I'm in So Cal where the avg rainfall has more than doubled this year. I won't drive my SC in the rain. I spend too much time cleaning and polishing the paint and wheels to mess it up on a 30 drive. Anybody else have a "Car made out of sugar" as my wife puts it?

 

Well, I understand your position, but I love driving the car so much, I couldn't limit myself to not driving in the rain.

We had 2 gorgeous days this weekend (although we now have about 4" of new snow today...), and I made sure to bring her out for a fantastic drive each day, about 3 hours' worth. Made for an excellent mid-winter breath of fresh 911 air.

 

I feel your pain, Targas are a goldfish bowl in rain, My lowered GTI hates the rain due to the suspension setings, It also doesn't like deep water, I could hardly get out of my neighbor hood on Saturday, we should get a discount on high SoCal living expenses if he have to endure days like these. This is what I see out of my office in the back of the house................

I think its funny the sprinklers are on.

 

SoCal whining about....rain?.... wimps! Next you'll be complaining about too many blondes in bikinis..... we Northeasterners are taking up a collection for you.

This morning I drove my 84 Targa to work in 5 inches of snow. Got there... will get back. Big strong he-man.... me drive Porsche... me like Porsche... uuh uuuuh.

 

my 84 targa is in the nice warm garage. So is the GTI. glad I have the day off, you guys have much worse weather, but ahh the SoCal life is great 99% of the time

 

FIxn.... you make me sick..... i hope a surfboard flies through your window and maims your cat.

There... take that ... who's smug now... huh?

 

Targas are better because it is easier to get out of the car as it submerges after surfing part-way across a newly opened sink hole....

"there are certain negatives to living in a geologically active area..."

 

Randy -
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!" I nearly pissed myself after reading that new Targa use.

As for NE Weather vs. SoCal, I'll take mudslides & bikinis anyday if it means not having the occasional May snowstorm. Although, we do get the added benefit of watching the idiots who haven't got a clue about driving in snow. Always good for a laugh passing a Grand Am on top of a 6' high snowbank on the side of the road, followed closely thereafter by an Intrepid in the median ditch, while the local police are standing on the side of the road with their hands on their hips just shaking their heads at the participants of the morning commute's Winter Snowlypics. I think I'd miss that if I ever moved.

 

I love driving my Targa (with Blizzaks) past all the morons with 4x4s and 4 season tires who spent $50K so that they could get through the snow, and end up sliding off the road.

Yeah, I wish I could leave my car in a hermetically sealed garage, but its a working car, and damned good in the snow.... if you can;t fight it fishltail it

 

I love it when people think there invincible in a 4x4 SUV in the snow. My FWD GTI does wonders in the snow. I will say I miss having the odd snow storm now and then like when I lived in Oregon for a few years.

 

I got caught in the snow with the 911 on the way home from purchasing... Nitto 450's on there, and an "interesting" ride through the Buffalo - Syracuse area.

After that episode, I bought a spare set of Fuchs & some Pirelli 210's from folks online, just in case. I run separate wheels & Blizzak tires on all my daily cars through the winter (Can't convince the wife she needs them over the all-seaons on her Montana van though). With the Blizzaks on all 4 corners, I went anywhere I wanted to, point & shoot, with everything from my RWD hopped up '86 Monte Carlo to my FWD SHOs. Love those tires. I hear that folks love the Dunlop Graspics & Michelin Artic Alpins just as much now.

If you think about it, with the driveline weight over the rear drivewheels, and the large fuel tank over the front wheels, the 911 should handle very well in the snow, though I'd imagine once you get the back end moving sideways, it's all over.

 

Actually guys, SoCal isn't all that, and a bag of chips. My dad hauled us out here from Syracuse in 1955. I learned how to drive in Malibu, Topanga and Decker Canyons, back before the show-biz geeks decided to make the land their own. Sometime about 1980 I realized I couldn't just go somewhere, I had to start allowing for traffic issues. By 1985 my commute to the shop went from 35 minutes one way to 50 minutes one way. By 1990 I experienced a morning with a 3.5 HOUR commute (mudslide), an evening with a 4 HOUR commute (some nut jumped off an overpass), and a 3.5 HOUR commute (brush fire in Malibu). Want to go to a Dodger game from Thousand Oaks? You can't. Want to go to Staples Center from Agoura? Not unless you've got a full day. Want to go to the Auto Show from anywhere outside downtown? Allow 2 - 3 HOURS, one way. Want to go out to dinner in Marina Del Rey? Who do you know? Want to go to Zuma Beach on a Sunday? The sun will be low in the west before you find a parking space. Want to drive Sunset Blvd between PCH and UCLA? Might as well do it in your VW Microbus because your average speed will be about 20 mph. Et cetera... OK, that's my rant! Yes, I'm feeling bad because so many people, about 20 million, discovered what my dad did in '55, the area in and around LA is a little slice of heaven. Throw in 20 - odd million people and it becomes something entirely different, something the weather can no longer fix, for me anyway. Oh, and by the way, Bakersfield's rainfall, so far this season, is almost double its norm. We've had almost 7" so far, and I took my Targa out in it yesterday, just for the hell of it. It won't melt, it doesn't leak too much, and it works really well on its Bridgestone RE 730s. Good fun!
Pete

 

I can sympathize with Greg911, my "new" car doesn't go out in the rain either! After having a 1970 911T and dealing with rust issues, my 1980 SC will not see any bad weather. He is tucked nicely under his cover until the sun shines. I'm hoping that will be soon. I haven't been able to drive him since I brought him home 10 days ago! I have started him up and got his engine warm, but I need to get out there and run him. The sun is shining now, so maybe tomorrow.

 

Quit your whining Cal people. I shovelled 10" of 'surprise' snow this morning. "Surprise' snow is the kind that just sort of happens. They predict 2" & you get 10.

Btw Julia

You shouldn't just warm it up. A P-car likes to get hot - up to operating temps & doesn't like a short sit-in-the-driveway warmup. Just fyi.

Ian

 

Southern California is awesome.

Believe me, I'm originally from Chicago.

I've taken my car out twice in the past two days, just for the fun of breaking the rears loose on wet pavement.

This weekend, I'll be racing up north of Sacramento, and the weather is going to be 67 and sunny.

And it's February.

Then again, houses keep sliding down into the sea, and our air isn't fit to breathe. But you take the good with the bad.