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YOUR RESEARCHWinter Blues
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Use c4s, winter wheels and tires
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Near mint used C4S, winter wheels and tires, but just cleaned it and now it's snowing.
Leading evidence: 'Use c4s, winter wheels and tires' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Clean windows daily and i know it's crying out' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Suggestion · Original poster
I clean the windows daily and I know it's crying out because it's so damn dirty.
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Suggestion
BruceP - Every service manager I have ever spoken to have told me the cars that get driven run better then the garage queens.
Use actually brings out the mechanical character of the car
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Suggestion
I'm sure some of the experts are going think I'm delusional, but I'm convinced that daily use actually brings out the mechanical character of the car.
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I allowed myself to be talked into using my absollutely MINT 02 C4s as a daily winter driver and I'm not happy. I dropped $2150 on Pirelli 240's with wheels and they are fine--a bit noisey but that's not the issue.
My poor baby is now encrusted with crap that on sunny summer days I would never tolerate. I clean the windows daily and I know it's crying out because it's so damn dirty.
The wife tells me to get over it--reminding me it's only a car. I guess if it weren't so showroom perfect I could better deal with it.
I have a car dealer who does hand washes but that only lasts for a day, at best.
Surely I'm not the only one kicking myself for not picking up a winter beater but the other side of my brain tells me that the car loves the winter.
I have my doubts about that.
The tough thing to deal with is the impact that salt, dirt/small rocks can have on any nice car, such as yours.
Keep washing it, if possible be selective on the days you take it out in winter.
I know how you feel, I have to keep mine put away, for the most part (owning a C4 would not change that, for me).
It is a hard line to cross but in the end you'll have more driving time in your car and you may get over the dirty/cleanliness thing because you'll be having so much fun. I continually struggle with the dirty car appearance, but the time behind the wheel makes up for it.
Of anyone on this board, I feel your pain. I made the decision when I bought my 4S to use it as a fair weather car only, as some others have done. But, it's become a garage queen, one that barely gets driven at all. But, after a recent battery meltdown, I've recently been 'converted' and realize that these cars NEED to be driven. I have vowed to drive it more when the weather is better - I've only got 2600 miles on it - and it's an '04! And, that's not rational either. But, if having your car rained/snowed/salted on makes you nuts, get yourself a beater and use it in nicer weather. Remember, if you make the decision to use it as a daily driver, there's absolutely no way to keep it perfect. I bought a new S4 to use as my daily driver, and as nice as that car is, I'm using it - whatever the weather. Bottom line, do what feels right for you. I know that I just couldn't bring myself to drive the Porsche all winter, even though I'm near Philly where our winters are at least mild for the most part, generally without much snow. You're in Maine - I can only imagine what your winters are like!
cars age... its a mass produced 996; there are more at the store. enjoy the car.
You can treat it like a piece of art or a functional art. functional art pieces will get dirty. i put on many layers of wax during the summer so it is protected in the winter. the smile i get from driving it is better than the one looking.
^^ +1
I HATE how this car looks dirty most of the time, but LOVE driving it. Had a handwash on Friday....loved the way it looked....all the nastiness easily came of the car. Can't wait for the next snow! Seriously, the car will clean up nicely, and think of all the extra $$ you are saving on possible car payments and insurance. This winter is the first time I haven't owned 2 or 3 cars for myself in almost 10 years. I'm down to the C4.....and I love my decision.
J
It's a car, not a priceless painting meant to be admired but not touched. What's the point of owning it but not driving it? Yesterday I was at a shopping center and saw a guy pull up and park an absolutely gorgeous GT3. He drove it to go shopping. You have a car that will perform in all weather conditions, IMHO you should use it, enjoy it, and clean it when you can.
gillie - look at the bright side. After you drive it the entire winter, your car will no longer be perfect and you can stop worrying about it being pristine! Then you can just enjoy deriving it!. Does that make you feel better?
I keep hearing about the damage that salt, sand, and dirt does to cars in the winter and I don't buy it. "Dirty" isn't the same as "damaged", and I don't see why some people are so uptight about it. I'd drive my car more in the winter, but I have other choices and I'm too cheap to spring for winter tires.
My '00 was winter driven by the previous owner, who was not particularly fanatical about maintenance. And I've seen the underside of my car. Good news for the hand-wringers: You can't tell. It looks just fine, with the only telltale sign that it's a northern car being that fasteners get a little gnarly. Easy fix... just replace them with stainless steel as you go along.
Meanwhile, I have to tell you, there seems to me to be real truth to the story that these cars "like" to be driven. I've never owned a car with an adaptive DME function that was so responsive or had such a range of parameters. Driving it every day, and making sure to give it a regular ration of WOT, I find the engine gets better mileage, throttle response is much better (no flat spot off idle anymore and it has that 'quicker' feeling), and it even idles more smoothly. More obviously, the battery stays strong and I find the engine lights off more quickly on startup. I'm sure some of the experts are going think I'm delusional, but I'm convinced that daily use actually brings out the mechanical character of the car. For me, the risk that the car is going to get some patina and the hassle of keeping it washed and getting the undercarriage steam cleaned in the spring are more than worth it.
BruceP - Every service manager I have ever spoken to have told me the cars that get driven run better then the garage queens. Of course the more you drive it, the more likely it is to need service. But my experience has always been that the car just feels stronger and runs better the more it is driven.
Washing is a small price to pay for the enjoyment of driving through the winter.
SAME HERE! Near mint used C4S, winter wheels and tires, but just cleaned it and now it's snowing. If it would just go to -10 but sunny I would be driving it . . . I don't know why I don't drive it more--I drove my Audi tt turbo all winter, but this feels different. As with you, my wife is the rational one. . .
The exact same thing happened to me, right down to the Pirellis. My wife was the irrational one. So now we have two winter beaters, a Jeep and a Subaru. This has been a particularly nasty winter, and what did it for me was driving on I495 after some sleet, and having dime size chunks of rock salt thrown against my car. Lots of it. The road was 50% covered with chunks of rock salt. The car is still available if the weather cooperates, but so far this winter has really sucked.
Looks like I'm the minority here, but that could be due to location.
I drove a 350Z for two winters, then spent a bunch of money on suspension and exhaust, so bought a beater and put it away for the last winter I owned it. I put the p-car away this year and am missing it terribly with all my new parts in the basement.
But... we get 5 months of winter here, the roads are regularly deeply rutted, and we've got yahoos sliding all over the place in their vehicles. I've been rear-ended once each year in the beater.
Better climate, damn straight I'd be driving the car all year, on good days. But it's 5 months of crap here.
there's no way i'd drive this car daily even in mild climate seattle.
it's not fun to drive the 911 gingerly and dirty up the interior, exterior.
just drop about $5-6K and get yourself a nice commuter truck or something
Geez, some of you guys are really paranoid! I drove mine all last winter, washed it weekly and by the time spring came I had detailed it back to near concour level; in fact it did take 2nd place in the PCA concours last summer. I drive it daily, I track it occaisionally, and it looks better than 90% of the garage queens out there. It's a Porsche for chrisake, not a Ferrari so it won't disolve at the first sign of rain or snow.
Ever been to Stuttgart?...guess what, it snows there too!
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