Wow, where do I start...

Ok, so we recieved a moderate amount of snow.. but nothing more than we have seen here before. Just a few inches so far and it isn't nearly as bad as years before this (yet). After driving the G6 thru what I call a pathetic amount of snowfall I have MANY complaints. :o

I had experience last year in a grand am.. lets just say the GA is parked in the garage and WILL NOT see snow driving this year if it can be helped. While the G6 has extra weight and a longer wheelbase (which has proven itself MORE snow worthy... it still has issues.)

1) I have never felt so disconnected from the road. :( At slow speed the car feels on the edge of losing it.. skittish like a crackwhore during an overdose. As I attempted to approach 30mph, on somewhat clear roads, I could feel the 'boys' shrinking up on me and my gut tense up as I could feel the car start to go in whatever direction it felt, despite my firm grip on the wheel.

2) Taking off was never really a problem in any car I have driven before, however the G6 puts things on a different level. If you do manage to take off from a dead stop without incident it would be 100% likely you did not have the wheels turned in any direction but straight ahead. ;) Thats part of the battle... then you just have one small issue left to contend with just after leaving the line. For some reason GM created a car that struggles to chirp the tires on dry pavement yet plants an ass load of torque to the tires in the couple of seconds after reaching 5mph. This results in me resting my foot (literally) on the gas lightly and letting up every second to stop the wheel spin. For some reason it has a sweet spot while rolling at low mph and trys to just take off no matter how much gas you give it. :mad: I have been watching the RPMs constantly and noticed a "stall" effect happening..the car slips up to ~2K rather suddenly (no noticeble wheel spin at the time) and then unloads all of a sudden. This could be a tranny issue or something but either way its frustrating.

3) Stopping.. ok Im going to skip this one because It just gets me too pissed off. Probably my fault anyways for buying a car without ABS or Traction Control. (Just call me OWNED)

4) Turning.. forget it unless your nearly stopped. I found myself skipping turns I wanted to make (probably a combination of the awesome braking ability and turning issues) and ultimately choosing the straightest routes to where I was going. Stopping at an intersection and turning right or left from it was a huge 'Not going to happen buddy' and going to fast (anything above 10mph) was another 'screw you im going straight' action.

Please keep in mind for anyone still reading this that I drove a 88 RWD Chevy Astro last winter with a 4.3L V6 and a 95 modded Z28 RWD camaro for 2 winters prior... so my complaints are not based on anything but driving experience with what others tell me are horrible winter vehicles.

I guess there is a bright side, at least I have two cup holders right??

My G6 i got the abs tracktion controll option.Salesman insisted i did not need it but i insisted on it thankfully for that im glad i got it after reading your post.My wife and i have had no problems in the snow

i ahve abs and traction control on my G6.. i was going around a soft bend at about 15mph.. slid into the oncoming lane.. slid back.. almost hit a parked car.. took about 20 - 30 more yards before i got complete traction.. i had a zx5 focus pryor to the G6 and never had a problem..

Wow.. GJS Im glad to hear you have not experienced any issues. :) I wouldn't wish a bad thing on too many people *hehe..sorry I guess I can't say 'anyone'* your certainly not one of them. :)

Thunkele thats exactly what im talking about.. its a sled with 4 doors. I guess I will see how it goes on the way home (I see at least 2 to 3 ft drifts outside the window at my office.) Almost off for the night..I don't really feel like even trying.. but I can't sleep here. LOL

today we had freezing rain than ice pellets and then changed to snow 5cm no problems driving just had to take my time.IT IS WINTER TIME TO SLOW DOWN A LITTLE :) ;)

I had no problem this week with the one I was driving (no winter tires, 4 inches of new snow over ice)...

Personally I hate traction control; it doesn't help accelerating at all. As for ABS, it helps, but you can achieve the same thing manually with some practice.

My previous car (Grand Am 97, 2 door SE, 5 speed) was fine in the snow, and I drove high mountain passes in BC quite often.

Enh, Ill just be glad when this thing is gone..Im thinking of buying out the lease early..

I think most of your problems are due to the poor quality of the stock tires. Get some good tires on that beast and I'm sure it'll change radically.

Wouldn't be suprised...I have never thought highly of Uniroyal or TigerPaw...

I think most of your problems are due to the poor quality of the stock tires. Get some good tires on that beast and I'm sure it'll change radically.


I agree 100%, Ben. Get some good winter tires on there and see what a difference they can make.

Don't blame the car, blame the driver! My G6 handles no worse on snow and ice than my Grand Am, my dads Acura TL, or my mom's minivan. The tracton control pedal vibration is a little anoying though!

I totaly agree blame the driver not the car.Its winter you have to slow down on ice and snow any car will slide around on it.I really blame salesmen for telling people there cars will not slide around with having traction control.Heres one story my father bought a cadillac srx nice truck/car the salesman told him it has sensors so if they hit ice they will not go out of control :eek: so he thinks if he hits black ice they will be just fine and they will just keep going down the highway :eek: So my wife and I refuse to drive with them on the highway in the winter .Ireally wonder how many salesmen are to blame for winter driving accidents I bet alot

Mine doesnt have traction control...and yes blame the driver ;) I have no experience ... funny guys... 8 more months...

Oh and for the person who compared it to the grand ams performance in the snow...thanks you made my point! ;)

Well im In Buffalo NY just got my G6 and a day later 1ft of snow and had no problems at all. And This is coming from a guy who owned and Suv for the past 4 years. I was actually impressed on how it snuuged the road. I had no slipping or Sliding

Does anyone know if the GT has the same tires under it? Im curious. You also have ABS which comes in handy. ;) I don't plan on making it to the next snowfall..so I won't be able to test the tire theory out at all.

The GT has different tires, although not sure if any better than ones on your V6.

To summarize:

The base L4 (for 2006) will have same 16 inch tires as on your V6, P215/60R16.

The GT comes with 17 inch Continentals, P225/50R17.

The GTP has 2 different types of 18 inch tires, both P225/50R18. The std ones are Goodyear but there is an option one that has higher speed rating. Forgot who makes them.