Should I buy?
#51
Well I live in the snow belt / ski hill area and the HHR is no four wheel drive (duh ) but it is certainly adequate, lots of bad mouthing here about the Firestones but I get around OK. Hopeful that the SS with Michelins will be better.
Good, must be time to suck it up and do something huh? .
Good, must be time to suck it up and do something huh? .
#52
It may not go thru 5 feet of snow but I went thru a little over 11 inches of fresh snow this morning before the snowplows came thru with no problem. I have a pretty long driveway that I hadn't plowed and went a couple miles before I got to a plowed road so the lower grille opening was pretty packed full of snow but the HHr went right on thru.
I did get rid of the Firestones last week and put on a set of Goodyear Triple Treds and they seemed to work great.
The HHr is my first non 4WD vehicle in a very long time and my first FWD vehicle ever. I left 2 4WD vehicles parked and took the HHR this morning on purpose just to see how it would do..... Yup, I'm impressed.
I did get rid of the Firestones last week and put on a set of Goodyear Triple Treds and they seemed to work great.
The HHr is my first non 4WD vehicle in a very long time and my first FWD vehicle ever. I left 2 4WD vehicles parked and took the HHR this morning on purpose just to see how it would do..... Yup, I'm impressed.
#54
The Malibu looks like a great CAR and I would have one if I wanted a CAR, the HHR is NOT a car, if it is nothing else it is a small station wagon with unique styling. This is not an apple to apple comparison IMO.You obviously can get anything you would like but if form follows function and you don’t need a small wagon and are being pragmatic why even bother looking a HHR, buy a Toyota or a Malibu, hard to tell the difference anyway.
#55
The Malibu looks like a great CAR and I would have one if I wanted a CAR, the HHR is NOT a car, if it is nothing else it is a small station wagon with unique styling. This is not an apple to apple comparison IMO.You obviously can get anything you would like but if form follows function and you don’t need a small wagon and are being pragmatic why even bother looking a HHR, buy a Toyota or a Malibu, hard to tell the difference anyway.
#56
My previous car was a 1995 Corvette, so I do know what good cornering/handling is like. I'm not at all comparing the handling of the HHR, I'm just qualifying my opinion. It would be easy to say the HHR handles well if you came out of a '85 Chevy Celebrity, for instance. But when you had a sports car for five years that is known for good skid pad numbers, then saying the HHR handles well for its type is qualified.
Oh, and I also used to have to qualify regularly on an EVOC course @ work (Emergency Vehicle Operations Course). Even Crown Vics can handle okay with a stiff suspension and decent tires...
#57
Just my opinion, but I would have not attempted 11" with the Firestones. I only left them on until I could get the Goodyears.
Ranger, I think your EVOC elvoved from what we used to call Defensive Driving Courses many years ago. Don't think I could count the number of orange cones I took out with Crown Vic's over the years. Might be fun to put the HHr thru a time or two.
Ranger, I think your EVOC elvoved from what we used to call Defensive Driving Courses many years ago. Don't think I could count the number of orange cones I took out with Crown Vic's over the years. Might be fun to put the HHr thru a time or two.
#58
Well you can beg to differ all you want...The 2LT does NOT come with the Firestone Affinity tire, it comes with the Firestone Firehawk tire. The Firehawk is terrible in the snow. Affinity is a better tire than the Firehawk. So begging to differ is fine, be you are addressing a DIFFERENT Firestone tire.
#59
tires...
This may be a bit of a tangent:
With the stock tires having such a bad reputation, why not just replace the front tires and run the stocks on the back until they wear out, and then use the two other stocks on the back until they're shot? I don't think your back tires do much braking and no traction.
With the stock tires having such a bad reputation, why not just replace the front tires and run the stocks on the back until they wear out, and then use the two other stocks on the back until they're shot? I don't think your back tires do much braking and no traction.
#60
It may not go thru 5 feet of snow but I went thru a little over 11 inches of fresh snow this morning before the snowplows came thru with no problem. I have a pretty long driveway that I hadn't plowed and went a couple miles before I got to a plowed road so the lower grille opening was pretty packed full of snow but the HHr went right on thru.
I did get rid of the Firestones last week and put on a set of Goodyear Triple Treds and they seemed to work great.
The HHr is my first non 4WD vehicle in a very long time and my first FWD vehicle ever. I left 2 4WD vehicles parked and took the HHR this morning on purpose just to see how it would do..... Yup, I'm impressed.
I did get rid of the Firestones last week and put on a set of Goodyear Triple Treds and they seemed to work great.
The HHr is my first non 4WD vehicle in a very long time and my first FWD vehicle ever. I left 2 4WD vehicles parked and took the HHR this morning on purpose just to see how it would do..... Yup, I'm impressed.
The Malibu looks like a great CAR and I would have one if I wanted a CAR, the HHR is NOT a car, if it is nothing else it is a small station wagon with unique styling. This is not an apple to apple comparison IMO.You obviously can get anything you would like but if form follows function and you don’t need a small wagon and are being pragmatic why even bother looking a HHR, buy a Toyota or a Malibu, hard to tell the difference anyway.
I am not an expert on cars like people here but if I remember correctly the HHR is based on the Delta platform which is also used in the Chevy Cobalt, a compact FWD car platform. While the 2008 Malibu is based on the Epsilon I platform, a mid sized FWD platform. So I am willing to bet the Malibu is bigger on the inside but the HHR has the advantage (Somewhat IMHO) since it has a hatch. Another thing I didn't care for about my Accord was the narrow trunk opening, a decent sized trunk but the opening was undersized. The Malibu and most modern sedans suffer from this, though people that have bought the Malibu said the trunk is huge.