Soon I'll be moving to Iowa, where I'll have a house with a driveway but no garage. I'm planning to keep my 03 boxster, or maybe sell it in favor of an 07 cayman. Is it crazy to consider still using the car as a daily driver? By daily, I really mean more like weekly for groceries etc, since I'll be in a small town and living across the street from my office. I've read Mike's "boxster in winter page" [sites.google.com], which is of course very helpful. I was wondering how many people actually use their cars in winter though. Any tales of woe or glory?

ps - the idea of switching to the cayman is in part because it seems slightly more winter friendly on account of it has a roof and in part because I've been eyeing/wanting a cayman ever since they came out.

I'd ask the folks who live there how long the snows last and how well the streets are plowed. And think about the end of the driveway and digging the snowplow piles away enough for a low ground clearance car to get out in the street. Got someplace to store the snow blower? Are there drifts by the side of the road? Is a lower car able to be as well seen from a cross street?

Even in comparably mild VA I had a 4WD to enable the Boxster purchase. I probably could have just put snow tires on the Boxster for all but 3 days a year. But I can recall a few storms where that wouldn't have worked, the kind where there are drifts over the garage. Will you get those? Can you sit them out without the trip to the grocery store or Doctors?

I'd ask the locals.

There are a number of people in Omaha who drive Boxsters as daily cars. However, there are maybe 5 days a year you can't use them because the snow is too high, so on those days, plan to find other transportation arrangements (which sounds easy if you can walk to work). Also, plan on buying a spare set of wheels with snow tires.

Otherwise, should work fine.

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

Boston is not a parking-friendly city. We got our Boxster in 2000 and do have a private driveway, but no garage. So in the Winter, the car will look like this when it snows...

After 12 years, the finish is still in great condition as most of the time it was under the Porsche all-weather cover.
We switch to Blizzaks in November and to PZeros in May. That may change as it seems to be impossible to find 16" snow tires anymore.

Our experience with the Boxster is that it is fine leaving it outside as long as it is covered and it is a great Winter car.

Oh yeah...we have a hardtop for it and it goes on as late as possible.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2012 12:46PM by RainyDayGarage.
(view changes)

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

With proper winter tires the car I think would be just fine, limited only by ground clearance.

Couple of things I learned:

The side windows can freeze so when you open the door the window doesn't drop. This results in a scraping of the top of the glass against the rail. One might not even really hear it and as best I can with my car there is real harm. However, when you go to close the door the top edge of the glass smashes against the top rail and while I never had the glass break every time this happened I expected to be showered with glass fragments.

What I learned to was to pay attention and if the glass didn't drop to carefully open the door, then get in the car and turn on the key and press the window down button while gently pressing down on the glass. This would free the glass and I would make sure the glass went down and up all the way with the button.

You can also lift the door handle but do not pull the door open. The handle should trigger the glass to drop. If it does not, the glass is frozen (barring a worn out window regulator or a bad door handle switch). You can open the door very carefully and do what I suggested above.

A complication is that if the top has snow on it and one doesn't drive enough that this snow melts and the top dries when you park the car out again outside in the cold the snow melt water will run down and refreeze the side glass again.

Another problem can be the wipers tend to pack snow at the base of the windshield -- well snow and slush that leading or passing vehicles kick up -- and this can build up to the point the air intake for the cabin can get blocked and the heater becomes less efficient simply because it lacks sufficient air flow.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

I drove my Boxster year round for well over 10 years. I had dedicated snow tires/wheels and never had a real problem.

The Boxster is fun to drive in the snow and with a hard top it's even better.

Hard top helps. You can go through powered snow that is 1 to two inches deeper than the ground clearance. You probably could go through more but when it got deeper than that I switched cars.

Wow, from Berlin and LA to Iowa! There must be quite a story there. Good luck with the change and the move, and of course, the car. Let us know what you do and how you make out.

I use mine as a daily driver in Ann Arbor, MI. Of course winter tires (not all-season) are a MUST. The only issues are the windows sticking (detailed above) and ground clearance. In anything over about 6" of snow, you're not going anywhere. Does your car have PSM? If not, you have to be careful with the throttle or you'll be facing the wrong way! But on good winter tires (I run the Michelin X-Ice Xi2), it's a blast to drive around, even on hard-pack snow. Because the weight of the engine is mostly over the drive wheels, it has plenty of traction.

Tale of glory: Passed a big SUV who spun out on the highway in a heavy snow. I waved (they were being helped). Snow performance is totally determined by tires and with good ones, it is really an amazing car in the snow.. and I don't mean "for a sports car". The best winter tires I had were Dunlops but wore quickly. I had Blizzaks: fantastic in snow and rain, mushy and rollover performance, never would wear out. Absolute worst winter tire is the Pirellis.... I was so upset I called Porsche 800 number and complained about their recommendation. I still have them on right now trying to burn them up as now way am I going through another winter with them.

Click here for pictures of my car after 11 years of all around, only drive usage. Note the amazing finish. The front bumper and hood have been replaced and repainted but the rest of the car is original.

Careful, put on your sunglasses first!

Dig these.....

The tow hook and a tow strap is great and you can drive up the side of a block of ice with the most aggressive Blizzaks (though they suck in the dry).

I've recounted my "CRX with Blizzaks outrunning an SUV" and 912 with "Semperit snows going around a stuck Jeep" stories before. The limiting factor with our cars is snow clearance, unless we go to a 959 Paris-Dakar setup.

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



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2012 06:35PM by Laz. (view changes)

Thanks much for these replies. They have me more into this idea than I was before. I've still got to talk to some locals (one of my new workmates has a BMW M3, and another has a honda S2000, so maybe we can make a support group). Oh and I'm now thinking of bring both the 03 box and a new-to-me 07 cayman to Iowa. This because the box market isn't so great for selling (at least for overly attached owners) and because after all, it's good to have a backup car in winter. For example, I could try the other car if one car's windows were frozen

here in New Jersey where winters are fairly severe, but its a GOOD winter car.

I put on dedicated snows (a must); have heated seats ( a big benefit) and drive.

Small cabin warms up much faster than, say, My Audi wagon.

Traction in snow is better than average. Will drive around FWD cars on all-season tires.

Manual tranny benefits control.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com