"Challengers are usless here."

[SteveSS]

I heard two people in the last week complain about their new '15 Challengers. They decided they are not good in the snow. This is the Front Range of the Rockies. It's snowy, icy and mountainous. It both cases these were people that financed their cars and are way upside down in them.

1. 2WD sports cars don't do well in snow.
2. New cars lose a lot of value in the first year. A $45K car is now worth $28K.

 

[Budnicks]

Impulse purchase, not very well thought out...
Some people make bad decisions, seemed like a good idea in the summer...LOL
Yep they have a ton of depreciation as soon as you leave the car-lot/dealership...
I see it around here too, not with Challengers really, they are a rarity around here,
but 2 wd trucks & cars, in snow & on ice don't do so well, especially performance oriented cars...
Like the Challengers, Mustangs, Camaros, even some of the Saki sippen' rice rockets too...

 

[mopar 3 B]

So what's new?
If they are new to the area they have learned something about winter mountain driving and can make a wiser choice next time. If they have lived there forever maybe bad judgement.

 

[Seax440Dodge]

I'll sum this up in 4 words: "Some people are dumb"

 

[monaco66coupe]

Two wheel drive cars have never been good in snow. When I grew up that is all we had. so, we just didn't go many places in the winter. I had a 2010 Challenger, but I knew it was good for 8 months a year tops. It was still a lot of fun, but a person has to see that car like an old muscle car, or a Motorcycle. Now dumb? How about owning a new 98' club cab short box Cummins 2WD? In Nebraska?
I did that. it worked great once I put two 440 engines in the bed. HA HA!

 

[Budnicks]

Maybe, Put on studded tires, that'd help too...

 

[Dennis H]

That would be my first choice for a snow car - new Challenger. Right. Come on. Some complain about rear seat access. What a bunch of crap. My 09 was 30k. Might get the high teens now. So what?

 

[verdelaw]

2. New cars lose a lot of value in the first year. A $45K car is now worth $28K.

I'm depending on this one.. and the people are dumb part too I guess. There's a little devil on my shoulder who keeps thinking about if/when used Hellcat Chargers start coming up for sale for cheeeeeeap. I like those cars and I'll need a new DD in a few years... imp_daddy:

 

[drobertson]

I'm gonna go on a limb here and state that challengers are good on snow. I live in wyoming, and the winters are terrible. I might just be a really good winter driver though. I drive all my cars year round without any accidents or issues. The traction control really does make a difference. With rwd, sometimes you have to be easy on the throttle and use it to turn.

 

[monaco66coupe]

The biggest problem with challengers in the snow is they have such good throttle response, even with a V6 that keeping the car going slow is a challenge. I got a ticket once in my R/T doing 57 in a 25. I told the red headed cop the car can't go 25. he laughed and gave me a warning. Nice Guy!

 

[idrivemopar]

I'm with drobertson on this, I grew up in Wyoming, and I drove rear wheel drive cars all winter, mostly my Roadrunner, and with the proper tires (Yes, I had snow tires on it back in the day), shouldn't be an issue, but some nowadays don't get that, and try to drive these cars with summer tires, and duh, they are not gonna do well in the snow.

 

[Sebring Plus]

When I was in high school I lived in Aspen for a year. I drove a '77 Road Runner with a mildly built 318 and sure grip. The first day of snow it was a hairy handful to get to the auto shop to mount the studded snows. Mr. Larson, The Auto Mechanics instructor, let me bring the car by the shop and mount the tires on a Saturday I think. He also loaned me three - two foot long sections of tire inner tube full of concrete. I loaded those in the trunk over the axle and never missed a beat.

My Dad had an '85 Mustang with a 5 speed about this time. He put studded snows on all four corners.

I was gonna say something profound like "one just has to learn to adapt", but 20" snow tires are probably not readily available.

 

[patrick66]

I drove RWD cars and trucks, all 2WD, in Colorado for years, year-round. Only car I ever had an issue with in the weather was a 1974 Duster that the Chrysler dealer used for a parts runner for a few weeks. I was working Parts then, and had this POS to get things picked up and delivered. The *** of this car could not have weighed ten pounds, it seemed. The car would slide and fishtail like no one's business on snow and/or ice. Hated that car! The dealer finally got a new Plymouth Arrow pickup. Just as light, but far better in icy conditions than the Duster could ever hope to be.

You can drive nearly anything with the proper tires, and a bit of weight over the drive axle, on ice and snow. Problem is, people don't buy a second set of Winter tires in areas where they are needed, or a guy from a no-snow state ends up in Colorado and has the Summer tires, and gets screwed. So-called "all-season" tires DO NOT include Winter!!!

 

[monaco66coupe]

20 inch chains would be a sight! In the 70's around here studs were deemed illegal, as they damaged the road. Chains were ok,, but in the end we parked at the bottom of a hill, or were snowed in until a plow came by. We got around ok, but people in those days knew how to adapt to the changing weather, and drove accordingly. Today? Common sense and caution? forget it.

 

[Jeremiah]

We lived in Klamath Falls, OR for seven years and three of them was with a daily driver 300C SRT8 for the mrs. She never had any issues however you have to choose your route accordingly. No chains. The neighbors scratched their heads. I laughed and explained to them that we were from WI and MN so it wasn't a big deal. If you need to get to a destination uphill or in higher elevation the smart choice is to fire up on of the Power Wagons. Not much you can do to replicate experience in the snow and situations that surround getting to work in it.

 

[1967coronet]

Here in Iowa the state troopers for the most part drive rear wheel drive hemi chargers year round. They do have some 4x4s but most of their patrol units are chargers.
During the winter they spend a lot of time picking up folks off the interstates and state hyw's who have slid off the road in their suv's and 4x4s.
Nothing wrong with rear wheel drive cars and trucks for winter driving as long as you have or gain some experience driving them and keep some weight in the trunk or truck bed plus good snow tires.