If you had a beater....

Would you drive your STI in the winter? I know I know.....I currently have no winter rims or tires and I'm not really to pumped up to throw a bunch of money towards some. I drive maybe 10-20 minutes a day to visit people or get food, I don't have a job to drive to. I own a 96 camry that runs fine and will be ok in the winter. But it's an STI and it's made for winter so every time I look at it in my garage I'm going to wonder why I'm driving a beater ass camry. I'm really up in the air about driving it and just curious what others opinion on the matter is.

 

just drive the sti when its snowing, or before they salt the roads.

 

sell the camry and you will have the money for a winter setup!!!! the sti would be so much fun to drive in the snow.

 

it all depends on what you have done to your sti. i know that scooby02 or dave has a 300 some whp bugeye wrx that you would be foolish if you drove that in the winter. is your sti stock? i drive my lgt in the winter because it is fun as hell and i have winter rims and tires so my summer shoes dont get ****ed up, my advice is that if you have a heavily (spelling?) modded sti dont drive it in the winter. if not **** it! sell the camry and buy some good summer wheels and tires and use some ****ty wheels and tires for the winter. reguardless of how ****ty your tires are awd will compensate for alot of what the tires wont do in the winter if you had them on a car that struggled in the winter such as your camry or any front wheel drive car.

 

AWD helps alot, but you still need to stop and turn. This is what many 4x4 truck drivers forget when the snow flies. They can get moving just fine but it's the other stuff that's really important.

 

How do you not have a job you have to drive too?

 

MagWag company car FTW!!!

Don't drive it if you don't want to, or just take it out occasionally.

 

ok i had all of your statements seperated out and i was in the process of reiterating (spelling?) myself with your statements in mind. but then it kept getting deleted so now i will just clump them together.

as for a high horsepower output car i didnt mean that the more hp you have in your car the harder it is going to be to drive in the winter. i meant that comment as depending how much money you have invested in your car you may not want to drive it in the winter, such as you or Dave (scooby02) i have seen both of your cars and personally i would not want to drive either of them in the winter, mainly because of the amounts of money you two have put into your cars.

secondly, i did not consider turning and braking in my said statement before on how awd will compensate for crappy all season tires. i hope the OP will take my comment with a grain of salt and realize that i didnt mean go test the limits of your car will bald summer tires around the bluffs of redwing. no. i was only thinking of accelerating (spelling?) in tough annoying snow that most (not all) cars would find difficult in such as starting from a zero stop trying to go up hill. so to clarify i did not mention anything about handleing i was just trying to cover the basis that awd may compensate for a few things that a fwd car may lack in the winter.

finally your option ideas are spot on. no argument there i would take the options readymix has given you OP and cherish them for they sound very well thought out.

 

just drive it. it's a Subaru.

 

Good winter tires, cheap winter wheels, be careful, wash frequently, have fun!! Seriously, subarus are FUN to drive in the winter!

 

Other than no snow tires...is there another reason that you wouldnt drive the STI?

 

Bus? Work from home?

 

Sugar-mama. Giggity.

 

I drove my 07 sti in the winter, but I had blizzaks. Best winter handling car I have ever owned.

 

^^ lol.

 

Awesome thanks for all the replys guys. Although there about 50/50 drive it or don't drive it. I think I might just not drive it and save the money I would of bought winter tires/rims with for new summer rims. The rims on it when I bought it are Enkei RPF1's and I think they are ugly as sin.

WRX1 summed up a lot of the others reasons I don't want to drive it. Plus you Minnesoters suck really bad at driving in snow!

I play online poker for a living.

 

my subaru is my beater.

 

Plus you Minnesoters suck really bad at driving in snow!

What?

 

also interested in an answer

 

My STI went to sleep last nite for the winter. I picked up a 1200 dollar 96 legacy a couple years ago and I'm very pleased with my purchase!

 

I have done that the last two years, this year I driving the car, there is way to much winter and not enough summer for my car not to get driven, I only have 11k on the car so I'm throwing on some winter tires and calling it good. I"ll buy a new Subaru before it'll ever rust maybe a Subaru wrx sti 380S :biggrin:

 

It's called "telecommuting" lots of people do it. Also, I fixed your spelling error.

 

Telecommuting is like the solve all to your gas problems It's such an enjoyable function to be able to log into a VPN or remote desktop service and just crack away hours of work from your bed in your PJ's > : D me wants

 

It's true though.

At least the people who drive most of the time in the metro.

The people who live out in the country and don't have a plow coming by every 15 minutes to clear off that 1/8" of snow and salt it into oblivion have a clue.

 

Haha I didn't mean to touch a sensitive subject here. Obviously not talking about anyone on this forum. The drivers are bad enough here when there is no snow. The speed limit seems to go down 20 mph anytime a little bit of something white comes down. I can't even imagine what it's like driving to work in the morning on 494 I really feel bad for anyone who has to make that commute everyday.

 

^ and that is the main reason why I will NOT take a job in the minneapolis suburbs off of 494. I will drive myself insane every single morning and afternoon, and no job is worth that.

 

Yep, it sure sux. I have to do it every day. It's even worse in the winter, but bills DO have to get paid.


And I had a beater blazer when I had my STi. No compaints other than it wasnt awd

 

I just put my car away sunday, got the 98 S-10 up and rolling again. just like Russ say if I crash or someone else hits me super cheap to fix plus, NO SALT on my subie.

 

I'm a little late to the discussion, but:

+1millionzillion

And "****ty" in this case means "not designed specifically for snow or ice". Your super-sticky ultra-expensive Z-rated tires aren't necessarily "good" in snow.

My vote is solidly for driving the winter beater, since you HAVE a winter beater already.

All arguments for the STI's capabilities in snow aside, the STI does NOT come with a magical forcefield that will prevent OTHER PEOPLE FROM SMASHING INTO YOU.

You're stopped at a stoplight (or PARKED) and somebody comes careening through an intersection sideways with their wheels locked up. Are ABS, AWD, or Nokians gonna help you THEN? No. But being in a rusty ol' Camry when you hear the crunch of metal is a far less unpleasant sound than being in an STI.

If you had to choose between BUYING a winter beater and BUYING winter tires for the STI, then there would be a valid debate. But in your situation, why the frick would you leave the Camry in the garage and put your STI at risk on snowy roads?!?

 

Please continue to feel bad...it makes me feel better. :wiggle:

Back on topic: Personally, I bought my WRX to drive it. Summer and winter, it plays outdoors. Of course, the replacement cost is significantly different between my old WRX and a newer STi.

I run a winter setup so I can have as much control as possible but the idiocy of the rest of the population is still a valid concern.

Cheers!