got caught in a nasty weather situation last night. it was raining where i work, snow was predicted later, I left work in the rain, 5 miles down the road it started to snow. for the next 25 miles it snowed hard. I was slush driving and things were ok (luckily no hills) a couple miles from home the car started to fishtail and I would correct and then again and each slide would get bigger and bigger and I lost control and did a 720 (maybe a 700) luckily the car stopped about a foot from the guardrail. it had stalled sometime in the slide too, that may have helped. I was going maybe 40 MPH. i started it and continued on but slower and a few miles down the road it did it again. only a 360 this time (going slower). the point of this is for anyone driving in the slushy snow or any slippery conditions is to beware. it felt to me like the weight of the engine in the back was driving this car around. once it started to fishtail it was just a matter of time till it came around. may be a good warning for southerners too who when you do get snow its usually wet and slippery. be careful out there, don't want anyone to get hurt, or damage their car.
Do you have snow tires? Might seem like a dumb question but even in our area people try to get away without them. Slushy conditions are the worst for normal tires.
slush driving... the car started to fishtail and I would correct and then again and each slide would get bigger and bigger and I lost control and did a 720
Although it seldom snows here (despite being in Canada ), I have driven enough times in snow in the last 47 years to learn to take the rear wheels out of gear when fishtailing starts to occur. The natural tendency when fishtailing starts is to take one's foot off the gas. The problem is, the rear tires then turn far too slowly to regain traction again. It's like having the rear brakes locked up. Simple solution is to step in the clutch, or if you're driving a slushbox, put the tranny in neutral... and keep braking to an absolute minimum. Whenever I've done this, I usually feel the rear end regain traction, and then I carefully continue on my way.
Yup, most "all season" tires suck driving on snow or slush. More so when using any kind of "performance" tires. AWD/4WD w/ same tires spin slide etc too and often crash into others because most owners are idiots think the 4WD is automatically better then others and drive way too fast for conditions. But even snow tires often won't help when you drive on ice regardless on hype from some brands. Studded snows may help better on ice but often not because studs mostly put out in a few weeks driving on dry pavement.
ABS on newer cars can help you stop but often not when you drive too fast or the road is completely frozen over.
you can add weight to many cars but only helps some. Example many Fiero owners put 40-60 # of sand in front. Helps some but "wrong" tires will still suck. Don't use big solid crap that can become a sledge hammer in a wreck and kill people.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
Personally, I would not drive a Fiero in the snow....Too much chance for something bad happening......either the Fiero or other drivers. Some winter tires would help, but nothing is going to keep you safe if you hit black ice. Plus, a lot of states salt their roads.......That is like dipping your car in acid!
Back in the late 90s I daily drove a couple of fieros year round. I would thrown two 75 lb bags of sand in the spare tire area as well as in the trunk. Never had any issues or spins.
I would double check your rear alignment as rain and snow can really magnify any issues with the rear toe.
As mentioned by FieroGuru proper alignment, snow tires and weight in the front and back. I never had those issues at all and drove through 5 blistering very snowy seasons with mine. I didn't even add weight until the last winter I daily drove my Fiero. I just saw people recommending it so I tried it. It did seem to handle a bit better, which is common sense I guess.
I daily drove a Fiero for 15 years in the Indiana/Michigan area, 15-20 miles to work on secondary roads. They actually do well in snow and on ice, if you understand the balance of the car. Alignment is crucial, never added any weight.
My GT was a year-round daily driver for the first 12 years I owned it. People often asked me how the car was to drive in winter.
I always said that with the wrong tires, it was the worst car I'd ever driven in snow. BUT with the proper winter snow tires, it was about one of the best!
Our 88 GT was also a daily driver in it's early life - never any real issue in the winter. I also drove my 86 with 4.9l daily for work for 3 winters without much issue.
Proper tires for the winter are pretty much a must.
The only issue with the Fiero is ground clearance which is a problem in our city as we have the most useless road clearing management in the world. The residential streets we are lucky if they are ever plowed (unless you are on a bus route).
A few years ago we got around 22 inches in 24 hours. I had to be ready for work the next day. Made enough room for the ground effects to clear. And off to work I went. Another coworker has a BMW 330i, didn't move out of his parking spot. I have not had issues with my car other than the other drivers who don't know how to drive in it. Sometimes like it better when it snows, due to lees people in it. Now I do live on a bus route. However this is not always a blessing. During the 22 inch episode, I had to cut through 5 feet of hard packed ice and snow to get to the car. People looked at me crazy when I was carrying the stuff to the other side of the car and not putting it in the road. Then the same people would be cussing out the plow when they covered their car back up with the slush/ice/snow they just got their car out of. Then I just smiled and pulled out of my cleared spot.
...we have the most useless road clearing management in the world.
Damn, that must be a helluva problem in a winter wonderland like Edmonton. At least the road clearing guys here have the excuse that they don't get much practice.
OP... While I will always cringe when I here about a person driving a fiero in the snow, it is not because of the snow or perils of driving but due to the impact the winter environment has on these cars... rust is the worst.
That said, my first car was a fiero and I drove it for several years through Winters in Vermont and New Hampshire. The key is proper snow tires. All seasons (aka Connecticut snow tires up here in the sticks ) are worthless in the snow. With proper tires the fiero is actually not a terrible winter vehicle. Its weight distribution and placement of the engine over the drive tires means you can usually get going no problem. Hard breaking and evasive turning can be trickier as the fronts will tend to lock up quicker then a front driver.
I drive this car all winter long but if snow is predicted I take my wifes xc70 usually. the fiero only goes out after the road has been cleared. I HATE that element that the state uses now, it is very corrosive so I try to take the car to the car wash every weekend temperature permitting. this storm was not predicted to be THAT bad till the next day. my wife needed her car so I thought I'd take a chance and I lost. it started as all rain and turned to snow about a third of my way home and the state trucks did not go out and plow (thinking it was going to be all rain like me?). anyway it was a night of bad choices for me and was lucky no real damage to me or the car happened. I told this story so maybe some of the younger drivers I see on the highway always driving faster than conditions permit will maybe think about it a little more and be more careful. it was maybe 2-3 inches of slush which I was having no problem with till it started to slide. I don't know what started the slide I was 25 miles into a 30 mile ride home when it happened. I like the advice of putting the car into neutral and will try to remember that next time. my car is a standard and I took my foot off the gas thinking the engine compression would drag the back tires to keep the car straight but it just made the spin worse. so long story short ,just be careful.
Damn, that must be a helluva problem in a winter wonderland like Edmonton. At least the road clearing guys here have the excuse that they don't get much practice.
...sad part is that they keep patting themselves on the back at the wonderful job they do. Takes them 3-4 days after a major snow fall to clear the main roads, another 3-4 days for the secondary roads - residential forget about it.
Then there is the whole aspect that they go out, sand the roads, then they plow them and then sand them again. They never remove the snow, so we get these windrows along side of the road which in a lot of cases use up 1/2 a lane - so now a 2 lane road becomes 1.5 lanes. I am so snowbirding it when I retire.
I drove my 88 & later 87 in snow. 12 years. The 87 GT with the 3800SC went through snow better than my wife's new car. I put on some General Ultimax Arctic snows on at all four corners add some ballast in the front and rear.
granted, it's been a while since i've driven a fiero, but it was my first vehicle, and what i drove through the winter from the age of 16 to 20.
i guess, if you mis-treat it, it won't do much to save you, but i honestly felt unstoppable in my fiero during the snowy months(85 4cyl, and 86 v6). give it a little gas and it would correct understeer like a champ, too. with the engine over the drive wheels, the traction was fantastic off the line, it was heavy enough to get through the snow, and if not for such low ground clearance i would say it's the most capable car i've driven in the snow. with a good set of tires, it has the same pros/cons as on dry pavement imo. That is to say, great traction to accelerate, better than average handling, and braking limited by not having ABS(if you can threshold brake it's adequate)
I drove my 88 & later 87 in snow. 12 years. The 87 GT with the 3800SC went through snow better than my wife's new car. I put on some General Ultimax Arctic snows on at all four corners add some ballast in the front and rear.
I have these same snow tires on my non-Fiero beater and love them!
I daily drove a couple of Fieros here in Colorado all through the 90's without snow tires and rarely had any problems. Since the early 2000's I've had other cars to drive in the snow, so the Fieros stay garaged. That said, I'd love to get a set of snow tires on my stock '88 GT and let 'er rip in the snow! I remember how much fun my Formula was in the snow back in the day.
In the last 30 years I had a lot of occasions to complain about the poor performance of the Fiero in the snow. I recall once getting stuck in a flat parking lot, with only a couple of inches of snow on the ground. On another occasion, I had to open open the drivers door and put my foot out for an extra push (ala Fred Flintstone) to take off from a traffic light in the snow
However I never had a problem with it spinning out of control. 360/720's like described here. Sounds like driving too fast for conditions, or an underlying problem with the suspension.
), I have driven enough times in snow in the last 47 years to learn to take the rear wheels out of gear when fishtailing starts to occur. The natural tendency when fishtailing starts is to take one's foot off the gas. The problem is, the rear tires then turn far too slowly to regain traction again. It's like having the rear brakes locked up. Simple solution is to step in the clutch, or if you're driving a slushbox, put the tranny in neutral... and keep braking to an absolute minimum. Whenever I've done this, I usually feel the rear end regain traction, and then I carefully continue on my way.
At least the road clearing guys here have the excuse that they don't get much practice. 
