hoping some guys can comment on this, i drive my V8 vantage about 300 miles per month (500Km) I have read and have heard that a car that is not driven often is more prone to problems.

Recently had to have lots of work done on one my bikes that was perfect but stood idle for a year all the rubbers in the fuel system perished and the carb needed to be overhauled, the question is will 300 miles over say a 4 week period be sufficient?

 

I think that would give you a perfectly adequate amount of 'wear' on your car. 6000 km a year is very reasonable. The key is also to be driving regularly and, if not, taking all the usual precautions wrt a battery conditioner, avoiding leaving large quantities of unused gas in the tank for extended periods etc.

 

Once or twice a week should do fine. Highway driving and higher speeds over longer distances are best.

 

I typically only drive mar car on the weekends and I haven't had any issues. The problems start when the car sits for weeks on end.

 

Providing you drive the car to get to operating temperature, what you are doing is fine. I may add a fuel stablizer if SA includes ethernol. Would change the oil once a year, and brake fluid at least every two years.

 

This brings up an interesting conversation I had last week with a guy who was working on my SUV. He said he attended a class recently where he learned that fuel with ethanol deteriorates VERY quickly. In fact, they do not add the ethanol until to the fuel UNTIL it gets to the local distribution center b/c if they added it at the refinery the fuel would only be good for about a month when it actually gets to your local gas station. As it is, when the add the ethanol at the distribution center, the life of the gas is only 2 months! When gas sits for longer than the 2 months, it starts to gum up the fuel system......

I'd love to know thoughts of those who know more about this then me. Is there any additives that can be added to counter act the ethanol? Does fuel stabilizer do this? Octane boost? Other?

 

^^^ Started another thread on this topic.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...-our-cars.html

 

I've personally done research on this, and there can be different opinions. In speaking with an Exxon engineer he said ethernol can break down in as little as 3 months. Much depends on temp, how car is stored, often the car is driven.

For me, knowing will not burn tank of fuel for more than 3 months, I add a fuel stabilizer, like Starbrite, or Sta-bil Marine. I also
do not fill the tank with with fuel, as always want to add fresh fuel when possible. I've done this for many years with carbureted and fuel injected cars with no issues, at least to date.

 

well im not sure about not filling the tank/ in aircraft we always do to reduce the prospect of hydoscopic ingress?

 

Captain,

Understand and agree about hydoscopic ingress. At least to me, the aircraft has much greater temperature variations than a car stored in a garage, especially with me, it is climate controlled. But even with a car, I can understand the there can be temp variations, not matter how stored. But if tanks are aluminum or plastic, I don't think is much a concern. Plus a good thing about ethernol, it can act as a dry gas to combat moisture.

 

In my old cars with metal tanks, topping up the tank before storage is always the recommended practice for a few reasons; the primary concern is if half full, the air in the tank will contain water vapor that will condensate and rust the tank, and the condensation getting in the gas and problems associated

 

I own an Elise in addition to the Aston. I have had it for 5 years and put almost 40k miles on the clock. I swear that it runs better and with far fewer issues than some of my friends who garage queen theirs. As others have stated, driving it 1-2 times a week and remembering to get it onto the freeways every so often to exercise the car seems to be the best!