Preparing your Porsche for Winter

Hi all, Now that my Cayman S has had its final service this year, I am thinking about covering it up on the driveway. I’m thinking a final clean and wax to prepare the paint for the harsh months will be a good idea. What would you do? Would you disconnect the battery ? What cover would you recommend?

@CarsOfZeus - Tons of threads and info on pre-winter prep; just do a quick search. Yes, final clean and wax before a really good outdoor cover. Fuel stabilizer on a full tank of fresh gas. You'll definitely need a battery tender or remove the battery to indoors and lots of dryer sheets to keep the mice away. Again, these are just a few things and certainly are not comprehensive in a standard winterizing procedure. Cheers.

Great tips. What consists as a great outdoor cover? Loads to pick from, but whats best? I assume water proof??

The best tip is to get a second set of wheels with all seasons and drive her on the weekends. The mountain roads are less crowded and the car is still a blast. I just painted my calipers and the winter wheels go on this week. A little early but we will see some mornings in the 30s this week. She has not seen snow but cold clear days are great.

There is nothing Porsche specific about the "best" car covers. As noted above, there are lots of threads out there on this subject. I think the one thing that would worry me is chafing of the cover in windy conditions, that might affect the paint. So spend the extra money and get one that is designed to fit your car snugly. And tie it down really well.

Good advice.

This is generally great advice, but sometimes it isn't wholly realistic - from what I can gather the OP is in the UK, so the winter conditions (snow, etc.) may not be ideal. @CarsOfZeus , if you do choose to drive the car this winter on all-seasons, I would recommend using 0w40 oil and taking great care that the car is warm before you romp on it. General procedure because in their infinite wisdom, Porsche did not give us an oil pressure or temperature gauge: 1) Cold start the vehicle and allow it to idle no longer than the time it takes for the revs to drop to or below 1k. 2) Drive the car immediately after the revs drop, keeping the revs below 3,000rpm. 3) Allow the coolant temperature to reach temperature, and allow the oil 5 minutes to catch up to the coolant temperature , or 10 minutes if you have a low-temperature thermostat. 4) Once the oil is up to temperature, enjoy as normal.

Yeah with all that oil it takes along time to get to temp in the winter.

Hyper inflate the tires during storage to dissuade flat spotting. I use a soft indoor car cover but if it was outside? I’d be wary due to the moisture retention and as others have said, repetitive action of material flapping. Nothing looked better on a red 944 then a black vinyl bra on the front. But just like a car cover, movement of the bra could abrade the clearcoat in much the same manner .

CarsofZeus, frankly, if you live in London, I'm not sure that the car cover adds any value and as noted, may cause some harm. The coat of wax is probably sufficient. And I do agree, if you can take the car out for a good drive, even once a month, you are probably doing more good than anything else you can do. You will for sure need a trickle charger, one of the new "smart" ones. I've been happy with the NOCO Genius line of products. I had my "fleet" on them for 3 months while I was away and everything started right up. Be careful, the clips on the battery come very close to the bonnet underside. There's room, just pay attention. Mice are a problem in my area. They literally have chewed through the cabin air filter to get into the car. They probably come up through the drain tubes in the area near the cabin air filter. Dryer sheets packed into that area (I've also heard of using moth balls) might be helpful. I keep a loaded mousetrap in the car, in an area that I can see through the windows, and I do catch the little bastards more than I would like. The state of fuel is a wildcard. You probably already use the highest octane available and get it from a Top Tier station? This is what I used and again, all my cars started right up after 3 months. I did not have trouble with flat spotting on my tires .

As foodbiker indicated, there are tons of info on this forum. Just a few minor things I would do (I will drive during the winter but once after salt on the road is gone): 1) put something like used coffee ground inside to absorb moisture, odor, etc. 2) not necessarily winterizing but the wheel lock, if you have one, in the glove box, just in case (ask me how I know ), 3) pieces of used carpet under the tires but not sure this does anything only for a few months during the winter, 4) and as others indicated, I would put some moth balls around the car - not sure inside the frunk will stink up the entire car... Thankfully, my winterizing is just putting the hard top on ;-)

I put in premium unleaded all the time.

Tell me how do you know? Lol

Evening all. It’s done. My 987CS is all tucked up for the winter months. A full detail was done yesterday and a fresh fitted waterproof cover has been put over her. I have just had a new driveway installed, so the 987 is tucked away in a nice parking place. I’ve decided that I will run the 987 up to temperature every now and then just to keep it ticking over. Fuel stabiliser has been added to a full tank and I’ve topped up the fluids. I think I’ve done everything prep wise 🤔 if I’ve missed anything let me know please 🙏🏻

This might be too late for you, as you’ve already tucked it in for a good winter’s rest, but for others wondering, I’ve seen some owners use tire/wheel ’cradles’(?), or even slightly lift the vehicle and place stands or blocks under to alleviate the full weight of the vehicle on the tires in the concentrated footprint where the rubber meets the road. I don’t know if its my imagination or paranoia, but sometimes after I haven’t driven the car for a couple of weeks, I could swear I feel a whump, whump, whump for the first few miles until the rubber softens from driving, then it seems to go away magically. Flat spots do occur in a rather short period of non-use.

Nice!! I just did my winterization by putting the hard top on with my son

So it turns out that I did everything right, but I forgot to leave the frunk open. I now have a dead battery and trying to access the frunk with the emergency fusebox area has proven difficult. I purchased a booster jump pack (Top Tech 3-in-1 Jump Starter Power Pack (vehicles up to 2.0L) that I will use tomorrow, but I have a feeling it’s not going to work. Should I just get some jump leads to get the frunk open?

For the fuse box method, my jump pack didn't work for me but another car battery worked (to be exact, it was my backup sump.pump battery ) I think the constant current may be critical. Also read the manual. My 987 manual specifically indicates a "donor" battery .

I just added a jump pack to my collection of tools. Why did I wait so long? A very useful device. Read the instructions but you might want to apply it to the jump post and wait 5 or 10 minutes. If your battery is really discharged, it might take a while to get the system voltage up to minimum operating parameters.

I will be outside tomorrow morning trying to get the 987CS fired up. If the booster battery pack doesn't work I'll be off to pick up some jump leads. I think they will be handy to have anyway as I am sure this won't be the first and only time that I will need them.

***Update So I got the frunk open with a booster pack. It’s worth pointing out that once connected to the emergency frunk fuse you can’t use the latch in the car to open it. It was only when I consulted the handbook a few hours later that I realised that I hand to open the frunk with the key… Dah! Once in the frunk the booster pack didn’t have enough to start the 987CS. I used jump leads to get her started. 40 mins running on idle and then a 30 minute long drive in the evening seems to have done the trick. For me this is one of the issues about not using the car throughout winter. I’m not sure I am going to prepare and cover up the 987CS next year.

Ahhhhh....another lessons learned. I never tried the key fob when I had the jump starter connected....a great find although I never want to find out again