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Do you drive your modern Porsche in the winter?

LordMarcher

New member
Do you drive your modern Porsche in the winter?


Particularly concerned about salt corrosion of lightweight Aluminum Alloy components.

What are other member’s thoughts/concerns/experiences.
 
Yes ... only visible effect is that the threads on the rear suspension, coil-over strut are slightly corroded but nothing that a wire brushing will not fix

Some plate steel areas and bolts have minor, surface corrosion

Will soon be swapping the Michelin Cup 2`s for the Michelin PS4S`s ... [:)]
 
I have a new 992 Targa GTS arriving in December.
I had planned to just drive it in the winter until my friend recently sent me photos of rust damage on his 2018 991 targa GTS.
The car has done only 5,000 miles and he doesn’t drive it much in the uk winter at all as he takes it to his home in Portugal for the winter. The rust looks quite bad in places and one of the PADM active engine mounts has failed leaving him with a £3,000 bill just out of warranty. This is making me reconsider using my car in winter.
 
I would hope that the `rust` is merely surface corrosion rather than actual `damage` that is affecting performance / structural integrity ?

Not using a car `at any time` will do it a disservice ...
 
LordMarcher said:
Do you drive your modern Porsche in the winter?
Particularly concerned about salt corrosion of lightweight Aluminum Alloy components.
What are other member’s thoughts/concerns/experiences.


Buy yourself a decent power washer and keep driving!

It's daft having a state-of-the-art sportscar festering away in a garage somewhere all winter. :rolleyes:

Regards,

Clive
 
Already got both a Karcher and a cordless Makita power washer that I use for my motorhome.

Do you drive your 992 Turbo S all winter Clive?
 
Lancerlot said:
It's daft having a state-of-the-art sportscar festering away in a garage somewhere all winter. :rolleyes:


Agreed, they come into their own `even more` during adverse weather [:D]
 
Congrats on the impending GTS arrival L.M. As for the PADM failure, do you have any more information on the failure and was it imagined to be corrosion related..?
I suspect the amount of corrosion picked up over time may be down to where and how the car is both stored and used. Damp storage and runs along the beach, would seem to be very different from city driving with an occasional run out to the countryside.
I have dealt with corrosion and some serious rot on my air cooled Porsches and various other sports cars which I have owned over a period of circa 40 years, that being the case indicates I am ...err...mature.. (-: With that in mind, it seems best to enjoy that which I can and while I can, which includes driving my 10 year old C4S on selected days in Winter. I have only owned my C4S for a year and managed no more than 5k miles in it as it is not an every day car.
Selected days in Winter...? Living in the central belt of Scotland salted roads may be more the norm than in more Southerly regions. If we have enjoyed salted roads at any time I wait till after we have had rainfall of the type likely to have washed the salt off the roads before heading out on an early morning dry day drive... On my return home I wash the car down, paying particular attention to the inside of the wheel arches and blasting water around and through the rads as well as the condensers, in the hope of avoiding crud build up that can absorb moisture and retain it causing eventual corrosion in out of the way corners.
Now with my Porsche well washed down on it`s first run out, I put it back in the garage till the next time..... Next time I fired it up a couple of weeks later it did not move off as expected.. a tad more throttle, still no go...even more throttle and BANG, off we went...!! Not a fun experience with only a few inches to spare either side of the garage door frame. The discs and pads had stuck together when the car was parked up after washing, thus it seems perhaps best to go for a short drive to dry them off if laying the car up for a week or more..?
Porsche dawn in the Trossachs | Porsche Forum from Porsche Club GB
 
Great advice there Geedee thanks.


No feedback yet as to the likely cause of the PADM failure but the tech at the specialist centre my pal took the car to sent him some photos of some very heavily corroded fasteners in the area. Struggling to work the Flickr photo facility on here otherwise I’d post them.
I‘ll probably do similar to yourself and winter drive it on fine clear days. It’s a fun car anyway, I have a shogun and a VW T6.1 multivan for utility use.


Thanks for the tips.

 
Road salt is impregnated into tarmac, that`s why the gritting trucks are out just before the forecasted bad weather and the road temperature approaches freezing, it then helps to prevent the road surface becoming frozen. In a protracted long period of cold weather - salting there will always be salt in - on the road (up here anyways)

Driving on dry days, you will still attract the salt and the last thing that I would do would be to wash underneath ... rather wait for a wet day and go drive - rinse it off

If you do wash and then store use a hairdryer on the brakes, rotating if possible ... rotate again next morning
 
I bought my 992 to use year round and leave it in the open which means its usually dirty during in the winter but used regularly.
Just assume its as resilient to corrosion and related problems as any other modern car. To me the car seems to get better to drive as the mileage increases and running components start to wear. Im sure the residual value is far less than immaculate low mileage garaged cars but the longer I keep it the more I feel part of it.
 
L.M. I am no expert on anything, and less so in terms of interconnectivity re:web based options.. As for posting pics I do so directly from my PC , thus do not require to bounce through an on-line service such as Flicker etc.

I think the more usual issue re posting pics may be down to file size limitations on any forum, which seems likely to be around 1Meg (?) The pics I post are circa half that size as I reduce them to either 600 or 800 dpi on their longest edge on my photo programme.

I guess most folk may be using their phones as cameras, and I think there is a sizing option available within Photos if using an iPhone, and where the file size of the pic can be reduced..? I hope you can find a work around to enable you to post the pics on the forum, as I am sure there would be interest in that which may have caused the failure of the PADM unit..?

Winter driving..?

In my part of the world such may be the effect of climate change that the gritters are not out as much as they were in times past, perhaps a dozen nights in total over last Winter, though we do seem to get more rain here on the West coast than those to the East...? With fewer frosty days and thus no salt spread, it seems there may be more opportunity to enjoy ones Porsche on chosen days in Winter..?

I am no chemist..My thinking that copious amounts of fresh water might dilute the effect of salt is based on no more than logic.

Whether rock salt differs greatly from table salt in terms of dilution.. I have not the slightest idea.. My thinking, flawed or otherwise is based upon mere observations such as.. If we had a couple of consecutive days of freezing weather, the gritters would be out nightly, which might suggest that the effect of salt on the roads may diminish with time, by how much and over what period of time, I have not the slightest idea. I suspect those who may be located further South than I may see even fewer frosty nights than do I...?

I also suggested in my last that I had spent quite a bit of time over numerous years under my old sports cars, mostly cutting out corrosion and welding in patches in the hope of restoring a degree of structural rigidity. While involved in such processes it became rather obvious that corrosion tended to be more prevalent in areas where road detritus would gather and retain a degree of moisture, even to the extent that in time certain vehicles could become well known for corroding in common areas...?

I tend to agree with those who think that a machine can degrade to some degree with a lack of use, though I have also read of those happy to just charge the battery jump in and fire a old air cooled Porsche up after many months of lay-up, be that over Winter or otherwise and claim it does the car no harm that they have noticed, but I guess I am too mechanically sympathetic to engage in such processes. Disabling the engine firing-up and spinning the engine over till the oil pressure gauge needle rises would feel a tad more comfortable for me.

I suspect many Porsches both old and new are bought for a variety of reasons. from those who use them as daily transport, to the other end of the scale where they may hardly ever be driven and certainly not in wet weather let alone Winter.. Each to their own way of enjoying their Porsches works well enough for me.
 
I'm very chuffed after saving my pennies for many years having just acquired my beautiful crayon 992 Carrera 4S Cabriolet. The previous owner had kept it pretty much wrapped up in their garage since new having only covered 468 miles in 17 months. Anyhow my first job was putting the winter tyres on it and getting it ready for the falling temperatures. It is garaged and covered over when not in use BUT it will venture out during the winter months! I must say I do feel a bit guilty these days though...with the whole economy and energy crisis ongoing. We do have a hybrid RR Evoque which has been great and the solar system working hard support it and the house. However, as i said each journey I do feel like every EV car owner and those poor people suffering at the moment are looking at me with disdain as I pass in my 911. BUT I've worked many years to get here and back to topic I will be using it in the winter months top up and top down!

 
Steve, I suspect I have typed more than enough above to give you an idea of the way I occasionally use my Porsche in the Winter months..?
On the other issue relative to perhaps feeling a tad guilty re your ability to own and enjoy your Porsche, and the way others might respond to you as a result, I suspect that will ever be out of your control.
I have had the occasional look of what might be described as destain when fuelling up, now whether that might be just my imagination, or folk thinking what is that stupid old man doing in that lovely sports car, on the other hand they might be applying green issue thinking...? Your guess is as good as mine.
One thing for sure is that in terms of the internal combustion engine, it seems best to enjoy that which you can and while you can, perhaps more so if you are a tad..err...mature... (-:
ENJOY your Porsche..(-:
 
Perhaps more "green-eyed envy" rather than bloody well done, you deserve it , and you should enjoy it. But as you say some of us are now in our mature years and time served...I consider myself very priviledged and lucky to own my Porsche during it's next chapter. thank you Steve.
 
I drove my 992 C2S daily in pretty much all weathers. as I live in the south east of England I didn’t fit winter tyres; instead I just didn’t drive it when it was looking too sketchy.

it was parked outside too, no garage queen, just a daily workhorse.

I can appreciate that if you are buying a keeper and you are lucky enough to have a garage and another daily then you can avoid driving in dodgy weather.


for me it was about getting as much fun out of the car over the few years I planned to own it, and that’s what I did.
 
My 992 is used much the same left outside and winter use. It never really
occured to me that as a modern vehicle
it wouldn’t be resistant to corrosion in our climate
 
I guess having come to own various Porsches via the route of first restoring an old rot box 912 over a lengthy period of time in the 70`s. From that experience, I gained a degree of ..err..sensitivity towards corrosion issues initially when buying what were old sports cars.
There is no doubt that corrosion resistance has been greatly improved over the years, however that does not equate to corrosion issues being entirely resolved. I guess much depends on how long one might intend to hold on to one`s Porsche, as those into the idea of long term ownership may have a different perspective to those who might wish to sample a Porsche for a limited period of time, and again a possible differing perspective to those who may be marque enthusiasts and who may regularly upgrade to newer models...?
I suspect usage on salted roads, combined with damp climate and storage conditions may have the potential to make a considerable difference to the reduction of a Porsche`s corrosion avoidance..?
 
If we lived in a more temperate country and it were just rainwater then it wouldn’t be an issue.
The issue is the salt corrosion. Salt causes unavoidable damage to Aluminium alloy components and waving a jetwash wand under the rear of the car a couple of times a week won’t make any difference. The salt will eat into all Aluminum based components starting with a white frosting of corrosive bloom that will cause seizing of fasteners and damage to everything exposed to the salt water.
If you’re trading it in for a new one then it isn’t an issue as it will be somebody else’s problem but a problem it will most certainly become.
 

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