Knowing that back in the 70's when 914's were being sold and driven as daily drivers, I am sure there were those that drove them in the snow and ice during the winter months.

That being said ......is there anyone out there that used/drove the 914 in the Snow and snirt? Curious as to what they handled like and if they were a good winter car.

I have owned a few older beetles and Corvairs, these cars were very good in the snow and with a gas heater option you would never have to worry about being cold.

Never have had the opportunity to try a 914 in the snow, bur I bet it would be quite a rush....

The 914s that saw snow where we live have all rusted away. The hell hole is bad enough. Add salt to the mix and you can kiss it goodbye.

There's a video on here somewhere that show a guy enjoying the snow in a teener.

They're great in the snow. Salt will get'ca though. I lived in Colorado where they don't use salt, we had little to no ice and if they put anything down it was just some sand. I loved taking it out in the snow just to play.

Did two full seasons.
Hear is more than,enough.
Get real snow tires and put weight in the rear.
Not as good as a beetle, corvair or 911 due to the mid engine setup.

I love these discussions . . ..
Yes tail draggers are great, and so are the FWD cars of today, if all you want is to get around in the snow. You can't beat the traction when the weight is on the wheels. That being said, if you loose control at speed with FWD you're only along for the ride because you loose the steering too. If you loose control in a tail dragger, you end up going backwards. THe mid engine gives you the best balance and control of any configuration. If you want to have some real fun, put nice narrow snow tires on and go play. Teeners are the best handling on dry, wet or snow. 13 years of driving the Colorado mountains and only got stuck once when I went off the road in a white out near Winter Park in the middle of the night.

I hated mine in the snow. Yoko A008 tires. Used to slide right off the road into the curb when the road had a crest. Wouldn't make it up my parents driveway because it had a small incline. Terrible. Jeep Cherokee solved all that. Teener sat in the garage for almost 25 years. Scotty B is solving that.

I've had 4x4s and fwds but the best snow driving vehicle I've had is my VW bus (unless it's windy haha). Heavy, rear engine rear wheel drive, and so underpowered you can't spin the tires even on ice.

70's and 80's drove many seasons in the snow. 914 are great in the snow, the ballance of weight disturbed evenly works as well as it does in the dry, just done go past the edge!

A real good friend of mine ( may he rest in peace ) use to drive his 72 914 1.7 every winter. He would always add winter tires to the 914 when winter came along. I've taken several rides and even drove his 914 in the crazy winters that we get here in Western NY. I can tell you first hand the car handles great in the snow provided that there's not 3 feet of snow on the roads. The only complaint is getting heat out of the car. He would let it warm up and it was ok for the first few minutes of driving. As time went on the heater became less effective but did an ok job at best. He also drove his VW bus which had a gas heater but that thing was dangerous as heck even on dry roads. Oh that reminds me that 72 914 eventually split in half about 20 +/- years later. It's still sitting in the field where it was last parked.
That being said if you had a 914 with a water pumper engine in it, good heat drive it, but know that it won't last forever.

Over the decade with mine as my DD 12/75 - 5/85, I went to the local SoCal mountains, Mammoth/June Lake & Tahoe CA/NV, Park City/Brianhead UT, Ashland OR, etc. many times every year & my 73 2L on stock 165HR15 tires & cable chains handled GREAT, but since no salt used there - the rust was not a problem for mine.

PS - they were not snow tires either!

But I did have rust from the water bottle leaks & battery acid on the tray over time at this point now, & had top side rust issues due to the lack of rust-proofing & the filler foam et.c holding water on the upper body eares near the sails & front cowl back in the day since 12/75 really. Fact of life with all pre-76 old Porsches (& 76 914s too)!

I never had much problem in the snow, but then for most of those ski trips I had both trunks full of luggage & gear for a biit of added weight on the rear drive & front steering wheels.


Tom
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I drove mine many times in the snow back when I didn't have any other choice. I remember sliding on the floor pan when the snow was too deep. A gentle even pace on the gas peddle would keep the car moving along, but sometimes when you put the clutch in to shift the car would start to spin around.

So Mark & others running wider tires in the snow/rain -

Just take off those wide-assed 205s or whatever the Yoko A008 tires were, & put on some OE 165/80R15s in snow or all weather - studded if allowed back there, & your sliding problem would go away!

The 165 tires have a contact patch which is more correct for the weight of the 914 in rain, snow & ice - than are all of the newer upsized tires, which may be great in dry roads & summer conditions, but suck in weather!

IIRC Porsche had a TSB back in the 1980's advising against the wider 195 & wider tires in wet & winter weather for that reason - the wider tires slide more & perform less in the weather conditions.


Tom
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I drove my 914 in snow (in CT) for a few seasons in college when it was my only car. The heat sucked so I'd wear 2 jackets and often ride with the windows cracked or top off to keep the windshield from fogging up too bad if it was wet out.

With a set of Blizzaks (forget the section width; it was literally the narrowest they make) the car was unstoppable unless the snow was deeper than the floorpans. After driving in really deep snow I used to have to kick it all out since it would wedge so badly under everything.

We used to drive around and do all kinds of stupid things since the car would just go. In fact, on my way home from school, you need to go up either a 16% grade or 12% grade hill-it never had any problems with the 16%, regardless of the weather. My Mazda3 with snow tires can't touch that hill. In fact, I still much prefer its poor weather handling to my dad's 4x4 truck or bother's 4x4 SUVs.

Rust is a different story...pretty sure all that snow and salt is why the bottom got so rusty again and forced me to redo it.

As a 17 year old kid who didn't even know what rusty heat exchangers were until I pulled the lever and got no heat, I wasn't exactly on the list of tsb's from Porsche.

I have no reason to put snow tires on any of the 914's, I always keep at least one 4x4 in the garage. A 914 only has a couple inches of clearance. Our last big storm in Jan was 18".

i thought i was hot shit driving 3 hrs in the rain until i got to my community and the roads there were snow covered and my car was a slippery mess. i will not drive in the snow, no matter how deep. that said, i have no idea how it might drive with GOOD SNOW tires.

I didn't like driving my 6 in the snow , or more particularly the ice and packed roads, but perhaps it was the torque curve that made it squirrely. That being said, I don't know how the 4 and 6 compare in that department. Maybe it was just me. But my 68 ranchero with g60s and a 302 auto was much better.

My 914 saw 5 years of winter use when I bought it in '86. It was my only car, saw me through
college. Never had an issue with driving. It was quite a blast back then pretending it was a Stratos in the Monte Carlo. I used to just let some air out of the Tyres and go. Mind you if it was above the hood line all bets were off

I am reluctant to admit it but I would take my 2nd Six to Lake Tahoe to go skiing all the time. They plowed the roads but there was always some snow and ice on the ground. I never had a problem until I had to get up the driveway of the ski lease. I would let my wife drive and I would kind of push and it would go up.

I can't even think of taking my Six out in the rain, let alone snow, once it returns home.

my '72 1.7 was great in snow in the late '70's early 80's. i am sure gone to the tin worm by now. i still see people ice racing them on lake george with much success even now.

Not much experience in the -4 we bought new in 1970 as we were living in AZ at the time. But once we moved the replacement -6 back to Colorado in 1972 (and got it started after draining the straight 40W out of it) if was a daily driver for five or six years. 185x14 recapped snow tires were the ticket when we lived at 7600' west of Denver, especially on our ski trips and drives over the mountain passes to visit family on the Western Slope.
I've also done those trips in a Corvair Spyder and a VW bug. No appreciable differences noted in handling the snow. Did manage to wreck both an early Bronco and a Landcruiser in the snow through.

Whoa! Had to reset my password and now I'm a newbie again! What's up with that?

Click to view attachment Hmmmmmmmm

While stationed in Dahlgren, VA (Northern Neck area) my daily driver was a '74 2.0 and rain, snow, sleet nor hail ever stopped it. Had a lot of fun in the snow.

However earlier in my career, while stationed in Indian Head, MD (just a few miles from Dahlgren) a friend of mine and I rationalized that since Porsches are made in Germany and it snows there and I had factory ski racks on my -6, that it would be a good idea to meet his family at the Massanutten Resort to go skiing. Just a few miles outside of Springfield, VA, I swapped ends on a bridge and nailed the guardrail. Destroyed both the front and rear driver's side fenders. However, we were able to drive it back to base. Ended up driving it that way till I finished EOD school several months later. I guess that experience taught me how NOT to drive in snow. Man I wish I still that -6!