Dear All,

This is my first post...my name is Gionnik and I live in Moscow, Russia. I am in love with the new SRT8 and I'm thinking to buy one for me (BTW here the price is $ 91'800 the fully equipped version).

My question: Here the weather is very bad for half year with a lot of snow and rains, how is the SRT8 AWD transmission working under such extreme conditions, is it safe and predictable, does it have good traction?

Ofcourse I would be replacing the tyres with winter ones.

Thanks in advance,

Gionnik

You should be fine, especially if you are replacing with winter tires. I live in the NE USA and we had several ice/snow events last year and the GCSRT was a lot better than I had hoped for to be honest. And I have the stock Goodyears.

The traction control is good to keep you going straight on slippery roads, but when you need traction to get up hills, simply press the traction control button to disable it, and off you go.

Welcome by the way!

Hey!!!

The only problem you'll have is how deep the snow will be since our jeep are low to the ground especially in the front.


Paul:cool:

learned that lesson last year,hitting snowbanks with the low front bumper wouldnt be good

Welcome to the forums. I am from upstate New York, and I just drove mine in the snow last nite and today. It feels good....on open roads I even tried to spin out, but traction control really helped. I am still on stocks, when you change over to winter tires, I think you will be golden!

We've got an 07 JGC SRT8. Drove home from the mountains yesterday morning (Vail to Denver) in what was probably ~6-7 inches of snow at that point. We have a set of Pirelli Scorpions on and even with these, we have some fairly serious tractions issues under even mild acceleration. I noticed that on any type of incline, the back end would start to slide out, even when no real throttle was being applied (just enough to keep us moving at 30 mph). Not sure if it is just me or if we are having some sort of problem with the AWD in our vehicle? I am well aware of the rear torque bias but frankly was expecting that the AWD system kick in and do a much better job given how gently she was being driven.

I use to drive an Overland. I'd say the SRT8's AWD is not as good, I'd give it a 4 out of 10 in confidence rating in snow. Enough to get by, but enough to make you **** your pants once in awhile too. I'm on 22's though, that may have something to do with it.

I do have snow tires and it is easy to push to hard and lose traction. After you loose traction, control goes out the window with anything. My kids drive a subaru and It does not lose traction as easy, as there just is not enough power to make it turn loose. The Jeep more up to you, to drive and just not let it do its own thing. It goes till you make a snow plow of the front bumper, not a good idea.

Mine is fine on stock tires. I'm normally a big proponent of snowtires... this is my first winter since 1997 that I don't have anything on snowtires because we now have the Jeep.

Your's should be excellent fitted with snow tires.

I live in Alaska. My wife is driving my Jeep and she has told me it is doing great in the snow and ice.

We've got an 07 JGC SRT8. Drove home from the mountains yesterday morning (Vail to Denver) in what was probably ~6-7 inches of snow at that point. We have a set of Pirelli Scorpions on and even with these, we have some fairly serious tractions issues under even mild acceleration. I noticed that on any type of incline, the back end would start to slide out, even when no real throttle was being applied (just enough to keep us moving at 30 mph). Not sure if it is just me or if we are having some sort of problem with the AWD in our vehicle? I am well aware of the rear torque bias but frankly was expecting that the AWD system kick in and do a much better job given how gently she was being driven.

I'm a Denver native and I've owned 6 different Jeeps and an AWD turbo Talon over the years (which was the best of all for traction) and without doubt my SRT8 has the worst traction of any.:eek: I even tried driving it with the traction control off in a storm we had before Christmas and felt like I was driving on pure ice. I blame the original tires for most of it. An agressive all season tread as is common on Michlin might do the job but better to leave it in the garage and get a skinny wheeled high clearance junker for driving in the winter in our area of the country.:disgust:

I disagree with the above. I just went out this morning with roads not plowed and we got about 10 inchs of wet snow last night and this morning. There were cars sliding backwards trying to get started on slight inclines and i just went around them and buzzed right on by. Now my AWD S4 with Pilot Alpins was a snowmobile, but the Jeep with stock setup does fine if as long as you drive accordingly. This is my second winter on stock tires. Drive on.

I disagree with the above. I just went out this morning with roads not plowed and we got about 10 inchs of wet snow last night and this morning. There were cars sliding backwards trying to get started on slight inclines and i just went around them and buzzed right on by. Now my AWD S4 with Pilot Alpins was a snowmobile, but the Jeep with stock setup does fine if as long as you drive accordingly. This is my second winter on stock tires. Drive on.


I agree with you. In Chicago we just got 6 inches of snow and I had no problems driving in the snow with the factory tires. I love it, but i also am used to driving rwd vehicles and maybe these other people just don't know how to drive. :eek:

I think most of the people who have problems with these trucks in the winter need to learn how to drive. Yes it has AWD, TC, ABS, and ESP but it also has 20'' short sidewall tires (wide too), 425hp, and weighs 4500lbs or so. Be easy on acceleration and plan a little more ahead for stopping. My wife drives this thing in New England snow storms and has no complaints even after trading in our regular Grand Jeep Cherokee. Our drive way is long and fairly steep and it goes up it just fine. Just like ANY other vehicle you must be careful when switching lanes on the highway, keep your tires in the groves on the road in wintery conditions, watch for off camber corners, slow down a bit, ABS and AWD are not magic makers...remember that they are trying accelerate and stop a 4500lb truck. I am on the stock tires which are not know to be the best but in my opinion it does just fine. From what i hear 17''-19'' winter tire and rim combos work great on the traction issues associated with less experienced drivers and super slippery roads.

The stock tires are fine for the ice but where I've experienced problems while winter driving in Reno/Tahoe area are the uneven surfaces created by chains etc.... The suspension in these rigs is unforgiving and a serious reduction in speed is a must!! Also, any buildup of snow would cause havoc with the front bumper.

i also live in tahoe and pretty much have no complaints. the only thing i can think of that sucks is the 6" of clearance that the front bumper has. sometimes the plows dont come by soon enough and my bumper gets to plow the road.

blueh20, if you have a black 06 or 07, i think ive seen you around.

I love driving it in the snow...have a had a lot more practice since my last post in this thread. No problems yet...and I believe it is easy for me to drive since I have been used to small rear and front wheel vehicles in the snow from past winters.

From what i hear 17''-19'' winter tire and rim combos work great on the traction issues associated with less experienced drivers and super slippery roads.

Well I did buy a set of 18" rims (ALBA) and am running Dunlop snow tires on them. I find that the traction is excellent with this set-up. For anyone that is keeping their vehicle for a few years (I usually keep them 6-7 years), the added intital cost of rims and tires will pay for itself in less wear on your other rubber and that is not taking into account the additional benefit of much improved traction. It is worth the investment.

I do however take offence to the quote above as I do consider myself to be an experienced driver. I just believe that having snows is definately worth the expenditure.:p

The GCSRT8 does better than I expected. Living in Park City, Ut and so far this winter have found both traction and handling to be satisfactory. Thought I would have to put dedicated snow tires on but think it will be O.K.

Well I did buy a set of 18" rims (ALBA) and am running Dunlop snow tires on them. I find that the traction is excellent with this set-up. For anyone that is keeping their vehicle for a few years (I usually keep them 6-7 years), the added intital cost of rims and tires will pay for itself in less wear on your other rubber and that is not taking into account the additional benefit of much improved traction. It is worth the investment.

I do however take offence to the quote above as I do consider myself to be an experienced driver. I just believe that having snows is definately worth the expenditure.:p


Ummm...I don't recall directing that towards you??? I made a general statement, thats all. I actually agree it would be worth the investment but wouldn't be absolutely necessary. Hope i cleared that up.