Hi guys,

I am from Boston and I think that you'll be able to give me a good answer about taking care of the car in winter. When I lived 30 mins away form the Canadian border (in Vermont), I was not even thinking of buying a sports car. Now that I am in a warmer climate, if you will, I am considering RX8.

The thing is that I do not have a garage in Boston. I will be lucky to have a driveway where I could park my car. Does anybody else have this problem? If so, how do you deal with a situation like this in winter?

Thank you.

 

Not that Toronto is any more winter like than Boston, I think you guys usually get more snow than us. Snow tires a must, talked to death but essential. Here in Toronto we do live with a large volume of vehicles that seem to need salt / chemicals dropped if the North wind blows over 5 kms. I do not have a garage and park outside, my advice is spend money on excellent rust proofing be diligent and keep it up and inspected / recoated every year. Find yourself a coin operated spray wash. I will spray off road grime two or three times a week. Not much soap / no brushes just don't let the grime sit, that goes for bird crap / sap also.

I bought this car to be a driver and it has gone well beyond my expectations !

 

Well said! I agree, as long as you give your car a good wash 2-3 time a week in the winter then you will not have any problems what so ever. The only thing which you cant avoid is the stone chips which come from the salt and sand.

 

Where do you rust proof? Also, do you use any real, not clear, bras? Thank you.

 

Hmmm . . . I'll take stone chips to the ugliness of a "real" bra.

 

A real bra will destroy the finish, it traps grit and moisture. I will take stone chips over even a clear bra. Oil spray is the only way to go for corrosion protection, apply each fall and every fall thereafter. You want engineered oil that goes in as a fine mist and can creep into all the crevices, not a "Bob's chainsaw oil job". Rust Check, Oil Guard, Krown and Metropolitan are some of them that I have seen, I use Metropolitan on my Subaru but that is a Canadian only thing I think. IMO those one time tar application things are useless and just another method for auto dealers to rip people off. I don't drive my 8 in winter so I didn't do anything with it, oil spray if applied thoroughly will make a bit of a mess. i.e. over spray on the body, engine bay and around hinges etc. Others have claimed they came away with little mess but I question how thorough the jobs were. There are some old threads where this stuff was debated endlessly . . .

Personally I would try not to drive the car in bad weather and do nothing, just don't let it sit too long (more than a week) or the brake rotors will rot badly.