Winter mode ideas?

[RalliestWannabe]

I didn't do anything other than General Altimax Arctic studded snows on my OEM wheels. Already have flaps. No special undercoat or paint sealant or anything. Been under my car dozens of times since last winter and it all still looks new, (except the stock exhaust I guess). 

Drifts like a champ, especially with the 22mm F&R sway combo. the open diffs don't seem to spoil the fun either, all four seem to spin just fine.

Drift night is a dangerous endeavor, but you can generally find your own space to hoon about in, and to be honest, the empty roads mid-storm are a lot more fun than any parking lot.  

This is exactly what one year old cars should look like.  If you're only concerned about its appearance for the first 5 years then don't bother wasting time with any winter prep. But if you want the car to be around 10-20 years.  start aggressive because anything else is just fooling your self and leads to lots of body shop bills.  Personally i hope you put lots of money into rust prevention and than get bored with it after a few years so someone else can pick it up cheap second hand and still have a good car to work with. Replenish the used car ranks!!!  

 

[blehhh]

This is exactly what one year old cars should look like.  If you're only concerned about its appearance for the first 5 years then don't bother wasting time with any winter prep. But if you want the car to be around 10-20 years.  start aggressive because anything else is just fooling your self and leads to lots of body shop bills.  Personally i hope you put lots of money into rust prevention and than get bored with it after a few years so someone else can pick it up cheap second hand and still have a good car to work with. Replenish the used car ranks!!!  

The newer cars don't quite rust out like they used to anyway. It's also not kept in a heated garage or anything, so the salt and rust potential aren't as severe. And yeah, I don't see myself keeping this car past 5 years. I should probably at least look into a proper winter detail though in December.

 

[blehhh]

I was really impressed with what Tyler did to his FXT though with all of that undercoating and sound deadening. I would do something like that if it were cheap, simple & effective. I think you only get to pick 2 of those though.  

 

[CoupedUpSubie]

All cars rust faster these days. Reason is the chemicals that are dumped on the roads. Regular salt doesn't eat cars up that bad. Regular washes are a must. I have no idea why but my car doesn't have anywhere near the rust 90% of 95 Impreza's have. As for taking care of a car and keeping rust/rot away, its about resale. I will never buy a used car without inspecting it for an hour and crawling under it.

 

[blehhh]

I meant that the newer cars are galvanized, at least the body/frame is. I don't know about all of the black-painted subframes, cross braces, control arms, etc. 

 

[IBratmanI]

Galvanized doesn't mean much really when it comea to the salt and calcium chloride they dump on the roads. Think about a galvanized snowmobile trailer or boat trailer. I'd never heard of cars being galvanized though. But as previously said, it doesn't much matter, if you don't take precautions and wash your car regularly, it will rust.

 

[2point5RS_Dan]

Yeah you're not going to see the 3rd gens rusting... YET. Rust takes sometime to bake.

 

[RyanR]

Give it 5 years in maine winters and it'll start to look like a 15 year old florida car.

Whatever you can do to prevent rust while it's still shiny and new is a good idea.

 

[Matt]

Just saw an 09 from the boothbay region with rotted quarters.

 

[i-wagon]

Baths and undercoat. A couple of our trucks at work the same age as my car are covered in rot, especially around the calcium tanks. But our equipment doesn't get cleaned well and it's out in that crap all winter