How does the hhr drive in snow, ice etc? A little worried, used to have an equinox.

How does the hhr drive in snow, ice etc? A little worried, used to have an equinox.


From what all my friends have said it drives like any other FWD vehicle.

Ther only complaint is the Firestone OE tires here in the snowbelt. Most of them upgraded to a better Alll Season tires and had no issues.

It doesn't snow in Parma, just don't come east into the snowbelt. My HHR does better than either of my other 4x2 pick-up trucks did. Ya, I'm in the belt in Geauga County and it handles fine.

It drives great!!! But, this is my first ever FWD vehicle in 30 years of driving. Anything would be an improvement!:lol:

I'm curious. had 4x4 trucks for years so I never thought about what I am going to bring up but do they even make studded tires anymore? Had them when I was younger in the early 70's

I'm curious. had 4x4 trucks for years so I never thought about what I am going to bring up but do they even make studded tires anymore? Had them when I was younger in the early 70's

I had some in my youth as well. But I believe studded tires have been outlawed in pretty much every state. They're really hard on the road surface.

TomK
Mpls, MN

And concrete sidewalks in front of a high school on the back of a '66 GTO, but that's another story!;)

HI I'm a new guy, been looking at the Hhr for a couple months now... Going for my first test drive this weekend:D
Love the looks and hope to love the way it drives. My current truck is a S10 4x4 Zr2 and is sweet in the snow:bow: that is one thing I'm worried about with the Hhr. Really sucks to hear that after buying the car I will have to upgrade the tires?
Nice site here and hope to find more answers to my questions:smile:

In the light snow we get here (Nashville), I have no problems driving with my OE Firestone Affinitys. When we get snow, it might accumulate to 1 or 2 inches but that's about all. It handles well in the conditions here. Yes, a better set of tires (like the Michelin Harmony All Season Touring that I had on my Impala) would make things even better.

You know , it might not hurt to have a special set of front wheels to install when going up into the mountains on a ski trip.

HI I'm a new guy, been looking at the Hhr for a couple months now... Going for my first test drive this weekend:D
Love the looks and hope to love the way it drives. My current truck is a S10 4x4 Zr2 and is sweet in the snow:bow: that is one thing I'm worried about with the Hhr. Really sucks to hear that after buying the car I will have to upgrade the tires?
Nice site here and hope to find more answers to my questions:smile:

These things come with different size tires. The 17inch came with mine. Had I known then what I know now, would have got smaller as these 17's are costly

I live in the Snow Belt, near Wasaga Beach in Ontario. This will be my first winter there, and my first winter with my 2LT. Absolutely going with winter tires this snow season... any one have a brand recommendation? I'm trying to keep costs low but jeeze, there are so many options I'm not sure who to listen to. Michelin X-Ice look good so far, and inexpensive to boot. Unfortunately I'm onbe of those guys who researches the crap out of things like this... any recommendation is appreciated.

You can get 16's with taller rubber to keep the wheel diameter the same.

I'm going to go 16" steels but want to make sure I'm getting the correct rims. Can anyone here confirm?

Here's what I've dug up for the 16's -

16X6.5 Offset: +42mm
Bolt Pattern: 5-110

A 215 60 16 tire should keep the same overall diameter as the factory 17's with factory rubber.

If you drop to a 15" rim, try 215 65 15, again, as a replacement for the factory 17's. Not sure if the breaks will fit, but assuming it does this keeps costs waaaay down over getting 17" steels.

PS - Here's a wicked good resource for all things "tyre" - http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html#

-Sean

From my old Saab board, the snow tires of choice were Gislaved, Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi, or Bridgestone Blizzaks.

In the light snow we get here (Nashville), I have no problems driving with my OE Firestone Affinitys. When we get snow, it might accumulate to 1 or 2 inches but that's about all. It handles well in the conditions here. Yes, a better set of tires (like the Michelin Harmony All Season Touring that I had on my Impala) would make things even better.

That's cool . I live a lil north from you in ohio and snow is about the same.
Except for the last couple of years ...

http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp

Helpful when calculating wheel diameter if you're looking to save money on winer rims and tires.

Largest stock size listed for an 06 LT was 16". Just pull your info off the tire and enter it into the fields to get the diameter of your 17s.

-Sean

I'll cast a vote for the Blizzaks.The one year the ex and I had them on our Mercedes 560 SEL(I miss that car-sigh-but not the fuel bill!)it transformed the car in winter driving from a sliding beast to a (mostly) controllable one.Speaking as a former Audi A6 owner,if Chevy ever made an all wheel drive HHR that car would be great fun and almost unstoppable in snowy weather.Add the Blizzaks and you'd say"What snow?"

The one recurring issue I've heard regarding the Blizzaks is that they can wander on dry roads, which is a concern. It's not like it used to be where I grew up, where they'd let the snow get hardpacked, turn to ice, then sand. Where I am the roads are salted and kept clear, so the apparantly wandering performance of the Blizzaks might be a problem.

A buddy of mine has a done-up 95 Thunderbird and he swears by the X-Ice. He's got 3.73s and a high stall lockup torque convertor, and drives like an idiot.

-Sean

How does the hhr drive in snow, ice etc? A little worried, used to have an equinox.

If you install Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S tires you will be fine in the snow. :thumb: The tire is also great on wet and dry pavement. I trust my life on these tires! Here is the link at TireRack that talks about the tire:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Exalto+A%2FS&partnum=15HR7EXAS&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=44&speed_rating=S&speed_rating=T&speed_rating=U&speed_rating=H&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y)&minSpeedRating=S

I love my HHR!