Do you guys drive your RWD 911 in the winter ?
#46
NO 911 or any sports car for that matter that has lived under my roof has or will ever see snow. We routinely have 6-12 inch + snow storms every winter and the lack of ground clearance, risk of body damage from hitting a frozen snow turd or worse, and the sandblasting of the front and sides of the car from sand/salt/corruption on the roads makes it a hard NO for me. We have a Macan and 4WD truck for the bad weather. This thread will generate multiple strong views on both sides of the issue - you now know mine.
#47
I am also in Northern Virginia but park my 911 for the winter once they start dumping chemicals on the roads, and they put a lot of that garbage on the highways here. The car itself is fine in the snow with proper tires, but the corrosion the road salt and brine causes is unbelievable, and compounded by the fast the 911's are rear engined and accumulate a lot of junk in the rear of the car underbody (just look at your air filter after 15K miles if in doubt). Unless you are going to get under the body and wash it weekly, the corrosion will do damage over time. I own a small fleet of commercial trucks and we have all sorts of failures of components due to rust and corrosion from road chemicals. So I bought myself a low-optioned Ford Ranger 4WD and that's my winter ride. I don't really care if this gets trashed, it was cheap and blasts through the crud just fine. I do a lot of the work on my vehicles myself and like to keep the fasteners clean and unrusted. Pickup trucks are way more fun in the snow than any sports car, talk about drifting powerslides!
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michael818 (10-19-2021)
#48
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michael818 (10-19-2021)
#49
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
In Miami we do get cold snaps temps in the 30's but its very rare and brief . In short it hits the low temp just before sunrise and then by 11 AM int can be in the 50's or 60's . so the ground never stays cold . Thats quite different than 25 at night and 42 in the day where the ground maintains the cold . We never have that .
#50
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That's hilarious. I have driven a car in an area with real snow for more than 50 years and while AWD would be handy, I have never had it on one of my cars. I have never been stranded and never heard of someone dying when stranded, at least not around here. Maybe farther south, where people aren't used to snow and don't have the proper equipment. I don't have a RWD 911, but I hear they as good or better in snow than a Cayman, provided they have winter tires.
Driving’s not an issue so long as the rental has decent tyres, by which I mean a proper winter set although the most of the rentals have all-weather tyres only. You can ask for winters but they charge more and so most people just don't bother. On time though, over in Calgary, Hertz gave me a Dodge Journey with summer tyres in December and that was fun! On that trip we flew from Calgary to Ottawa and I insisted on winters there…..
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michael818 (10-19-2021)
#51
I store my 993 and CR during the Chicago winters. However, I do daily drive my 2012 Maserati Quattroporte Sport GTS during the winter. I purchased a set of rims and mounted Pirelli Winter Sottos on them. RWD car. I am confident driving the car in snow with the snow tires. I am judicious with the throttle (there is an ice mode, too) and drive cautiously. The rears have lasted 3 seasons. My Mas dealer says to buy new rears for this year, and I have.
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detansinn (10-18-2021)
#52
The 911 is incredibly light by modern car standards, even in 4 and 4S guise. An Audi S4 or BMW xdrive are hundreds of pounds heavier. AWD may help you go but what does all that added weight do to braking? You can go faster but stop slower when in fact in winter you really need the opposite. This is what makes me wary of immediately jumping on the “must have AWD” bandwagon for a winter car.
With that said I drive the 911 4S in the winter but never in a snowstorm or slush if I can avoid because all you can do is drive slow and all that reminds me is how much more comfortable I’d be in a non dedicated sports car even one as functionally practical as the 911. If thats how I feel why subject the car to all the salty slush when I’d rather be in a 15 year old BMW sedan. Makes me angry at myself for not being in that ride instead.
With that said I drive the 911 4S in the winter but never in a snowstorm or slush if I can avoid because all you can do is drive slow and all that reminds me is how much more comfortable I’d be in a non dedicated sports car even one as functionally practical as the 911. If thats how I feel why subject the car to all the salty slush when I’d rather be in a 15 year old BMW sedan. Makes me angry at myself for not being in that ride instead.
Last edited by Lucky991; 11-24-2021 at 09:04 PM.