Aargh!
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 876
From: Sweden
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I do understand why you wouldn't want to expose your pride and joy to the elements during winter. But living in a country where you can't hide from the salt, I have some experience and I have yet to see a car that have been washed and cared for, show any real damage from winter driving.
Of course it won't be as prestine as a car that is under a car cover in a warm garage all winter, but it won't fall apart. And from what I can understand, a Porsche is made from the same materials as ///M-cars, Merc SL's, Beetles and Hondas so I don't see why they would show more wear and tear than those cars.
If you got away without accidents after driving on snow with summer tires for two winters I would say you were very lucky. AWD doesn't help you at all when you have to do an emergency stop..
Of course it won't be as prestine as a car that is under a car cover in a warm garage all winter, but it won't fall apart. And from what I can understand, a Porsche is made from the same materials as ///M-cars, Merc SL's, Beetles and Hondas so I don't see why they would show more wear and tear than those cars.
So..I'm out, easily, a few thousand on this winter driving adventure. I drove a 2010 Audi A5 (quattro all-wheel drive) through two winters before upgrading to Porsches- but I never changed Audi quattro summer performance tires and frankly, I'm lucky I didn't have any accidents. The all-wheel-drive systems on summer performance tires are just as slick and slippery as can be in snow, and offer no real benefit that I could tell.
Hence my decision to try this little winter experiment with the Porsche
Hence my decision to try this little winter experiment with the Porsche
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 972
From: New York City
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Seen many of these threads and it really all comes down to personal preference I guess.
I usually don't get to specific on this topic but this time let me share what I found out the hard way.
The body is not the only part of the car which is made of metal... the engine, suspension, nuts bolts etc.. are VERY effected by the corrosive nature of salt (just try to take of a set of headers on a 911 which was used during winter without breaking a few!!!) and then we haven't talked about electrical, gaskets, seals, rubbers etc... they will dry out or get hard and start cracking much much sooner!
Of course there's also the terrible effect on the painted surfaces, salt crystals are very sharp and can actually be more abrasive than sand...
Sure you can have a compound done but it is extremely hard to find a good detail expert whom will do so without swirl or buffer "ghost" marks and the cost for someone who is good will be between $600,- to 800,- easy.
Also you can only do a compound a certain amount of times (clear coat gets thinner each time) and then there's what salt does to all those plastic/poly finishing bits all over the car...
Now add the adverse effects on components by going from a +15 C garage to -20C or starting the car after it's been sittiing outside (when you're ready to come home etc)...now you can add a whole new reason why driving a 911 during cold climate winters is not a good idea ( cracked ignition coils etc).
Oh and of course the fact that a 911 has it's boxer FLAT six engine laying much more exposed than any V engine...
Like I said in the end it's a personal choice made by specific reasons but I wouldn't underestimate the negative aspects of driving your 911 during winter.
I usually don't get to specific on this topic but this time let me share what I found out the hard way.
The body is not the only part of the car which is made of metal... the engine, suspension, nuts bolts etc.. are VERY effected by the corrosive nature of salt (just try to take of a set of headers on a 911 which was used during winter without breaking a few!!!) and then we haven't talked about electrical, gaskets, seals, rubbers etc... they will dry out or get hard and start cracking much much sooner!
Of course there's also the terrible effect on the painted surfaces, salt crystals are very sharp and can actually be more abrasive than sand...
Sure you can have a compound done but it is extremely hard to find a good detail expert whom will do so without swirl or buffer "ghost" marks and the cost for someone who is good will be between $600,- to 800,- easy.
Also you can only do a compound a certain amount of times (clear coat gets thinner each time) and then there's what salt does to all those plastic/poly finishing bits all over the car...
Now add the adverse effects on components by going from a +15 C garage to -20C or starting the car after it's been sittiing outside (when you're ready to come home etc)...now you can add a whole new reason why driving a 911 during cold climate winters is not a good idea ( cracked ignition coils etc).
Oh and of course the fact that a 911 has it's boxer FLAT six engine laying much more exposed than any V engine...
Like I said in the end it's a personal choice made by specific reasons but I wouldn't underestimate the negative aspects of driving your 911 during winter.
Re the paint, I agree that it may take some extra punishment in winter even with precautionary measures.
Re the rubber, electricals, gaskets, etc, to me it's still just speculation what "much faster" wear means. 10 years versus 20 years? We all agree that much cheaper, ordinary cars like Hondas and Fords can be driven in winter without adverse effect, so why shouldn't the rubber, electricals, gaskets, etc in the 911 perform just as well? Just because they are in a sports car?
Re the engine, I don't believe salt in getting through the air filter and I definitely don't believe it's powerful enough to corrode through the case. Same for the cats, headers, control arms and anything else made of solid aluminum or steel. Sure it may make the bolts difficult to remove if you want to swap these pieces out, but so does a few high temp days at the track.
Re the outside air temp changes, same point as the Hondas/Fords above: If those cars can handle it on a regular basis without breaking coils etc then why can't the 911?
At the end of day, as I said, a lot of this is speculation. I don't think Porsche or anyone else soaks the rubber pieces in salt to gauge how much they are affected. At the end of the day, if I planned on keeping the car for 15 or 20 years, I'd probably err on the side of caution, but since I'm not I'm following the logic I layed out above and enjoying the car as much as possible, as many months as possible.