We've only had light snow in Toronto but my car looks terrible. I can't wash it during the week since I work 7 to 7 and have the family to look after.

I'm also trying to figure out how I'm going to wash it when it turns colder. Any suggestions, especially how to wash the underbody without using the dreaded carwash.

 

OK I'm sure to be enlightened on this subject - but what's so
terrible about using a carwash?

The carwash down the street seems to take good care of their equipment and they hand dry the cars- they are open all winter- and they do a nice job. I don't get the wax option, just a vacuum and wash and hand dry.

I've never noticed a problem after using them. I've been using them for 10 years and the paint on my cars has looked like new to me. I've never had the carwash scratch a car. Of course I don't use Zaino or anything on the car to give it that incredible shine. Maybe it would be a bad idea to use a car wash if I wanted the better-than-showroom-shine which many forum members have on their 8's.

It seems at the carwash the cars they wash are usually newer, nicer models- so lots of people with fine cars trust them. I'm going to use them once a month and will use the no touch car wash if neccessary in between.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

Just got my wheel & tire package from Talon in Quebec (thanks again, John!)

When the first snow fell, I still had the RE040's on, I took the car out to see the handling characteristics......there where none. The car was just plain scary on snow, and a hazard on ice. Horrendous wheelspin, 'iffy' steering, and the rear wheels seemed intent on going first!

There was just no way to drive it safely, so I parked the '8' for two weeks until I got the winter boots from Talon, and today took it to the big city for a meeting.

The 17" wheels and Toyo Garit Observe tires are amazing!
The compound is really soft, and they have ground walnut shells in the rubber - on snow they cut through and dig, but the real treat is the ice! Grippy and predictable.

As it was my first trip in winter conditions, I also tried out some of the cars systems - I found some sections of glare ice alongside dry road (welcome to my world!) and tried accelerating - previous cars would slew to the dry side and threaten to put me in the ditch. A little flashing of the yellow dash indicator and some clicks from the rear brakes, and away we go! Nice and straight.

The with the DSC switch off to try the limited slip diff - not so straight, but faster, accompanied by some wheelspin.

And the ultimate test, the ABS on the same glare/dry patch.....
a beautiful, straight, short stop. The system used the dry side to do all the braking. A previous (Peugeot) in the same test would detect the locking wheel, and back off on ALL the brakes, sailing me off to my fate with a pulsating brake pedal. "Oh, no, you can't stop - one of your wheels is locked up!" Maybe France doesn't get ice.....

I was afraid that the '8' would not be a good car to drive through the winter, but with the right tires, heated seats, heated mirrors, (not to mention ABS, DSC, EBD, LSD and active traction control!) I am looking forward to my next seven months of winter!
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doc

 

Go find an indoors carwash where you wash it with a pressure washer. Hughes has them here in Edmonton. You can select soap, rinse, wax, even air to blow the water off. They also have a brush with suds coming out of it, though I don't trust other users (may have dropped it on the floor and picked up sand etc in the brush), so I use my mit. I use rinse only, and it works great for cleaning under the car and the fender wells.

 

I use a pressure wash, and rinse only... but I spent some time waxing the car so the dirt comes off pretty easily. Those bays are mighty dirty though, and water goes all over the place so doing it in work clothes is a bit crappy.

I also use a California Blade to whip water off the vehicle.

 

Hey Taffy,

Take your car to a touch-less car wash, ask for the bottom baster and tire cleaner. It does a pretty good job at cleaning the underbody. On those warmer days go to a self spray carwash. Toronto is using a different type of salt on the roads this year. It's liquid instead of granular. It's supposed to do a better job on the roads and less damage to your car.

 

Will the touchless carwash affect the Zaino coats I have on the car? I've always shyed away from car washes as a rule.

 

I was advised by the Downtown service manager not to use car washes because the wheels are too wide for track. May scratch your wheels. But is strikes me that SUV's have similarly wide wheels and go through without a problem. Any thouthts on this?

 

Yes, the touchless washes can damage your stock wheels...I learned the hard way...it was an expensive wash!

 

SUV tires have much higher sidewalls, so the wheels are probably above the track. Except for the Porsche Cayenne, maybe.

 

Most of the carwashes here have removed the metal wheel guide. Probably they have replaced too many damaged rims!

 

DO NOT take your cars to an automated Car Wash !!! They are EVIL !

Instead, go to those Coined Car Wash. There are lots of them in Toronto. Just pick a time that works for you and go there once every week during the winter. $3 a week will keep your car looking relatively clean and most importantly, it prevents salt and sand from building up and ruining the paint or worst, rusting away on the car body. Trust me on this one. Give your baby a good spray top and bottom every week !

 

I agree about the automated: pure evil.
The self-spray ones are pretty good if you are smart about it. My old Honda, I sprayed it off at worst every 2-days during the winter (usually every day unless it was snowing or something) and the paint still looked new when I traded the car after 4 years. (with the help of Zaino.)

 

FYI: There's a very good coined Car wash at Bayview and Major Mackenzie if you live around that area. (north west corner) Warm water along with a Timer Readout on top of the garage bay to show you how much time you got left. Highly recommended by most Car Clubs in the GTA.

 

Most car wash soap will not take off the Zaino (you can even buy the Zaino soap - but you can't use it at the car wash .

The hand wash places are the best bet. Don't complain, the RX-8 and my RX-7 are easy to wash. Takes twice as long to wash my Pathfinder SUV. Just use the rinse setting. You don't really need soap anyway. I never use it, and my vehicles clean up very well. Only place soap might be needed is on the rear to clean off the "smoot" (blackish oily residue rotaries spit out the exhaust). It gets on the car around the tailpipe. Soak the car on the rinse setting, use a mit to clean the car, then rinse again. Costs me $3 for the Pathfinder. A bargin. You will probably have to find a time the car wash is not too busy. They don't like hand washing when they are busy.