I am just curious how well monte carlos behave in the snow. I live in Michigan, so we get a lot of snow, and being in a dirt road, we often don't get our streets plowed for days after a storm. I personally don't plan on driving my new monte in the winter, but am curious how they fair in the weather. I'm still looking to get a winter beater, and if a 5th gen monte carlo pops up, I might just jump on it

 

They are great in the snow, with good tires I have had no issues with my old 02 or my 06. Snow beasts.

 

They drive well, but the front air dam can be a little low. You obviously can't drive in snow deeper than that air dam because it will just collect under the car and lift the drive wheels.

I always run 2 sets of tires, dedicated winter sets. My car was a beast when I drove it in the winter.

 

They're pretty good. I've always driven winters on all-season tires. My 03 was lowered and I still never had problems in snow with that car. I only drove my 06 in one winter and it did pretty decent, the only learning curve was working the accelerator slowly from a stop - the V8 wants to go and it'll sit there and spin the tires in the snow all day even with a decent tire.

 

Thanks for the helpful messages, guys! who knows, maybe I'll get a second monte so the intimidator doesn't have to brave the weather :P

 

My 1998 LS and 2003 SS were both excellent in snow. They got me through winters in Detroit and Kansas City with no problem. Reason being they are wide, heavy cars with front wheel drive and a lot of weight over the drive wheels, resulting in good traction. I'd be curious about the 80s rear drive Montes in snow.

 

Couldn't say, gonna find out this year as well. But I mostly think its the driver more than the car. Everyone said my RWD manual ranger would suck in the snow. Never got stuck once in the 7 years I drove her.

 

My 05 was out-performing SUVs (Arcadia's, equinoxes, etc.) And that was with all season tires as opposed to Winter tires

 

Most of this depends upon the driver?
I agree with the previous comments.
The car is absolutely worthless on ice.
One tip is to select the Neutral shift position on ice if the Car appears to get out of shape, ( this puts the drivers out of the picture and the anti-lock brakes can work better) The idea is to take away the forward motion that the front wheels are doing and spinning on the Ice, same reason not to use a cruise control in snow or icy roads.
If you get it sideways on a slick road hang on?


I had a car hit me in the rear passenger side on a slick road once.

I was trying everything I could do,& remember about race car diving, several million miles road experience and dirt track driving to get it back. And several prayers. All while the old lady was freaking out, finally got it but I hit a highway road sign along the Interstate and boogered the passenger rear quarter.
I was all over the place. This all took place a speed of 65-70 on the interstate it was muddy slick and wet. The other guy never stopped

 

I think they're just as good as any other FWD car of the era. I drove my 96 through 3 or 4 midwest winters with zero issues.


As mentioned above, the only few times I got stuck were from trying to drive onto an unpaved driveway where the snow was at or near the lower air dam. Once that lower air dam starts plowing snow, the front end lifts and your traction goes to zero. No other similar car is any better though, more ground clearance is the only thing that helps with that.