It’s not everyday that you’ll see Corvettes driving around in the snow, much less a new C7 Stingray. Aside form the usual perils of driving through ice and snow, most Corvette owners have been made aware of the news to not drive their Stingrays in cold weather when equipped with any of the “Summer only” Michelin tires.
That being said, with the proper winter tires in place the team at Automobile figured that the C7 would make for a perfect Winter-time vehicle and drove throughout the country amidst one of the worst winters in years.
They were well aware that their year long test would not be considered “usual” in fact one driver found himself driving the C7 to work wondering, “What kind of goofball drives a 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray in zero-degree weather?”
For those not in the know, the term “Yoopers” is used to describe the inhabitants of the Upper Peninsula of Wisconsin. Staff photographer Patrick Hoey mentioned, “Yoopers asked whether I was out of my mind.” In regards to driving a 900 mile loop during the worst snow storm of the year. Hoey replied by saying, “I responded that I’d take the ’Vette any day over a Camry on bald tires, to which the growing congregation of Yoopers gave a head-bobbing ‘Amen.’”
The whole crew that would be driving the Stingray seem to have had a “can do” attitude that probably helped push them through periods of concern and stay calm on the highways in poor conditions. One contributor, Marc Noordeloos said, “A simple change of tires truly allows you to extend the performance automobile driving season into a 12-month experience.” Those of us down here in Southern California don’t have the experience to argue or side with Noordeloos, so we’ll leave that part to your thoughts.
If you are considering doing the same with your Vette, Noordeloos pointed out one key aspect, “The Corvette’s stock Michelin Pilot Super Sport ZP summer tires are run-flats, but not one of the winter tire options are. Due to this, you’ll want to purchase a Fix-A-Flat tire inflation setup, like the Continental ContiComfortKit, if you run your Corvette through the cold season, as there is no spare tire.”
Getting stranded with no means to fix a flat would suck to say the least, but doing so in freezing temperatures could potentially be fatal so this is not something to overlooked.
“After nearly a year, the Corvette still sends chills up my spine whenever I drive it,” said their Web Editor Jake Holmes. “I know I will miss it when it leaves.”
All together, we found the whole “Stingray 12-month experiment” to be quite interesting. We can’t say, and we think a lot of you would agree, that we’d ever want to drive our Corvettes in these conditions, but it is nice to see that the option is available should you want to ford the cold. The C7 Stingray really is one hell of a car.