Preparing for winter...

[Legend83]

..what does everyone do? Particularly if your '8 is parked outside?

Thinking about a set of winter boots and a new battery (mine has been a bit iffy already in the recent cold nights) - any recommendations?

Anyone going to be getting down and dirty with some underseal / rust-proofer? Thinking I might try and get away with a good blast underneath with the pressure washer once a week to get the salt off.

[Legend83]

A good coat of wax to protect the paintwork.

Pressure washers can cause more harm the good, physically damaging and/or forcing dirt into bearings etc.

Hose underneath is fine.

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

[AndyBrad]

I do a lot of short trips in winter.

battery charger helps a LOT. quality rubber next

[bigpete8]

Usual stuff that applies to any car..
Tyre condition and consider winter ones
Wiper condition and washer fluid
Coolant concentration.. Do usual testers work on fl22?
Battery condition
Lights
Consider your be prepared kit.. Torch, Blanket, water, food, shovel + carpet to get you unstuck... (I have snow socks)

[warpc0il]

Thinking about a set of winter boots

Driving in winter boots can be a bit tricky, especially if you have big feet

[goodeggbob]

waxoyl and underseal etc should really have been a summer job in preparation for the winter. doing it now in the damp conditions we are in now will risk locking moisture in,which is far worse than leaving it until next summer. this is advise from a bloke who has kept a ford capri rust free for the last 30 years.

[Bullet5]

Winter tyres are a must if the 8 is your only vehicle to commute with. I'd highly recommend picking up a cheap set of standard alloys and fitting some tyres to these. Rule of thumb is when the temp is less than 7C during your commutes then it's time to swap the tyres. Winters will feel more floaty, especially at motorway speeds, but generally speaking they have far superior grip in cold/wet and obviously snowy conditions. My summers get a little snatchy during the winter months. The winters give better feedback as to when they are about to let go, and are easier to catch from my experience.

If you start struggling to start the cold, or leave the car for a week at a time without starting it up I'd recommend possibly looking into getting yourself a portable jump start battery. Most can be used to also charge your phone up and have lights built in, so handy if you ever need a bit of extra charge when out and about. If you're replacing your battery, try not to buy from an online store, as if it is faulty you can be massively out of pocket (as I found when buying a Varta battery online a few years ago).

Ensure you have a tow hook somewhere in the vehicle, just in case (especially if you just run the summer tyres).

If you haven't gotten around to under sealing, then I'd recommend giving the common rust areas a spray of ACF50 to help keep any more salt off the paint. Common areas being the sills, rear wheel arches, bonnet seal, boot lid seal, boot lid third brake light.

If you do lots of short trips (less than 5 miles), then seriously consider the mouse mat mod to block off one of the oil coolers. I sometimes resort to blocking both off for trips I know are no more than 4 miles during early morning drives in sub zero temps, although I'd not recommend two unless you've oil and water temp gauges fitted.

If you suffer from having fogged up windows in a morning then seriously consider buying some rechargeable dehumidifier bags. They can make a massive difference, along with running the AC on recycle. I've used a couple of different brands and have had great success with Pingi ones. They last a few years too providing you don't let leave them in the car for weeks without recharging them. To add to this, another thing to do is clean your windows with glass cleaner or IPA to clean any grease off them that can also cause fogging in a morning. Grab yourself a good quality squeegee too for your side windows/rear and mirrors. Not essential, but helps if you're driving slowly for a mile or two before the heated mirrors and wind have cleared them.

Other than that, enjoy knowing the fact you've a very capable RWD car in the slidy season.

All the best,
Bullet5.

[Bigblueknight3k]

Well so far waxoiled underneath already new hid main beam 10k and upgrade full beam bulbs next a wax this weekend

Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk

[Essex2Visuvesi]

Winter tyres are a must if the 8 is your only vehicle to commute with.

you mean all season tyres?
You won't find proper winter tyres in the UK as they are studded and illegal for on road use

[Bullet5]

Winter tyres are a must if the 8 is your only vehicle to commute with.

you mean all season tyres?
You won't find proper winter tyres in the UK as they are studded and illegal for on road use

They may not be studded, but I would not call Bridgestone Blizzak's all season tyres.



They may be tame by some countries standards, but these are what UK winter tyres are.

[Legend83]

Picked up 4 used Michelin Pilot Alpin 4 winter tyres for £250 (plus £80 to fit) - that's better than half price with nearly 6mm of tread. Happy days!

[Juey]

I always think about getting some winter tyres, but have survived 11 years of owning an RX8 without. The joy of working from home and having a garage!

[warpc0il]

That's a bit like...

"I thought about going for a run again before breakfast this morning".
.
.
.
.
.
I thought about it last week as well, but I've never bothered to do it

[SeriousSam]

Diets always start on the same day - tomorrow

[MARKTHOMASBRAND]

Winter tyres or not I don't think anybody on here can hold a candle to Juey's dedication to diet/excercise

[SeeJay]

Winter prep:

Thorough wash & wax
Vacuum interior
Roll into garage
hook up C-TEK battery maintainer
leave windows down about an inch,to allow interior to stay aired
Handbrake off,car in gear,wheel chocked.

Revisit approx late March/early April

[New Duke]

No specific winter prep for me, assuming all the fluids and parts are maintained properly. If not, then now's the time to catch up on things like wiper blades as mentioned above.

I find summer tyres are good on the 8 for up to half a foot of snow and ice is no problem... but then everyone's driving experience/style/and sense of security varies.

Best way to keep her happy in winter is to ride her long, hot and often (ahem)

Winter prep:

Thorough wash & wax
Vacuum interior
Roll into garage
hook up C-TEK battery maintainer
leave windows down about an inch,to allow interior to stay aired
Handbrake off,car in gear,wheel chocked.

Revisit approx late March/early April

Breaks my heart that you can live without driving it for so long CJ! At least it'll live forever rust free

[dac69er]

Winter prep:

Thorough wash & wax
Vacuum interior
Roll into garage
hook up C-TEK battery maintainer
leave windows down about an inch,to allow interior to stay aired
Handbrake off,car in gear,wheel chocked.

Revisit approx late March/early April

Same here, apart from I remove the battery. That does remind me I need to open the rear windows to let the interior air a bit. One of those cheapo moisture catchers in the interior is a good idea too.

[350matt]

for those who have never tried winter tyres then they are generally a revelation
in snow you have the grip level of summer tyres in the rain
in the wet and cold they grip like its a summers day

they are more wayward at speed though the larger tread blocks move around so the handling / steering feel takes a bit of a knock and they are more noisy and most are limited to 112 mph and will wear out more quickly in the dry

[warpc0il]

I drove a Focus RS on winter tyres in Germany and discovered that their grip across the snow allowed me to reach the sheet of black ice twice as fast as I would have otherwise, at which point the laws of physics, mainly the conservation of momentum, took over.

Just saying, while they can help...

[Lemon]

i drove a Mitsubishi Colt GTi with no interior and what was left of some pretty abused Yokohama's through a blizzard in march with surprisingly no issues, didn't want to go above 3000 though (i do thank the skidpan lessons i had in november for allowing me to go round corners and roundabouts mind you)

[SeriousSam]

The biggest thing to remember about winter tyres is they aren't there to help you go quicker - they're there to help you stop quicker. As Dave aptly points out, the laws of physics are still very much in command, and they'll see fit to punish you if you push them too far.

Having said that, the difference I notice every year on the day I switch my tyres is huge. The extra grip is monumental, and the way the tyres go through standing water is absolutely remarkable. I've never once managed to get stuck in snow with winter tyres on the car, but on summer rubber I've had to dig myself out a couple of times. Definitely worth the money having two sets, for the mileage I do I wouldn't have it any other way.

[untakenname]

Tempted to get some snow tyres for this upcoming winter if it's as bad as last.
I drove mine from London in February on normal tyres where the roads were gritted and there was just a light dusting of snow to out in the sticks in deep Kent where there was no gritting for an MOT, at parts the drifts were over a foot deep! Traction control needs to be turned off to make any progress and the front splitter takes a beating.
Incline when I exited was 13%, thought I wasn't gonna make it up
https://photos.app.goo.gl/U4LYh6DPi7oAkd4XA

20180227_131515 (1).jpg

The temperature difference was quite pronounced, leaving home the ambient temp on the car display was 1c but when I was leaving the MOT it was -7c!

[New Duke]

Tempted to get some snow tyres for this upcoming winter if it's as bad as last.
I drove mine from London in February on normal tyres where the roads were gritted and there was just a light dusting of snow to out in the sticks in deep Kent where there was no gritting for an MOT, at parts the drifts were over a foot deep! Traction control needs to be turned off to make any progress and the front splitter takes a beating.
Incline when I exited was 13%, thought I wasn't gonna make it up
The temperature difference was quite pronounced, leaving home the ambient temp on the car display was 1c but when I was leaving the MOT it was -7c!

I've found the opposite in snow, to absolutely keep DSC on. That way when the wheels slip it limits the power and the grip catches again, otherwise you end up all wheel spin with nowhere to go.

I remember seeing your video earlier this year. I couldn't help but think that you were too low on the revs. Keep the power up and get up that hill faster (any downhill traffic is supposed to give way). With the DSC on it should have stopped you over-gassing it, reducing slip. Then you just think of the front wheels as rudders, and treat the car like a boat. It doesn't matter if the car slips around a bit provided you're making progress. Just don't stop if you can avoid it.

The main concern on winter roads is other cars. Vans just abandoned in the middle of a junction, that guy in his Audi A4 doing 80mph weaving in and out of the fast lane in 6 inches of snow during rush hour, and people who stop before a snowy roundabout instead of keeping the traffic rolling.

The only time I ever got stuck in snow in my MX5 was when the lady in front panicked on an incline and stopped to assess it first. Halting all the traffic.

Everyone should be forced to learn and periodically re-learn on snow and ice (on summer tyres) as part of the license requirement.

[New Duke]

I did a lot of work with the Sierra development guys, particularly on the Cosworth, and they found that on fresh deep snow you could stop much quicker with the ABS off - which is counter-intuitive.

Video footage showed that, when you brake in snow, a wedge forms in front of the wheels and this helps you stop, like a chock. The problem with ABS is that just as the wedge starts to have a positive effect, the system releases that brake and the wheel bumps over the wedge, so the process has to start again.

Two cars being tested side-by-side in this specific conditions had the non-abs car coming to a fairly controlled stop against the chocks, but the abs car would slow, then bump over it's little lumps and keep going, stopping only after the 2nd or 3rd attempt.

The local Scandinavians at the winter testing site knew all about this as they were all taught not to cadence brake on fresh snow.

Anyway, that's why the early abs systems on cars from Ford, Saab, Volvo, BMW etc all had an off switch, which was meant to be used only in those conditions. Of course there were idiots that thought it was macho to drive around with it off all the time and eventually the manufactures agreed that it was safer overall to remove the off switch, give how rarely most people would find themselves driving in conditions where off would be better.

Modern abs systems are a bit more sophisticated but can still get caught out by snow, including ours.

Traction control systems can also get confused by snow/ice, especially if you try and drive like Clarkson. However, in nearly all cases TCS/DSC will get you through where just spinning the wheels with it off won't.

The exception being a thin layer of fresh snow without ice underneath, where the wheelspin will dig the snow layer away and allow the tyre to grip the road surface underneath. Again this is a very specific condition, may only apply of short sections of journey and where there's ice under the snow then you're worse off digging down than riding on top of the snow layer.

This is why the Scandis were so good at rallying in snow, as they had so much more experience, could read the changing conditions and switch strategies.