WINTER HELP - I'm new to winter driving

[BryanE]

First off here is a tiny info of me..http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...0&postcount=50...

Just recently got stationed in OH which is a huge game changer for me since I've lived in places like Texas and at the beach of MS so never had to deal with cold weather or winter car prep but now that i'm here i'm stressing out about preparing my car. What I can address easily so far is to place weight on my trunk which i can do i'll use weight plates but don't know how much i should use. Main concern is the salt on the road, now should i go to Ziebart and get a rust protection service done? .... so damn lost here

things ive heard to do

-weight at rear
-rust protection
-winter tires
-anti freeze? <- da fuq is that fml im screwed
-warm up car b4 operating

[Summerwolf]

Originally Posted by BryanE

First off here is a tiny info of me..http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...0&postcount=50...

Just recently got stationed in OH which is a huge game changer for me since I've lived in places like Texas and at the beach of MS so never had to deal with cold weather or winter car prep but now that i'm here i'm stressing out about preparing my car. What I can address easily so far is to place weight on my trunk which i can do i'll use weight plates but don't know how much i should use. Main concern is the salt on the road, now should i go to Ziebart and get a rust protection service done? .... so damn lost here

things ive heard to do

-weight at rear
-rust protection
-winter tires
-anti freeze? <- da fuq is that fml im screwed
-warm up car b4 operating

When in doubt, throttle down.

Seriously.... you probably dont need the rear weight, but it isn't a bad idea to throw a bag of sand in the back anyways. If you get stuck it can help and you would have a little bit of extra weight over your drive tires. 40 lb. Bags are cheap at hardware stores.

Rust protection, probably not that big a deal, just try to wash with under spray as often as feasible. Salt sitting on the car is worse than most other issues associated with winter and rust.

Winter tires should be a necessity for you being inexperienced, it should really be a necessary thing for most people. Nokian hakapelita or blizzaks are about the stand out choice. Forester steelies are a cheap wheel option and then just swap back and forth.

Your car already has anti freeze in it, its coolant too. Seriously!?!?!

Yes warming up the car is a great thing to do. Run the defroster and warm up the inside at the same time. It's pretty self explanatory why you'd want a warm cabin.

[Breadman]

Originally Posted by Summerwolf

When in doubt, throttle down.

Seriously.... you probably dont need the rear weight, but it isn't a bad idea to throw a bag of sand in the back anyways. If you get stuck it can help and you would have a little bit of extra weight over your drive tires. 40 lb. Bags are cheap at hardware stores.

Rust protection, probably not that big a deal, just try to wash with under spray as often as feasible. Salt sitting on the car is worse than most other issues associated with winter and rust.

Winter tires should be a necessity for you being inexperienced, it should really be a necessary thing for most people. Nokian hakapelita or blizzaks are about the stand out choice. Forester steelies are a cheap wheel option and then just swap back and forth.

Your car already has anti freeze in it, its coolant too. Seriously!?!?!

Yes warming up the car is a great thing to do. Run the defroster and warm up the inside at the same time. It's pretty self explanatory why you'd want a warm cabin.

letting your car idle for more than like a minute or 2 will not warm it up anymore. it just wastes gas. turning your car on, scraping your windows, and driving off is more than ample time. also i put a few 40lb bags of rock salt in my trunk and it really helped my wintercontactSIs grip.

[BigTuna]

I'm from Toledo, but have lived in Cincy for about 8 years. I'm pretty familiar with Ohio winters.

- Weight in the trunk isn't necessary, I've driven in 3 winters and didn't do this.
- I cannot recommend winter tires enough. This car is marvelous in the winter with a good set of winter rubber. This is the only thing I've done to drive in the winter. You can usually find a set on craigslist for pretty cheap too.
- Antifreeze is the same thing as coolant. As long as you don't have straight water in the cooling system, you're fine.
- This is a widely debated subject for most cars in most temperatures. I don't warm my car up, I just keep the load on the engine as low as I can until it's up to temp.
- Salt protection isn't necessarily needed, unless you REALLY want to. I just go through a touchless car wash that sprays the undercarriage every week or two.

If you're not already in it, there are Ohio86 and Cincinnati BRZ/FRS/86 (We include Dayton friends too lol) Facebook groups filled with people that can help give advice.

[Tcoat]

People will dispute this but I say do not put weight in the rear. It will improve traction yet but the trade off is that it changes the car's balance and if you start to slide will cause you grief.
Winter tires are a must have. Not all season or winter "performance" tire but SNOW tires. They are all you need but don't cheap out. I recommend getting some basic steel wheels and go for the utility look during the winter. Ya it won't be a pretty but you won't get slush freezing in your wheels and bouncing you around.
The coolent in the car is antifreeze. No changes needed.
No need for a long warm up. Just start the car and let it run until it drops out of high idle. When you start out just take it easy for a few minutes until it is up to temperature.
Rust protection is OK but not really needed on modern cars. After 4 years of winter driving mine is still fine. Rust protection just makes a mess and can even cause moisture to be held in place. Just make sure you wash it as often as possible and all is good.
Go buy yourself a good snow brush/scraper. Do not cheap out here. A good brush will extend, have soft bristles, insulated handles (you have no idea how important that can be) and a good solid scraper.
During the first snowfall find an open area and push the car around a bit. You will see what you can and can not do. Remember that now is only part of the issue in winter and just the cold changes how the car will react.
I drive a lowered FRS year round and have never had any problems.

Above all DO NOT listen to advice from the California crew. They think they know but...

Oh and you can check in here if you wish http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76061

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Above all DO NOT listen to advice from the California crew. They think they know but...

b.s. all you need is chains bro

good thing you got the subaru, awd yo

[Summerwolf]

Originally Posted by Breadman

letting your car idle for more than like a minute or 2 will not warm it up anymore. it just wastes gas. turning your car on, scraping your windows, and driving off is more than ample time. also i put a few 40lb bags of rock salt in my trunk and it really helped my wintercontactSIs grip.

Idk about all that, my car warms up pretty quick, and it also let's the oil at least move around before taking off. I'm not saying run it all day, but sure let it idle for a bit and start getting up in temp isn't a bad idea.

[sodjer]

2nd what everyone else has already suggested. If it's that intimidating find a friend that will drive you to an empty lot to learn in (scout it before snow for pot holes, parking berms etc... don't want to find those the hard way ) Have done this a few times for new drivers or friends that moved from warmer climates. Lets you get a feel for how the car is going to react, and what not to do. Then after the lesson toss on some eurobeat and have some real fun!

[Sasquachulator]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

People will dispute this but I say do not put weight in the rear. It will improve traction yet but the trade off is that it changes the car's balance and if you start to slide will cause you grief.
Winter tires are a must have. Not all season or winter "performance" tire but SNOW tires. They are all you need but don't cheap out. I recommend getting some basic steel wheels and go for the utility look during the winter. Ya it won't be a pretty but you won't get slush freezing in your wheels and bouncing you around.
The coolent in the car is antifreeze. No changes needed.
No need for a long warm up. Just start the car and let it run until it drops out of high idle. When you start out just take it easy for a few minutes until it is up to temperature.
Rust protection is OK but not really needed on modern cars. After 4 years of winter driving mine is still fine. Rust protection just makes a mess and can even cause moisture to be held in place. Just make sure you wash it as often as possible and all is good.
Go buy yourself a good snow brush/scraper. Do not cheap out here. A good brush will extend, have soft bristles, insulated handles (you have no idea how important that can be) and a good solid scraper.
During the first snowfall find an open area and push the car around a bit. You will see what you can and can not do. Remember that now is only part of the issue in winter and just the cold changes how the car will react.
I drive a lowered FRS year round and have never had any problems.

Above all DO NOT listen to advice from the California crew. They think they know but...

Oh and you can check in here if you wish http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76061

Canadians live in winter, its why they know all about winter driving
That and I think Finland, since that's where some of the best winter tires are born (The Nokian hakkapelita)

Except where I live...Calgary drivers are some of the most moronic....I've lived here forever and every year I find that Calgarians still have no idea how to drive in Calgary....

[sweetpea]

Originally Posted by BryanE

First off here is a tiny info of me..http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...0&postcount=50...

Just recently got stationed in OH which is a huge game changer for me since I've lived in places like Texas and at the beach of MS so never had to deal with cold weather or winter car prep but now that i'm here i'm stressing out about preparing my car. What I can address easily so far is to place weight on my trunk which i can do i'll use weight plates but don't know how much i should use. Main concern is the salt on the road, now should i go to Ziebart and get a rust protection service done? .... so damn lost here

things ive heard to do

-weight at rear
-rust protection
-winter tires
-anti freeze? <- da fuq is that fml im screwed
-warm up car b4 operating

I work here at WPAFB as well (over by the BK). So lets stop some "snow" myths now for this area.


1. This part of Ohio does not get massive snow that sticks around. There are short periods where we will get bad snow, but typically gone in less than a week and everything closes anyways if there is just a dusting of snow.


2. They salt the crap outta the highways. They use Brine and Salt. So I don't think any Zeibart rust protection is going to help much. Take your car to the carwash often. Its cheaper. Be sure to wipe inside edge of the door frame and bottom edge of the doors. Car washes don't help much there.

3. You can get snow tires, but honestly I would not if you have the stock tires and they have plenty of tread. In my case I have aftermarket tires that are horrible on wet roads, let alone snow or ice. So it was needed. If your tires are all yr round tires you don't need them here in this part of Ohio (except maybe a day here or there and they won't do you much good in that case anyway, if its that bad....other drivers are your concern and how low the car sits!)


4. My car is garage kept, but when it wasn't.....I let it warm up, not for the engine, but for my own comfort i.e. the heater. Invest in a decent brush/scraper combo. My 2014 doesn't have heated steering wheel (only heated seats) so I wear gloves in the winter. So I didn't get the one with the glove built in, extra cost I didn't need.


5. Weight in the trunk does help and can throw the balance off, but you can just put a bag on each side to fix that....but don't use sand. Use kitty litter. It has so many more uses (weight, gives better traction on ice if you do get stuck, mops up oil spills, lets animals go the bathroom on it etc).


6. what you will see is the transmission (if stick) being more clunky in the 1/2 gear until the car warms up. Many folks recommend changing the tranny oil out to Mobil 3k to help with it. You can put Heet in your gas to evaporate water....but really our winters are normally right around 30degrees. A few times it will dip. I didn't do anything special to my car and its fine. If I don't drive it for a few days I do put a trickle charger on the battery though.


7. Just slow down in the winter, don't take the turns all tight and fast. And then go to empty parking lots at the first layer of snow and do donuts and spins.....you know to get used to drifting in the snow and knowing what to do.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Sasquachulator

Canadians live in winter, its why they know all about winter driving
That and I think Norway, since that's where some of the best winter tires are born (The Nokian hakkapelita)

Except where I live...Calgary drivers are some of the most moronic....I've lived here forever and every year I find that Calgarians still have no idea how to drive in Calgary....

Most Ontarions don't either. At least for the first few snowfalls. Even many that do know how still think that all season tires mean all seasons. The number of times I have had to stop my lowered, RWD, lightweight car on a snow covered street just to push an AWD SUV or even a bloody Jeep out of the way so I could carry on is astonishing.

[Sasquachulator]

Originally Posted by Summerwolf

Idk about all that, my car warms up pretty quick, and it also let's the oil at least move around before taking off. I'm not saying run it all day, but sure let it idle for a bit and start getting up in temp isn't a bad idea.

The car itself doesn't really need all that long to warm up (I usually wait until the idle drops, and I think that's really all it needs)

but it takes much longer for the heater to get to an adequate temp in winter, which is probably why everyone suggests idling the car for a minute or two to warm up the cabin. Its not necessary but the car is going to feel like a fridge on the inside for a little bit until the engine gets warmed up.

Oh and don't worry about your manual transmission (if you are so equipped) feeling like its shifting in molasses, it'll warm up and get better but that's what happens in the cold lol.

[Leonardo]

Originally Posted by Sasquachulator

Canadians live in winter, its why they know all about winter driving
That and I think Norway, since that's where some of the best winter tires are born (The Nokian hakkapelita)

Except where I live...Calgary drivers are some of the most moronic....I've lived here forever and every year I find that Calgarians still have no idea how to drive in Calgary....

FYI, Nokian tires are from Finland. (Nokia is also a Finnish company)


I've been to Rovaniemi Finland; Porsche has their winter test track their.


https://www.porsche.com/silverstone/...y/wintercamps/


https://www.nokiantyres.com/company/about-us/history/

[Sasquachulator]

Originally Posted by Leonardo

FYI, Nokian tires are from Finland. (Nokia is also a Finnish company)


I've been to Rovaniemi Finland; Porsche has their winter test track their.


https://www.porsche.com/silverstone/...y/wintercamps/


https://www.nokiantyres.com/company/about-us/history/

thanks for the correction