On the way back home, I stopped at Autozone and purchased a towline.
New respect for snow tires.

 

Does anybody out there have any experience with all seasons on a C2S?
I use mine as a DD and it rains a lot here with minimal snow, if any at all.
Any recommendations? I'm due for replacing my Michelin PS.

 

I'm curious, why all seasons? They are the jack of all trades and master of none.

Why not keep summer tires and switch over to winter tires?

I was commenting this past Sat. to a friend as we took a ride in my car that spirited winter driving is really only possible with winter tires. To accelerate hard out of a corner when it's 25 outside, and you haven't been on the highway to really warm the tires up and you just came out of a touch of snow, or ice melt or something, that's not happening with summer tires, and it's not much better with all seasons. Winter tires grip the road when its cold out like the Pilot sports do on a 75 degree day. And they're relatively less money. I paid less than $1,000.00 mounted and balanced for my conti 810S tires.

Not sure about the all season options... Good luck

DRP

 

To those of you who drive your cars through the winter, how often and how do you wash them? I just got my 2010 C2 3 weeks ago and have since put more miles on it with snow on the ground than without! I must say it handles way better than I thought it would with snow tires on.

 

Bring it to a friend that owns a car wash down the road. He charges $16.00 for a hand wash and aslo cleans wheels and shines tires for me. B/C I got black I do not run it thru the car wash...too many swirls. I probably would if I had white or silver. His car wash is brand new and hi- end equipment.

 

I wash my car at least once a week, so about once about every 200-250 miles. In winter, you must tell yourself "I'm not washing the car so it looks good now". Taking off salt and road grime reduces potential for corrosion, but also for scratching the car, windshield, headlights etc... In other words, when the forecast calls for snow tomorrow, wash the car anyway... But remember that the windows, doors or roof will freeze shut if they're wet and you have the car in freezing temps. If you go through a wash as opposed to hand washing, crack the windows and the roof for the ride home then dry the car at home.

It's an easy car to clean and keep clean (in silver). My last car was black and as any neat freak knows, that's a loosing battle especially in winter.

DRP

 

Sorry, I forgot to mention, my C2 is arctic silver. My garage usually stays around 40 throughout the winter but I don't have a drain, so I was thinking of going with a few buckets of warm water and a sponge.

 

I'm on my 3rd winter with Continental wintercontact TS810s with my 997.1 C2S and this year I haven't had a single problem. The last couple of winters though, there have been a few days where I just left it in the garage and waited for the plows to clear my street (I'm on a hill). My first winter, I had it out in heavy snowfall when there were a few inches on the ground already and I was really struggling (but so were regular cars on all seasons).

In hind sight, I think I would have fared much better had I downsized the rims and tires rather than running the stock sizes (295/30/19s on the rear). I'll definitely be switching to 18s for my next set.

 

I am planning on driving mine next season. I have an Audi S4 as my winter vehicle, but will likely sell it.

Should be fun!

If any of you winter drivers want to sell your winter tires please PM me.

 

I'm running the same Contis but on Carrera III wheels (265/235) I got for the winters.

I have had them in 3-4 inches of snow and was impressed. But those Contis are officially discontinued (I got a deal on them in October). I think they're great. The "N" rated Michelin and Pirelli alternatives may be even better since they're a newer design, but they're also more expensive. I believe that Conti already has an "N" replacement for this tire as well but its not on sale in the U.S yet.

DRP

 

If I want to do it myself I use ONR in my garage with two buckets of warm water.

If I don't feel like it, or its just too cold even for ONR, I go to the touchless wash.

Once every week, two weeks max through winter.

 

I have a C2S which I use all year round,admittedly we don't get deep snow near me but I also think its a case of driving with due care.Planning your route ahead,good observation and sensitive use of the controls i.e. steering throttle and just as importantly brakes.I found in our recent snowfall that I had apparently more control over my car than some others through I think the use of the above criteria.Good luck with your choice,Neil.

 

Rain or shine, mine gets washed st least every 2 weeks. White is almost as bad as black for keeping clean.