[Requiem478]

I'm a little nervous about the upcoming winter, and the charger is my only car and my daily driver. A lot of charger owners put their cars away for winter. So how many RWD owners are braving the winter, and those who have done it before, any advice?

 

[Grimlock]

I am! It can be scary. By February I may actually have to use the heater!

 

[Requiem478]

I am! It can be scary. By February I may actually have to use the heater!

Hah too scary! PA winters are absolutely BRUTAL on cars.

 

[Mike171]

mine will be. I will drive a work truck when it gets to bad though. we get a lot of ice here

 

[ennis.jre]

The 'ol Charger is my only means of transportation. With good tires, the car is surprisingly stable on the slippery roads. I'm more concerned about being hit by some dumba** than losing control. Just be smart, drive cautiously, and keep PLENTY of distance from other people. :banana:

 

[1CleanRT]

I am! It can be scary. By February I may actually have to use the heater!

That doesn't count. I've been using the heater in the car since early October. You're like those Floridians who complain about 50-60 degree weather in the winter. That's like a heatwave up here! LoL

I'll be braving the winter. And I'm in a situation quite similar to the OP. I've got the 06 Charger RT with RWD. And I'm a bit nervous about winter driving. But I figure with some good snows in the rear and a bag or two of sand/cement in the spare tire well I should be fine....I hope.

 

[charger_NE25]

The 'ol Charger is my only means of transportation. With good tires, the car is surprisingly stable on the slippery roads. I'm more concerned about being hit by some dumba** than losing control. Just be smart, drive cautiously, and keep PLENTY of distance from other people. :banana:

agreed.

What winter tires you running? I kept using the same tires (assume they're stock? Continental ProContact or something...) and nothing happened throughout the winter except my ESP worked its magic twice and I slid once nearby some apartment complex
Thought it may be time to get Blizzak as this name mentioned frequently in winter shoes discussion with pretty good review :beerchug:

 

[DanPop]

I will be :driving:
Last winter was the first year in about 10 that I drove a RWD, it was an '06 Mercury Grand Marquis and with Nordman II tires it was a tank. Too bad they don't make them in 18". I think I am going with Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero tires, read a lot of good things about them and they're not crazy expensive.
At 4,000 lbs I think we'll be alright :alfdance:

 

[TK Charger]

its not the bad, i was only 17 and made it through the winter fine, actually i had only got my g2 that winter. my only advice is by careful with the back-end, it sometimes like to slide out but nothing too serious. if i managed with minimal driving experience, you should definitely be fine.

 

[CHARGER-08(RT)]

Count me in.....SoCal winters are BRUTAL !!!!! :biggrinjester::biggrinjester:

 

[ColdSteel]

You should be fine

I have driven a 1993 Crown Vic, a 1999 Crown Vic, a 2005 Crown Vic and now my 2008 Charger. I absolutely had to have a set of dedicated snow tires back in CT with the Vics.
With the Traction Control, the Weight of the Car, a full-size spare (and the donut) in the trunk and perhaps a bag of kitty litter, I have not needed to get dedicated winter tires for my Charger; I'm just using the OEM all-season GY ComforTreds. Unfortunately, this past winter with multiple blizzards here in Northern VA, my car had to sit because ground clearance was more of an issue than traction.
Most winters we tend to get more ice than snow, in which case you might as well park it, cause nothings important enough to mess up the Charger

 

[RAINMANyeh]

Well considering I'm in the South, winter is usually not too much of an issue here. With good tires, ESP on, and the weight of the Charger, she handles pretty well when we do get ice on the roads.

 

[Labbie]

I won't put mine away, but I also won't knowingly take it out in the snow.

But I'm sure there will be at least a couple of times that the forecasters get the timing wrong and I'll get caught in it.

Like everyone has said, take it easy, let Mr. Squiggles do his job and you should be fine.

 

[chargerdriven]

The 'ol Charger is my only means of transportation. With good tires, the car is surprisingly stable on the slippery roads. I'm more concerned about being hit by some dumba** than losing control. Just be smart, drive cautiously, and keep PLENTY of distance from other people. :banana:

X2 and I do just fine.

 

[Jonny]

I've driven two winters with the RWD Charger. Pretty fun, actually.

I got the Firestone Winterforce tires.

You can really find out what the stability program does in the snow, even with ESP off, it still assists you in a sideways condition. Pretty cool stuff.

Low point - pulling into traffic (especially on an uphill grade, on packed snow) with ESP on and not having traction... you have to either turn it off, or accelerate just enough to not slip the wheels, or HAL takes away almost all the power. It's kinda counter-intuitive to back off the gas when pulling into traffic and the car does LESS than you'd expect, but you get used to it.

The biggest hurdle, if you have only driven FWD vehicles is the sudden ability for the rear tires to pass the fronts when over - accelerating... try out the empty mall parking lot on the first snow, to see what the handling characteristics of the car are.... Make sure it's empty...

 

[MCaesar]

I'm a little nervous about the upcoming winter, and the charger is my only car and my daily driver. A lot of charger owners put their cars away for winter. So how many RWD owners are braving the winter, and those who have done it before, any advice?

We had 3 snow storms over 20 inches last year and the SRT never got stuck

It is all about the tires brother

 

[MCaesar]

I've driven two winters with the RWD Charger. Pretty fun, actually.

I got the Firestone Winterforce tires.

You can really find out what the stability program does in the snow, even with ESP off, it still assists you in a sideways condition. Pretty cool stuff.

Low point - pulling into traffic (especially on an uphill grade, on packed snow) with ESP on and not having traction... you have to either turn it off, or accelerate just enough to not slip the wheels, or HAL takes away almost all the power. It's kinda counter-intuitive to back off the gas when pulling into traffic and the car does LESS than you'd expect, but you get used to it.

The biggest hurdle, if you have only driven FWD vehicles is the sudden ability for the rear tires to pass the fronts when over - accelerating... try out the empty mall parking lot on the first snow, to see what the handling characteristics of the car are.... Make sure it's empty...

That is the problem with having ESP instead of a good limited slip diff.

I understand the newer models finally have LSD

It should be standard on every V8 car

The Charger is good but my 95 Impala SS with no traction control but with LSD was much better.

 

[Grimlock]

That doesn't count. I've been using the heater in the car since early October. You're like those Floridians who complain about 50-60 degree weather in the winter. That's like a heatwave up here! LoL

I'll be braving the winter. And I'm in a situation quite similar to the OP. I've got the 06 Charger RT with RWD. And I'm a bit nervous about winter driving. But I figure with some good snows in the rear and a bag or two of sand/cement in the spare tire well I should be fine....I hope.

Yeah it sucks. I might even have to wear pants or something other than a t-shirt in the next few months. It gets brutal here!

I lived through some cold winters living in Indiana while at school. I remember what -10 feels like (it sucks!) That's why I moved back to California. I live 325 minutes from the ocean, or 3 hours from some of the world's best skiing/snowboarding. The only thing that sucks is the cost of living.

 

[Grimlock]

That is the problem with having ESP instead of a good limited slip diff.

I understand the newer models finally have LSD

It should be standard on every V8 car

The Charger is good but my 95 Impala SS with no traction control but with LSD was much better.

Wow, I had my M3 back when I lived in Indiana and it was BRUTAL to drive in the snow. Maybe it is because the cars was so light (under 2800lbs) and had some pretty wide tires. The only electronics it had was ABS, but it did have a LSD. I learned that when there was a good layer of snow, to go catch a ride with a friend and just park the M.

I have to imagine that the SRT8 would be vastly superior in winter weather.

 

[Black Bullet]

I have a full set of snow tires, but this is still the worst car I have ever driven in the winter. Too much power. I try to drive "lightly", like there is an egg under the throttle, but it is still bad.

But we do have real winters here, and this is the only car i have, so I just suck it up, drive careful and avoid the other dumba$$e$