Hello,

I've been reading through this forum for a little while now, but this is my first post.

I'm currently in the market for a new (to me) car, and have always lusted after a 911; however I have a few reservations about how the car would fit into my life, especially since it would be my only car. My major concerns are based largely on the area I live in (somewhat upstate NY), where the roads are very hilly and get treacherous/very amusing in the winter. For this reason, and others that I've read on these forums I've narrowed my search down to a '01-'04 C2/C4s with less than 70k on the OD. I still have a few questions though, specifically:

1 - In related to the base model Carrera; how well dose it do in winter weather (with snow tyres)?

2 - Dose the all wheel drive of the 4s compromise handling at all, and is the 4s really worth the premium?

3 - Will my hockey bag/sticks fit into the car (bag is approx 40"Lx18"Wx16"H)? This would actually be a bit of a deal breaker for me if it doesn't.

Thanks for taking the time to help answer my questions.

 

I have a Warrior backpack hockey bag and it fits perfect in my trunk . My sticks fit in the car as well.

 

Welcome to the group. It would be a horrible car for you, period. Move from upstate NY to Miami and it would be great as an only car. A Carrera 4 won't help you in the snow because you have no appreciable ground clearance. Get a Cayenne if you want a Porsche in NY as an only car. Unless you have somewhere you can store your car indoors and you can commute to work and do essentials by public transportation or walking you are thinking about the wrong car. Sorry lad.

 

Limited ground clearance make it impossible to drive with appreciable snow. Light snow OK.

 

Just got back from the beach and saw this post.

I'll chime in Monday on this , BBQ'ing now by my pool.
I think I can help, let me contact my friends in Buffalo and New England..

 

996 is fine for a DD/only car.

With the rear seats folded down, there is quite a bit of room for storage. The C2 has a large trunk.

what?

The 996 is not a low car. It's of average ride height compared to most. A good set of snow tires and AWD would be more than enough for everything shy of a few feet of snowfall at once.
My lowered Subaru's never had issues going through snow drifts over the hood or continuous deep snow.

 

Thanks for the welcomes, and replies guys.

Savino, I'm guessing the sticks ride in the passenger seat then, or can you fit behind the front seats (my own sticks are cut at 60")?

To the answers about the snow (bearing in mind that I had to shovel about a foot yesterday, which is why I posted here to begin with): Where I live in recent years we haven't had that many really large snowstorms. The problem is mostly that the old country roads have some very steep hill/tight corners, and in this situation traction is the biggest issue. I've lived in Buffalo where they get massive amounts of snow every year but its flat, and I would say they would need at least 6" on the roads there to equal the effect of 1.5"-2" around here. I'm not joking when I say that most of the town's are old carriage paths they sort of "paved" over in the '70-'80s when this place became a NYC bedroom community.

So my take away from this discussion is that the C4s would have enough traction with snow tyres to make it though the 90 percentile storms we get around here, but wouldn't be so good in what I had to drive in on Friday.

I'm also going to assume it would be a massive amount of fun the ~350+ days in the year it isn't snowing, and that's my real issue. On a day like today (or even yesterday afternoon) when the roads have all been cleared the sun is out, and you end up with a beautiful day in the north east, I really don't want to be looking at the dash of a large American sedan as I drive around. I know there are other options that will work for me out there, I have a list of needs/wants in a car; its just that within budget I feel this would be the coolest option.

 

I have a '99 C2 and I have taken it to hockey. My hockey bag will fit in the trunk with no issues, however, I do not carry the spare tire. The sticks easily fit along the side of either the driver or passenger seat.

I can't comment on how it is in the snow as my gets stored for the winter.

The other option is to buy a C2 that would be a little less than a C4S and use the money that you saved to buy an old jeep (or something similar) for when you can't drive the Pcar.

 

I drive a C4S every day. I put proper winter tires on it from mid-October through mid-May. It's fantastic in winter driving conditions. Deep snow can be a challenge, but once the plows come out it's not an issue. FWIW - I live in the mountains in Colorado. We get lots of snow here.

 

I drive my C4 year round, Michelin SSTires in the summer and Blizzaks in the winter. The car is great in the snow, actually better than my 2001 Expecition. If the snow gets too deep it can be a challenge, but we are talking 5-6"+. I did get high centered once in an unplowed parking lot with 10"+ of snow.

 

You can do it, get some coilovers to adjust the height, get a second set of wheels and outfit them with some beefy snow tires and make sure your coolant is up to date, make sure your heater works well then............GO out and have some fun in a vacant parcking lot learn her in the snow...

Contact Nello at Maxspeed..he and his friends do it all the time.

Post Script.. use sealant on the paint this will help keep her nice.

 

Yea man. I usually put the blades of the sticks in the passenger footwell and let them go along the side of the seat.

 

CATA19 - Thanks for the suggestion, while two cars would be an ideal solution, its not practical for me right now. If the pcar won't work I'll focus my search elsewhere.

Dennis/ Dharn - Thanks for the first hand experience, dose this mean the idea isn't that insane?

On a more technical front, the internet suggests that the minimum ride height for a C4s is 99mm [3.90in] with stock tyres, is this correct?

 

A friend who DD's his C2 911's year round.

Here's his 991, but his 997's and 996 had the same duty:

 

fold the rear seats down for the hockey bag

the 4S handling is amazing all year round