My oft-posted snow and salt pics

[mail.google.com]. Purchased a set of perelli snows on 17" rims and I'm going to drive my Boxster in the winter. We are both semi retired and the number of times we need two cars is rare, so i put my beloved old S70t5 on kijiji and sold it. I took some of the money and brought the snows. The boxster is really good as a winter car, the traction control and PSM will not let me do anything stupid (kind of like the wife!) . I am restoring a 1972 911 e and I can see with one of those you would definitely need to winter store the car. The boxster is a totally different animal, the inner fenders are plastic, the body is galvanized the weak link is the motor, and we don't do them any favours by storing them. I'm also thinking my spring trip to Florida may be a boxster trip. I guess next Friday we should post boxsters and snowbanks!!

I would still try to hose off the bottom of the car, especially the suspension, wheels, hubs, and around the engine. There are all sorts of things that remain susceptible to salt damage. Ideally, drive the car even a few feet tapping the brakes to clear them, and keep the parking brake off afterward, assuming the car's parked on a level surface.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

I agree that the bottom of the car needs to be washed off because suspension, brakes etc get the salt on them first. Problem is. If you do it at the car wash, by the time you get the car back home, there's just as much salt on those under-car parts as there was when you started out.

The technique is fine if you get snow and then things clear off for a while. Local roads are generally covered in a salt/sand slush coating. (picture a constant coating of damp/wet brown sugar) for about 4 months. It's impossible to keep the car clean once you pull it out of the garage (if you washed it in the garage). Picture what would happen to your teeth if you kept your mouth full of brown sugar for 4 months of the year. Not a pretty sight.

The highways and main roads do get cleared and are dry a lot of the time, but still have that white coating of salt

Sorry, just can't bring myself to to that to my Boxster.

How many times do we drive in salt, then let the car sit for days in a relatively warm garage, perhaps? Every time that happens, many things under the car are under prolonged attack. I'm not too concerned with major aluminum castings getting a little corrosion, but all the liittle bits and pieces like fasteners, clamps, cables, electrical connectors (even if supposedly weather proof,) etc.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

... I'm amazed at how quickly the muffler clamps and the header bolts corrode.
Most of the other "underside" parts handle the salt fairly well.
I'd be constantly hosing down the underside if I was driving my car in salty conditions.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

The local petro can has a deal, 1 car wash per day for 90 days for 160$ its touch less and does a great job so I can spit that with the wife and the Boxster should stay fairly clean. Its a nice sunny day today I'm off to do some drifting

Have driven 2 former Porsches to 200,000 miles...each w/sets of Blizzaks and never had anything but fun. Great winter cars.... Now have new Michelin PA2's (performance winter tires on 18's) on '06 987S and had great results this winter in MD/DC area but we have had much less snow than last year (72")......but so far they are great riding tires with a good grip on light (3-4") snow and ice.....Bob

My 2000 S has been my only driver for 10 years in Philly winters and now with 173K miles I have some insight into this salt thing. First, the only damage I have had, or am aware of, is heat shield rot. I did not see exactly what rotted but I think it was related to the fasteners. After about 4 winters, I would get a loud buzzing until the exhaust heated up. Then the next trip to my mechanic, he would tweak something and it was gone. Maybe he also addressed rotted clamps et al, but I am unaware of any extra work he may have performed. A month ago, my mechanic pulled off a nice sized shield that just won't screw down anymore and said I don't really need it. Tossed it. Other than heat shields, I am not aware of any other damage caused by driving daily in snow and salt for 10 winters.

Regarding salt on your car, the way I understand it is that salt does not "react" unless wet. Dry salt does nothing. Generally, I don't wash my car in the winter as I never had a place to do it. When I do in the spring, I hose in the wheel wells and wherever else my hose will spray, but this spraying was never a big part of my maintenance. I lived in Center City for the last eight years with a sort-of car port. My back end was always rained on and exposed to the elements - so it really was parked outside for most of its life. I used Zaino for the good months and give it a thick coat of Mother's carnauba in the late fall as a protective coat for the winter.

So for those that are afraid to drive their car in the salt etc for fear of damaging their paint, see the pics at the link below. The pics are from a few months ago when I used Maguire's Miracle Compound with my Porter Cable orbital and then Zaino. While I had the car's nose painted a few years ago, the doors, top and full rear of the car are original and look unbelievably good. I painted the nose once because of a front corner fender bender, then a few years ago I re-did it due to the years of stone chip assault.

Regarding snow tires, the absolute best I owned were Dunlop Winter Sports (was a Porsche recommended tire at one time), 2nd best were Blizzaks (great in snow, hopelessly mushy in dry, lasted forever), and worst are these Pirelli snows that are recommended by Porsche. I hate these darn Pirelli tires so much I actually called Porsche's 800 number and complained and now can't wait until they wear out.

In short, I really have found no sound reason for not driving the crap out of these cars. And by the way, the safest months of the year for driving, is the winter months.

[picasaweb.google.com]#

I want to make this clear: My car is typically covered with salt and crap for at least 2-3 months each year without a wash.

[mywebpages.comcast.net]
[mywebpages.comcast.net]

I'll actually go out for a drive to help get the rain water up into places that would be missed by hosing. The longer it's been raining the better, and I try to avoid slushy puddles. The rain water will rinse out salt exactly from where slush, etc, has deposited it.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

I love to hit a rain storm once out of the area where salt and grit is used to help rinse the underside of the car.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

We are in complete agreement with the others who drive and do not wash their cars in the Winter.
We have never garaged the Boxster...private driveway, but no garage.

So the Boxster has been in the New England sun, rain, slush, and snow since Day 1.
It has been a pleasure to be able to drive it in all kinds of weather:
[www.rainydaymagazine.com]

After 10 years of exposure to the elements, the car is still in amazing condition for the amount of exposure...no rust anywhere.
These cars are built to be driven.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2011 07:49AM by RainyDayGarage. (view changes)