my dad is thinking about buying an 04 goat.....

**z28punk** · 11-20-2007, 05:53 PM

my dad is thinking about buying an 04 gto. the one he is looking at has 33k miles on it. silver with black leather M6. The only thing holding him back is the fact that we live in MN and he will be driving it in winter.

I have a few questions to you guys. How bad are these things in the winter? (with and without winter tires)

Can one of u tell me the tire size on the stock GTO rims? I am going to look up prices on winter tires at my dealership.

thanks

**superchargedblackgto** · 11-20-2007, 06:20 PM

Originally Posted by z28punk

my dad is thinking about buying an 04 gto. the one he is looking at has 33k miles on it. silver with black leather M6. The only thing holding him back is the fact that we live in MN and he will be driving it in winter.

I have a few questions to you guys. How bad are these things in the winter? (with and without winter tires)

Can one of u tell me the tire size on the stock GTO rims? I am going to look up prices on winter tires at my dealership.

thanks

The came standard with 17" rims, some were upgraded to 18" 245-45-17 is the tire size.....as for winter....hmmm....don't Know I park it in the winter...Good Luck, they are great driving cars.

**Danger731** · 11-20-2007, 06:21 PM

I drove my 95 camaro in CT. snow, and my 98 in WA. snow , I'm sure a goat would fair better. They do make snow treads .

**z28punk** · 11-20-2007, 06:30 PM

this is the car he is looking at. $16,550

he said he loves the car and would buy it right now, but he doesnt know if he could drive it in the winter.

**KyleLs1** · 11-20-2007, 07:15 PM

you can drive anything in the winter as long as you are prepared for it.

To me, a cheap beater makes more sense in the winter... but if that is not an option then snow tires, weight in the rear, extra caution and you should be fine.

Just remember this though.. for what you will pay for a set of snow tires, you can probably buy a decent enough beater to drive on the snowy days!

**GOT1GOAT** · 11-21-2007, 09:17 AM

My 04/a4 is my DD and so far I've had no problems during about four drives in the snow.
I would not drive it in any more than 4" of snow though and this year instead of getting snow tires on it, I will use the wife's car when snow is in the forcast.
Tell your dad that he will love his new goat so much that all obsticles like weather will be minimal hurdles.

**z28punk** · 11-21-2007, 09:30 AM

yea my family does have an 02 tahoe to drive in the deep snow. its my mom's truck.

**Raoul-Duke** · 11-21-2007, 12:55 PM

dddude dont worry about it.. any 2wd rear wheel drive car in the snow sucks. period. you just have to know when not to push it. my goats my dd and i live in chicago. our winters arent so pretty either

**Sarge** · 11-21-2007, 01:08 PM

17" 245X45X17 come stock
Traction control is great and they handle great. Many drive them up north.....

**slims00ls1z28** · 11-23-2007, 10:11 AM

I would think keep the TC on and it should be alright. I know I've dumped the clutch at 3k in the rain to test it and she shot without much spin at all. Tell him to do it roads should be clear more often than snowed.

**pont3** · 11-23-2007, 04:17 PM

There are 365 days in every year. Having to take it easy and drive sanely for three or four of those 365 days is a small price to pay for having such an awesome car. I've lived in Kansas and Missouri (among other places), and I have never driven a FWD Car during snow. Nothing but RWD since 1975. Never got stuck, except once in Shreveport LA during an ice over that made it impossible for ANY drive wheel configuration to negotiate.

**z28punk** · 11-23-2007, 10:15 PM

well i have been relaying all this input to my dad and it sounds like he might be picking it up tomorrow. I thought that the TC system on these things was pretty good. i told him he would be getting better gas mileage on the highway than his 2004 monte carlo SS. he gets free mobil 1 synthetic oil from me already so cost of ownership wont be much more other than the premium fuel.

**The Silver Goat** · 11-24-2007, 04:24 AM

First year I had the car it snowed and rain during work, skies cleared and temp fell to 15 degrees. Needless to say roads home sheer ice.

Not thinking and with various construction projects around the metro area I took an e-way with several hilly overpasses south of detroit (I-75)

With the t/c on the rear end never tried to get a peek at where I was going...

make sure its never been hit and get an alignment.

I've never had it snow, so I can't speak for there ability to plow - they are low...and that will be a problem.

You may want to think about a different set of wheels if road crews use salt...
In Michigan we have an abundance of salt mines south of the city (Detroit), so the dumb a$$ powers decided salt is the way to go for road care... great stuff - melts the ice, which freezes at night causing existing cracks to become wheel eating pot holes.

Not that we have a lake or two and some sand...

**z28punk** · 11-24-2007, 11:42 PM

yea in Minnesota we have decent snow handling abilities, but we also use a ton of salt on the roads. the salt ate my last car so that it wasnt safe to drive anymore. and it was a 98. he hasnt bought it yet, but he's still working a deal with the dealership.

**basballny2** · 11-25-2007, 12:12 AM

tell him to look into an 05 or 06 with the ls2....there heavier than the fbodys so starting with a lil more hp isnt a bad thing

**gagoat** · 11-26-2007, 11:36 PM

tell your dad to buy the goat so you can beg him to let you drive it
(like my 19 yr old does)

**z28punk** · 11-27-2007, 08:05 PM

tell him to look into an 05 or 06 with the ls2....there heavier than the fbodys so starting with a lil more hp isnt a bad thing

He doesnt care about whether its an ls1 or ls2, he cares about price. he wanted a new car and he was going to look at a new MALIBU!!!. then I say hell no, u need to look at a GTO. he tells me to find one for under $18k and I did. he has no idea what engine is in it or how much horsepower it has, he just knows that its fun to drive.

tell your dad to buy the goat so you can beg him to let you drive it
(like my 19 yr old does)

I dont have to worry about begging him. I made a deal with him. I said the only way I will work on his cars for free is if he lets me drive it. Im 19 and already a GM certified technician. Im getting my Fbody in the spring so it wont be long before I dont wanna drive his anymore. I still got the Modding bug from my last car.

**stevenm357** · 11-29-2007, 01:35 PM

Don't tear up a beautiful car in the winter just buy a 1200 or less beater AWD for Front wheel drive. if it dies... bury it and move on.

**z28punk** · 11-29-2007, 08:24 PM

well my dad procrastinated enough that the car I pictured is sold. no big deal theres plenty of them out there for sale. thanks guys for the input. u helped quite a bit.

**2000T/A Guru** · 11-30-2007, 06:38 AM

In a stick car i would keep the traction control off, chance are if the is even a inch on the ground you will spin just a little at every stop and go. Which will set off the TCS and actually make it harder to drive. I would just keep that shit off and deal with it. But im used ot it i was driveing a 79 malibu with a built 355 in the snow when i was 16. It was also a 1 wheel wonder for the frist winter lol.