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C4 Cab in snow- impressive!


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We received a couple of inches of snow this morning and I took my newly-acquired 2000 C4 Cab out to see how it faired. I was very impressed with it's handling and predictability on light snow and ice as well as slush. Keep in mind that this is on performance tires and not on traction tires.

A couple of observations- It was very predictable nearly all of the time in all the conditions I subjected it to. When I first headed out, I deliberately avoided most of the hills in my area. (We actually have the highest hill in Seattle right behind my house at 534 feet...) Braking was controlled and measured, subject to the limits of physics of course, as they remind you in the C4 owner's manual... and the C4 stayed on an even course, despite deliberately engaging the ABS.

After about an hour behind the wheel, I attempted some modest hills, with very little problem. The PSM engaged several times, but it was fairly transparent.

I finally attempted a steeper hill with a 120-degree turn at a safe speed. The C4 ate it up- it really was very unfazed by the conditions.

All in all, a very impressive piece of engineering. I can't wait to get some traction tires and head up to on of the passes for some real snow time.

I just looked outside and it is snowing again- time to take the C4 out for another run!

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Took my daughter to school about 2 weeks after i purchased my C4 coupe (in Feb this year) and stupidly went down into the the carpark that has a very steep decent and a lot of snow and ice.

When i got to the bottom i realised my foolishness when i seen another two cars attempting to get back up the slope and another three or four abandoned as they could not manage.

So dropped my daughter off and awaited my turn to attempt to get back up, the other two noticed and waved me on to have my attempt, possibly expecting me to have no chance! First attempt was not successful as i tried with the PSM on, on the second attempt with the PSM off i managed to get up to the top without too much of an issue! (although it was a slow proccess!) had a wee laugh to myself wondering what all the poor folks at the bottom were thinking when they saw high performance sports car reaching the top without too much fuss while they were all still stuck at the bottom!

And this was with normal Tyres fitted, not winter ones.

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I headed back out again in the midst of the worst snowfall and discovered that 996's doors are very hard to open when frozen. I was really concerned that I was going to damage the seals. Apparently, the windows were not only frozen in the upright position, but the glass was frozen to the rubber seal around the doorframe. Anyone in really cold climates have suggestions about this? I can't imagine taking a 996 to a ski resort and not being able to open the doors because of the window issue. Maybe a remote starter would be the only answer.

As the temp dropped last night, my tires became more and more uncooperative. At 18 degrees F, the sport tires were pretty much useless. I was able to navigate some hills and practiced with the PSM turned off on a flat open area. I was surprised how much the PSM had been helping, particularly on starting up from a stop.

It was great fun and the looks on my neighbors' faces as I headed out into the snowstorm were priceless! They couldn't believe that I would take my Porsche out in the snow and ice... when I told them that it was AWD, they thought I was joking.

I am gong to get a set of Michelin Alpines and really enjoy my car this winter. Cheers!

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  • 1 month later...

I run my 996 on Nokian Hakkapeliitta R winter tyres (245 rear and 225 front, 18 inch) in the wintery conditions of Northern Norway. The car works excellent, no hickups at all. It's a C2 but with a lot of weight on the rear and the LSD option it still has an amazing level of grip. I haven't gotten stuck or met hills I couldn't climb yet. Everything is better with pics:

CIMG4539.JPG

And an example of how bad it gets up here, my previous car:

Dramsveien%20-%2018.%20mars%2009.jpg

Nøysomheten%201%20-%2018.%20mars%2009.jpg

Use silicone lubricant on the door seals, that should make the work well, even when it's freezing outside.

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Early Porsche C4 models using a VC, Viscous Clutch(coupling) have VERY little engine torque at the front wheel absent a SUSTAINED period of wheelspin/slip rear vs front. That level of sustained wheelspin/slip generally can only be attained with TC (PSM) off. The C4's additional traction capability is more often the result of rear engine weight bias rather than any significant level of VC coupling. That, of course, has changed now with the newer C4's making use of the Ford Escape electromagnetic clutch control technique.

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I run my 996 on Nokian Hakkapeliitta R winter tyres (245 rear and 225 front, 18 inch) in the wintery conditions of Northern Norway. The car works excellent, no hickups at all. It's a C2 but with a lot of weight on the rear and the LSD option it still has an amazing level of grip. I haven't gotten stuck or met hills I couldn't climb yet. Everything is better with pics:

Real, actual LSD or "virtual" (uses braking)..?

I find that the virtual LSD also dethrottles the engine, not a lot of help, that.

CIMG4539.JPG

And an example of how bad it gets up here, my previous car:

Dramsveien%20-%2018.%20mars%2009.jpg

Nøysomheten%201%20-%2018.%20mars%2009.jpg

Use silicone lubricant on the door seals, that should make the work well, even when it's freezing outside.

Edited by wwest
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It's true that 996 C4s use a VC for delivering power to the front axle. Based on that I got the recommendation to forget about C2 vs C4 and let other criteria decide, as the C4 didn't pull that much better from a standstill than the C2s.

My 996 has the 220 option (Locking differential (40%)), which is a mechanical limited slip differential. It has the electronic traction control system as well which is the "virtual" one that uses the brakes and reduces the throttle to reduce slipping. I usually keep it off on winter roads, it's much more fun to drive sideways... ;)

A C4 in trouble:

Edited by Thklinge
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