moving from san fran to denver with C4S

hi all, like the subject says, i'm likely moving from san francisco to denver and my C4S will be coming with me. my question is what should i do or get for the C4S in preparation for living in denver that i wouldn't have had to do in san fran? the two things that come to mind are winter wheels/tires and clear bra (i've heard the gravel or salt that they put on the roads during the winter can really do some damage). is there anything else that i'm not thinking of or anything i need to be aware of? lastly, if i'll be moving in about one month from now, do i not need to worry about winter tires for a while? when should i start dealing with that? do most of you guys get a second set of wheels and tires or do you just swap tires when you need to? thanks in advance for any help... josh

I love Denver (lived there for a year), but would be tough to move away from a lovely place like San Francisco. Especially considering that cars always take a performance hit with the thinner air up there in the Mile High City. Denver's weather is rather cantankerous, but you should be in the clear for snow for the season. If I were you, I'd always have a second set of wheels with winter tires on hand or spend $5K on a reliable SUV 4x4 truck. That'd be ideal. I know it's got 300+ days of sun a year. Clear bra is necessary wherever you live, IMO.

The only thing I would suggest is the 2nd set of wheels w/ winter tires like I have. Most of the time when it snows here, the streets only stay covered for a day or so. I actually just ordered new summer rears and will be switching out my tires/wheels next week. It snowed 2 times in the last 2 weeks.

If clearance is not a major issue there on the roads, then you should OK, except for when the snow is really dumped. I have a knockoff set of relicas for winter use (with spacers for the rear....25mm I think)....I got 10's in the rear instead of 11's for more stability. I run them with Blizzaks.....they have been INCREDIBLE with the AWD and PSM. Very very fun stuff. If you don't plan on getting a winter driver, then grab some wheels and tires, and have fun. Best of luck with your move, J

If you are looking to buy a used set to save cash, you can probably have more choices and better pricing buying a winter tire setup in the summer, out of season, than in season. You will be riding the winter set with less days compared to the summer treads in a calender year anyway.

prepare for traffic

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Like San Francisco doesn't have any?

Comparatively speaking, Denver has little traffic. I moved here from Dallas, which was horrible.

Yeah that totally wasn't fair on my part, they used to rank very poorly for traffic jams when I used to look at stuff out that way, but things seem to have gotten much better according to the demographers. In 2003 they ranked 3rd on the most congested list (Texas Transportation Bureau keeps track of this stuff), but apparently they only do poorly when winters are more severe, causing more accidents and congestion. I will still fly into EGE though! Top 10 Cities With The Worst Traffic 2008 (Forbes): 1. Washington D.C. 2. Atlanta, GA 3. Los Angeles, CA 4. San Francisco, CA 5. Houston, TX 6. New York, NY 7. Riverside – San Bernardino, CA 8. Chicago, IL 9. Dallas, TX 10. Boston, MA Denver is apparently 14th this year.

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That's a good excuse for a turbo

Think of how much money you will save on clutches I bouight my 2003 C4S from a guy in Boulder Colorado about a year ago. You will be happy to know that my car was still in fantastic shape after spending the first four years of it's life in the Denver / Boulder area. Snow, road debris and all. It does have a clear bra on it. Good luck. Some of the outlying areas of denver are gorgeous.

I loved SF when I visited there so I am sure you will miss it. We still have some of the best drives that you can take a P- car on and the weather that everyone sees on the news only bothers the city about 20% of the time. I dont drive mine in the snow but normally only have to wait a day or two for the roads to be clear (aside from '06 winter) so I dont mess with snow tires. Lots of gravel on the roads in the winter so clear bras are very popular. I love living here and hopefully you will as well.

when i lived in denver (~4 days out of the week with wednesday nites always in Lodo drunk), i used to get bloody noses a lot and my skin was real dry. that thin air took me some time to get used to. i thought i was in shape until i hit the treadmill at the 24 hour fitness in cherry creek. i was huffing and puffing after 5 mins. but then i got used it and i felt like superman running/ballin in seattle. i miss denver.

Some people get drunk a little quicker here from the altitude- when I leave denver and go to Nebraska where our lake cabin is my car feels like I added a supercharger- love that- Yes very dry and I dont miss the humidity of Minnesota where I came from even a little bit! Denver has many reasons that keep me here and smiling

Denver didn't use salt when I was there (early 90's). And the gravel actually flies a lot more after the snow has melted than when there is actually snow on the ground. You'd better get a clear bra for your windscreen too...

Denver is a beautiful city, and has a great atmosphere. It feels like a college town to me. It's one of the few cities I'd want to live that isn't on one of the coasts (Chicago and Austin are the other two).

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Agreed. It's clean living in Denver. I lived in the Magnolia Hotel for a year which is right off of 16th. I can't do Chitown because it's a little too cold and windy, but definitely a much better nightlife, bigger city, period. I've never been to Austin, but have heard good things about it.

There are quite a few p car people here also (it is not Orange County but it will do). We have a breakfast get together every month and lots of great places to go out and drive in the foothills. I am from SoCal but have lived in Denver for 10 years now and I still love it. Oh yea, we also have a new track under construction, High Plains Raceway. It will be a great venue for club events. Check it out. www.highplainsraceway.com

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hey turbochad, I'm with the PCARMR out here now. To the OP: I've lived in Denver, CO my whole life. I bought my 2001 C4 Cabrio as a daily driver BECAUSE of the snow and unpredictable weather. I have awesome wheels, so all I do is swap out winter tires for the Sept/Oct to April timeframe... no worries. It went through a few blizzards and deep snowfalls here without a hitch (I deliberately avoided getting one with the aero package though, so I don't know about that....) Mine plows through and handles/accelerates/ and brakes great in the bad stuff (in fact its even more fun then!...) Unless the front airdam gets dinged up, you should have no problems... FYI you won't need snow tires again until next winter unless there is a freak snowshower (and most end up light this time of year, it at all) go 255 width in the rear though, better than 285 for that stuff... Hope this helped.

San Fran is possibly my favorite city in the world (at least top 5). Denver is a great place to raise a family and especially great if you enjoy outdoor activities. Also have some fairly good sports teams (Go AVS!). I don't drive mine in the snow, but I have a second set of tires for track. There are no altitude ECU adjustments for the C4, but perhaps adding an improved intake will help (you'll need all the air you can get). Be prepared for 91 octane (although it is more like 93 at altitude). Good luck.

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What's your top5?

my top 5 1) SF - where I live 2) Sydney (Australia, not Ohio) 3) NYC 4) Singapore 5) Paris

Good looking list. My life to date, my fav5 in no particular order: -West Hollywood, CA -San Francisco -Barcelona -Monaco -Seoul

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i prefer melbourne to sydney (but i love bondi beach). melbourne gives me a bit more "european" feel. sort of like the difference between montreal and toronto. looks like i need to get a trip to singapore and paris. never been.

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you're spot on my friend, and I love Melbourne too - Sydney just has better weather and beaches. Melb is far more cultured and European.

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i lived in seoul about 15 years ago. loved it then, but i imagine it's completely different now.

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We're only half a century removed from the war so yes, if ya think about it, it's crazy different as 15 years is a lot of time or little time depending on how you're looking at it. Great fun, beautiful girls, great food... it's my Mother Land! I got mad love. World Cup 2002, I will NEVER forget.

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yep, motherland for me to. dated a lot when i was there, but too much interest in marriage by the ladies. scared me off since i was only 22 at the time. lots of partying, but seriously, so much construction and bustle. whole city seemed to "reboot" every couple of years.

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I don't buy into the conservative stereotype especially in this generation (chicks wanting to marry or maybe it's your way of telling us you're a desireable stud all women wanted to land when you were only 22 ). The crowd I roll with (family/friends of friends) generally marry as they wish with whom they wish and whatever age barring any parental influence who want kids sooner than later (universal thing most people in the free world can recognize). They're just too well educated and wanting as much as your typical college edumacated student in the States or perhaps even more since competition there is fiercer given it's a much smaller country and there are less "slots". Construction and hustle and bustle isn't foreign to your typical US metro. Like here in Bellevue, WA I believe it's got the most cranes up than any other city in the US. NYC is typically insane in a good way. LA 405 traffic is insane in a bad way. Seoul's got one of the best subway systems in the world.

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yeah, when i was there, the trend toward later marriage was just starting. gov't was even producing newsreels about it that were shown prior to movies.

I guess this is a total thread jack...: san fran montreal barcelona paris firenze (florence)

firenze is cool... to visit. tourist trap. i don't know how those italians deal with it every year. i guess they have to since it's a large part of their economy. have you been to siena? wonderful place. but too small and quiet for me to live. i'd go nuts. i'd love to visit montreal during F1.

siena is quite nice, especially the town square (where they run the horses). got a personal walking tour of the town and there is one spot where you can see 4 different centuries of architecture. firenze, if you stay away from the tourist spots is just fantastic