasons and the sls to dakota with no troubles and the corvette had all these issues. I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that the perelli winter tires are not up to snuff or could have used studs or chains in this situation. also the width of the tires was probably against you in this situation because the contact patch was too wide to dent in the snow and give you enough contact with the pavement. Would it be too much to ask for you guys to refer to the owner's manual and see what the recomended snow tire size is and see if you guys are within spec? side-note that bmw 6 series convertable in the 3rd pic. you have to love his dedication if that doesent say car enthusiest idk what does.

jeepsrt

@bassrockerz, that's an Audi TT not a 6 series. This reminds me when I was in High School with my now Wife, we were driving home from Denver after going to the auto show in my Mitsubishi Starion with summer tires and got stuck in a snow storm. With the ro

willin58_

Did you try starting in 2nd or 3rd?

vvk

Great story. I am so glad you lived to tell it.

99sablewagon

Haha!!!!!!! Best story yet!!!!! Remember, on snow, slow on the throttle and clutch as well as slow onto the brakes. No sudden steering inputs and never brake and steer together. Brake early (as in REALLY early) and stay calm. People can wait, if they get mad, big deal because you never have to see them again. Happy travels!!!

noburgers

man, if there ever was an oh SHLt moment that was one for certain. I guess there are limits to the winter tires--but still, if it weren't for the hill I think you would have been just fine. Glad you made it!

carchatter1

In Buffalo it's common to not only throw on the studded winter tires but also throw 5 bags of sand into the back of your rear wheel drive car or pick up truck. That bit of extra weight over the driven wheels would have given you enough traction to get going. Granted this isn't good for handling or mpg, but then again those are terrible anyways in the cold and snow. Been there done that with an RX-7.

handbrake

What? A Corvette isn’t a great blizzard car? Why, this must mean that the internal combustion engine is not ready for prime time and the Corvette is a failure.*

*just had to use the Tesla haters’ logic on this one.

toddm52789

Well, a road trip is all about adventure! Awesome story! Stories like that, are what make a road trip, a true road trip.

autoboy16

What about Onstar?

trmckin

Sorry but living in Colorado, I see idiots in the same situation on a regular basis. It makes the roads unsafe for everyone around you and not to mention the traffic it causes due to their inability to go up a hill from a stop. It's no mystery that vettes or any other rear wheel drive muscle car is terrible in the snow. Know I sound like a grumpy old man but it causes weekly headaches and adds hours to my commutes when people do this crap. But hey, just further confirmation this isn't a great winter vehicle... Smh... In other news, a F-350 isn't easy to park in a compact car parking space.

mieden

@trmckin, sounds to me like you're not embracing all there is to enjoy about your Colorado life...

trmckin

I'd enjoy it more if people wouldn't drive like idiots. Doesn't matter where you are. Traffic blows. I teach special needs children how to ski so I spend a lot of time stuck on I-70 this time of year for this very reason. As for the "recreational" greenery, I am subject to Texas law as my employer is based in Houston. So... Crack jokes, do whatever. Doesn't change the fact this is a dangerous and stupid experiment with a vette.

jmaroun

Love this story. Glad it turned out so positive and safe! Wonder if you would have gotten stuck in a GTR, or a 911 Turbo? Probably not.

335abuser

I guess a shovel and a bag of sand was forgotten? Trust me I know how you feel... I moved back to my native Finland 3 years a go and bought an M3 the first winter that was running on mid-european studless winter tires (we use full Nordic spec winter rubber, studded or non studded which is of a whole different rubber compound and much much better than the rest of the world.) Anyway, the M3 was a handful and I could barely go take the car out for lunch because of the 5 ft of snow... So a shovel and a bag of sand did the trick

noburgers

Scott didn't see that car insurance commercial where they recommend bringing kitty litter with you to gain traction when you are stuck in snow. meoooowww.

greenpony

Great story! I was in a similar situation once upon a time. My first brand-new car after college was a Mustang; it was also my first rear-wheel drive car. Being young and inexperienced, I didn't realize the car came with summer tires. Miraculously I made it through one Chicago winter, but the second winter was too much. I was caught on a hill in a pre-Thanksgiving snowfall, sliding left, sliding right, irritating the people behind me... Finally I was able to get a litte traction, keep it idling forward until the light at the top of the hill turned green. Needless to say, a new set of tires was in my future.

duck87

"I know that feel bro". Luckily you weren't in Michigan before or after the autoshow, as the snow was piled up thick enough to cause all but the highest riding AWD cars to get stuck. Probably the worst winter here in a looong time. I worked from home those days.

bankerdanny

trmckin said: "Crack jokes, do whatever. Doesn't change the fact this is a dangerous and stupid experiment with a vette." I would agree if they were basing the car out of Denver. But this wasn't an experiment in driving a sports car in the Colorado mountains on a daily basis. It is unreasonable to expect out of town drivers just passing through to drive a vehicle that fits local weather conditions. As it is Edmunds did fit proper winter tires, which is probably far more forsight on their part than the typical road tripper would have used.

trmckin

@ banker.. It's not an experiment? Really? They do this with lots of cars and write about it. It's a blog, experiment, long term test, whatever.. It's semantics but long story short, it is in fact a test. As for expecting out of town drivers being saf

dtmh

I hope one day edmunds will be able to test small "SUVS" with awd in these conditions. Most articles that I've read about them always say of course you wouldn't want to take off-road or in heavy snow without ever testing it. Assumptions shouldn't be in a review, only tested facts. It's hard to make a decision on vehicle without all facts. I've seen one review on another website where it was tested, only to be told that they were using regular tires, not winter tires. We come to places like this so we can be informed of all aspects of car not just mpg, horsepower, etc... Thanks and sorry for the rant!

fordson1

They were told way in advance that this was not the car for the trip. And it also reveals the idiocy of putting larger-than-OEM-size winter tires on the OEM wheels of a high-performance car, rather than minus-one-size tires on minus-one-size wheels. Yes, these 295-section winter tires are 10mm WIDER than the stock rear tires. Sez Edmunds, when mounting them: "We don't necessarily like going up by 10mm in the rear for winter driving, but for this road trip they'll work just fine." Yah. Just fine.

csubowtie

A few sandbags in the trunk would have helped quite a bit, especially in such a light car with such wide tires. Take it from someone who grew up in CO riding around in Mustangs and Camaros.

msr1

Here's a third thing- 911 is for life and death emergencies, not getting your car stuck in the snow. I can't even believe I have to say this.

boff_

Scott you did well to do as well as you did. I barely made it out of Ann Arbor in my Mustang after the Winter Classic this year. Was it a dumb idea? Possibly. But this is America and y'all have the right to try dumb things. In my experience, though, TC off is the way to go in deep snow.

terminator1

@bassrockerx The car in the third pic looks more like an Audi TT Cabrio. I think it may even be a TT S cabrio.

kyree_williams

Ha, that's Colorado indeed! But I'm curious as to why you didn't use OnStar. Well, maybe it's because you didn't want to be identified as driving in the snow in a RWD sports car, and the OnStar folks would have said "2014 Corvette, right?"

Glad you made it safely, though

scottyscooter

I really think that the tire width was the culprit; your spreading the weight of the car for the drive tires over a huge contact area with the 295’s that your running in the rear. I’ll bet you wouldn’t have had any problems getting going if you were running, say, a 245 in the rear. You wouldn’t expect a few mm of width to make much of a difference but it actually has a huge impact on traction when you’re driving in these extreme deep snow and ice conditions. When it comes to winter tires, the skinnier the better!

jinjan

@bassrockerx That third photo actually looks like an Audi TT convertible to me...

joshblackmun

I drove a 2006 C6 (non Z51) in 4 inches of snow in PA. It was my daily driver at the time so I drove it wherever I went. The car was modified and had 4:10 gears in it so all I had to do was keep it in second gear and that was it! We do have hills in Amish Country but no real elevation changes - I've driven through the rockies multiple times and I would not want to do it in a blizzard in any car!

typesh

@bassrockerx - that's actually an Audi TT/TTS Cabrio, not 6-Series So also AWD. In CO, even the sports coupes/cars are AWD

cotak

You guys realized that those tires are "performance winter tires" right? As in they are really less winter and more all seasons in many ways.

You could have also (at the risk of tire damage) deflate them to get more traction. Some people also carry a small shovel and some sand. You dig yourself out with the shovel when it's snow, and use the sand if it's ice you are stuck on.

However, that said stuck in one thing. You had very little traction and you were at risk of not being able to stop or turn when you needed. You are lucky and I am glad you made it out ok but next time, don't drive in a car like this with those tires when you might get into weather. Clearly, you don't drive on ice or snow much.