Cold Weather Observations

[EmCel]

How long does it take you to pick a song/album/radio station? Just don't hammer down until it gets up to temp.

K, I wait like maybe 1-3 mins to let it warm up. By the time I get on the highway it's fine. I was just wondering because of what I read on the internet and curious about what you guys do that's all.

Sponsored

 

[dafuture]

One of the minor mods I made was ditching the crappy OEM wipers. My passenger side was chirping and driving me nuts. I threw on a set of Rain X blades and they've worked wonders - highly recommend.

 

[Sivi70980]

Can also confirm, wipers suck! I live in WA and still have the OEM blades on, I hate myself. Rear defroster was used for the first time a week or 2 ago and it was also stupidly slow. Everything else is great!

 

[jwt]

All those comments about how bad it is to let your car warm up first are talking about 30 deg plus temps, once you get into proper cold you let the car warm up, let the engine bay come up a few degrees, pipes and plastics become a little more plastic and pliable, your windscreen stops freezing from the inside, your rearview mirror stops icing up etc.

Then you drive it easy for the first mile until the flat spots on your tires disappear as the tires warm up, a few gentle brakes gets some heat into the wheel bearings, rotors and brake calipers. With power steering you avoid fast lock to locks for a few minutes until the fluid has had a few cycles through the pump or you blow the high pressure side pipework.

Until you have experienced proper cold you will not believe that with demist heat on full blast your side windows still ice up from the inside. That scraping the inside of your windows is a real thing.

That even -40 windscreen fluid sucks when your windscreen is at -40 because the methanol evaporates before the windscreen is clear so you have to wait until the demister has warmed it up a few degrees but then your wiper blade freezes into the shape at the bottom of the windscreen horizontal so doesn't work when vertical.

And yeah agree with the rear demister comment, I usually put my blower on max and aim the center vents past my ear to try and get some air back there.

 

[IconicFiveOh]

My observation is that I had a base 18 M6 GT that I traded for a 2020 Premium PP1 GT A10 and I wouldn’t trade my heated seats, mirrors and remote start for anything.

Maybe I’m just getting old

 

[NoVaGT]

In cold temps,

I'm just curious about how long I should warm up the car in cold before I drive off? Some stuff on the internet is saying it's bad to let it idle, driving it warms it up faster?

I'm sorry, but Popular Mechanics is just dead-wrong. Completely wrong. Maybe they are based on the equator, dunno, but that's just false.

It's not just the engine, there's also the transmission, and other parts of the drive-train that warm a bit from idling for a few minutes. And warming up for a few minutes isn't going to do the slightest bit of harm.

That's just an old-wive's tale, from the dark-ages of motoring. Think about cop vehicles and how much time they spend idling, while fully, massively warmed up.

 

[Dominant1]

I warm up for 5 minutes no matter what the temp is outside, done it for years on multiple mustangs, no issues with either of them..

 

[NoVaGT]

Cop vehicles have extra radiators and oil coolers to deal with the extended idling. They are also serviced frequently to keep them on the road, more so even than the wrench-happy 6Ger. Once they are sold off, they are often on their last legs...from sitting at idle all day.

We're not worried about super-heating the engine bay and cooking the oil, when all we're doing is letting a stone-cold engine, trans, etc., warm up on a cold, cold day.

I have seen LEO engines torn down, and they're usually fine if the oil is changed often enough. Lots of ex-LEA vehicles do plenty more years and miles after they're sold.

Being objective, modern synthetic oils do wonders. I'm more focused on the trans/diff and even suspension bits & bobs, which I figure get at least a little heat from the engine/exhaust system warming up.

But I spent most of my life in Michigan, so there's that. Warming your car up for a bit is just standard.

 

[jon570]

Cop vehicles have extra radiators and oil coolers to deal with the extended idling. They are also serviced frequently to keep them on the road, more so even than the wrench-happy 6Ger. Once they are sold off, they are often on their last legs...from sitting at idle all day.

I would have thought they're on on their last leg due to how most cops drive those vehicles. They do idle extended periods but are usually to the floor also and driven hard.

 

[NoVaGT]

I would have thought they're on on their last leg due to how most cops drive those vehicles. They do idle extended periods but are usually to the floor also and driven hard.

Am I the only one that sees tons of ex-cop cars driving around?

I remember Crown Vics everywhere, clearly being ex-cop cars.

 

[dfanucci]

Completely agree on the difference between the 15-17 tires and those on the 18+.

It's been low 30's here, and honestly I was a little timid about having my PP1 out in the cold because of the tires. Long story short, it does just fine.

 

[NoVaGT]

Driving to work, I wondered what other vehicle, if you had to DD it, would you rather drive year around?

With how good these cars are in all conditions (tires being the main variable), I can't think of another equivalent cost vehicle I'd rather own......of course, which is why I own it.

 

[Sivi70980]

Driving to work, I wondered what other vehicle, if you had to DD it, would you rather drive year around?

With how good these cars are in all conditions (tires being the main variable), I can't think of another equivalent cost vehicle I'd rather own......of course, which is why I own it.

Agree 100%! I've never understood the "save it for a sunny day" mentality for any car. You walk into your garage and see options, I'm going to grab the keys to what I like the most every time. If its the 20 million dollar Aston Lambo Type R GT Carbon Edition, I'm gonna drive it no matter what the weather looks like as long as it's capable. Why "suffer" to commute to work in a beater when you could be dead at any moment? These cars do quite well in the snow too!

 

[ice445]

Agree 100%! I've never understood the "save it for a sunny day" mentality for any car. You walk into your garage and see options, I'm going to grab the keys to what I like the most every time. If its the 20 million dollar Aston Lambo Type R GT Carbon Edition, I'm gonna drive it no matter what the weather looks like as long as it's capable. Why "suffer" to commute to work in a beater when you could be dead at any moment? These cars do quite well in the snow too!

The person who drives the fun car year round will have more fun, but will also have more wear and tear. Whether that matters to you comes down to your mentality. If you trade into something new every few years anyway, then you should be out there driving it every day. If you want it to last, you're making things a lot harder for yourself without substantial effort/preparation every winter. The consolation prize of the people who put it away is a fresh experience come spring time.

One of the minor mods I made was ditching the crappy OEM wipers. My passenger side was chirping and driving me nuts. I threw on a set of Rain X blades and they've worked wonders - highly recommend.

I've found the OEM blades are very sensitive to dirt accumulation on their edges. Wipe them down with some alcohol or window cleaner and a microfiber and watch as they magically stop chattering/skipping.

 

[Sivi70980]

The person who drives the fun car year round will have more fun, but will also have more wear and tear. Whether that matters to you comes down to your mentality. If you trade into something new every few years anyway, then you should be out there driving it every day. If you want it to last, you're making things a lot harder for yourself without substantial effort/preparation every winter. The consolation prize of the people who put it away is a fresh experience come spring time.


I've found the OEM blades are very sensitive to dirt accumulation on their edges. Wipe them down with some alcohol or window cleaner and a microfiber and watch as they magically stop chattering/skipping.

I'm expecting 10 years or 100k miles out of the car baring any tragedies. I don't think 10 winters is going to bother anything when I live in a mostly temperate WA state. Now they did just start using salt again so we'll see what happens. Lots of plastic on our cars too. I remain unworried by it. My current job has me traveling a lot too so mileage is pretty low for a DD. I get the fresh experience every spring thing but I'm just not that guy.

My wipers have been trash since I left the lot. I usually do the rain x thing as much as possible anyway. Someday soon I'll get some new ones.

Sponsored