mmouse

We are ready to trade our 98 Dodge Durango in for a 2007 HHR, the Durango is just killing us in gas. I am curious how the HHR does in the snow? We are in Kansas and get a couple of good snow storms a year and some ice. My Durango is 4WD and I never really worried about the weather. Now with a new car, no 4WD it makes me concerned. What is everyone's expierence?
Thanks!

Black Beauty

No problem with the winter drive in Chi-Town...
And the heated seats (leather) are the "BOMB".

mizzouHHR

I live in North Central Missouri so I get about the same amount of snow you do. I drive 45 miles to work and had no problems at all the last two winters. I do have a 2LT with traction control and anti-lock brakes, so that helps. I will say the firestone tires are not the best, but there not terrible either. One thing you will notice in an HHR is you don't have to stop at gas station near as much as you do with your durrango . Good luck.

BTW to the family

krishaynes

I can't wait to hear the answers as well - I had a '98 Sidekick 4x4 with BFG T/A KOs on it that was amazing in the snow so I don't know what to expect from my HHR...

dbfruth

I live in Derby KS, The car does ok in the snow it would do better with good tires, I bought mine in January and drove it home when there was snow on the ground. The stock Firestones are crap! they don't grab very well on ice or snow. I am planning on replacing mine with some Yokohama Avid touring tires when the stock tires wear out. I had those on 3 other cars and never had a problem in the snow.

misterjensen

If you're concerned about snow performance, I would skip the 2007 and get a 2008 HHR. The new ones have available electronic stability control, which obviously helps quite a bit in snow.

DreamHHR

Tires, tires, tires; it comes down to the tires used. No other system/car type will have more impact than 4 good snow tires. I'll choose a FWD w/snow tires anyday over a 4WD on all-seasons. ABS & ETS are almost useless if there's no available traction.

That being said, I'll have to use my Firestone for a couple of winters before I can justify purchasing new snow tires. Yeah, I know that I'll likely be sliding around quite a bit... at least I'm saving them for winter-only duty, so they'll have as much tread as possible.

From my experience with previous cars, a wagon body style feels more balanced in the snow, because of the extra weight in the back; it somewhat prevents the back end from "floating" and becoming unstable. Of course I still have to experience this personally on the HHR.

Yves

bcfry

Being from Kansas myself, I have had good luck with our 06 HHR. I love the anti-lock brakes and it has good traction.

Black Rose

We've put close to 20,000 kms on our all seasons in 9 months and will probably add a several thousand more before the snow flies.

Last winter with the new Firestones Affinity tires wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. Any more than a couple of inches of snow and we slid around a fair bit.

We're getting steel rims and snow tires for this winter....my wallet will hurt from that I know.

DreamHHR

If you can get your hands on a set of 15 inchers, you'll be able to get a 70 ratio 15 inch tire; these should be much cheaper and will likely perform better if you stay below the stock 215 width (like: 195 or 205).

Edit: 205/65R15 works perfectly diameter wise and is an available tire size.

Yves