Pot steward ? I've heard of a pit steward.
Man, you Canadians sure do things different up there.

(sorry Oldblue. couldn't resist making fun of the typo.)

 

This is going to be my 1st winter with my HHR. However whenever we had snow fall, I just happen to drive my Escape..... not that we had any real snow fall where I live anyways.

 

Depends on the type of snow. The light fluffy stuff and cold weather, 8 inches is no problem. Heavy wet snow and weather right at freezing, 4 inches can be a challenge as the snow builds up in the wheel wells. Tires make a big difference in grip. The rubber gets hard after about 3 years. They can be softened by rubbing gasoline on them. It is a good idea to purchase winter tires if you plan to drive in snow and on ice.

 

I have only had my HHR a few months, we did have a nice snow early November that was over 8" of wet slippery snow & I had no issues. You can plow snow even with a build up with good tires & technique...I have snow tires and other than a little fish tail it drives like a AWD vehicle. Look into good snow tires and you should have no issue, mud flaps too so you don't trash the rockers.

 

There is less than 4 inches of clearance and heavy packed snow will lift the wheels off the ground. It won't make any difference what tires you have or what driving techniques you use, it won't go anywhere if the wheels don't touch the ground.

 

My wife drove her 90 mile round trip yesterday went to work 6 am 3 inches of snow sent home at 1 pm drove through 6 inches of snow in our lowered HHR no problems, except for the deer that dashed out in front of her, she had full control lifted her throttle foot and steered around the deer it crossed her path from left to right.

 

I'm with Don06; I just can't drive if the tires don't touch anything solid. It's not a matter of handling, it's a matter of contact. I can drive fine on a solid sheet of ice or on 12 inches of snow pack or through wheel tracks, but when the furrows are above the oil pan it just won't move.

You guys must have plow blades attached to the bumper, my bumper just does not move the snow out of my way. Maybe our snow is really different from the Great White North snow, ours is not afraid of us it just sits there winning at chicken.

 

This post came to life at the right time for me, we just received about 8" snow a couple days ago. I have an HHR in my shop being repaired and wanted to get it out, before anymore snow falls. I shoveled 2, 20 foot paths for the tires, to get some momentum and backed out into 5" or so of wet snow. I have a 5 foot incline over 40 feet of my driveway and thought there was no way the HHR was going to make it without being towed up the incline, but once I got it rolling up the she went, summer tires and all lol!

My other HHR I drove about 40 miles to work during the storm with about 4" on the road and it did fairly well IMO. I have a snow and ice tire on it, it does struggled a bit in deep semi packed snow, but does fine in packed snow. I'm not sure if I just need a more aggressive tire or, it's just the nature of the beast.

I do find it to be very predictable, which is the most important aspect to me.

 

Oddly enough, I was about to ask how the HHR does in the snow. I am a TX guy moving to MI to work for GM so my car will now be subjected to actual winters and was wondering how it would do. We did have a nasty winter a few years back in DFW and I took it on the snow parade and it did fine, but I understand the differences in TX and MI snow/ice. I wouldnt call myself experienced but I did race at one time, and also managed to drive F-bodies through the snow just fine on several occasions, so I wouldnt say I am beginner level either.

So out of curiosity, how is the HHR in snow/icy conditions handling/drivability wise? (non-abs & non ASC)

 

I was pretty impressed the first time I was in the snow with my HHR. I recommend spending the money on good winter tires for the reassurance, but I think you'll happy with the HHR in the snow, and their predictable characteristics. You may find the FWD different in the snow, they tend to have a push and oddly, accelerating during a push can help, but instinct tends to make us brake. ABS and TC are very helpful, but do have a learning curve, I often take my vehicle to empty lots during snow falls and find their limits in a controlled environment, rather then on the road when it's usually too late. After 5" you may run into some issues, but it's unusual to have 5" on the roads up here in Southern Ontario, Canada even during heavy snow falls.

That's my $0.02!