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I might be moving and some of the places we are looking at have 2 mile gravel roads to get to them . Do any of you drive your cars on gravel . I just got mine painted and really don't want to ding it up .
We have been looking at new homes for a year now. If a prospective home is on a dirt or gravel road it is an automatic pass, we'll keep looking. It is not the case of me doing damage by driving on those roads but it is the other idiots that will go by you at twice the speed limit. A careful driver can adjust their speed to keep the gravel inside the fender wells. You have no control over the other morons.
Jerry
I might be moving and some of the places we are looking at have 2 mile gravel roads to get to them . Do any of you drive your cars on gravel . I just got mine painted and really don't want to ding it up.
Drive your car on gravel roads and you can bank on it.
I did just that (drove down gravel roads) with a somewhat freshly painted '87 I owned awhile back...got stuck driving on about 10 miles worth of gravel roads, and NOT by choice I might add...and I can tell you that car got the bejesus chinked out it. Now I know it was not a C3 (obviously) but the principal and end result will be the same on a C3. Without any type of protection like splash guards, your car will get chipped to death in no time flat. Splash guards will slow the chipping down some, but you can still expect rock chips. Just look at the unprotected "target" areas behind the front and rear wheels...they take enough of a beating on regular roads.
I agree with Jerry. Many many years ago I drove my 67 Camaro about 1.5 miles on gravel to a now ex’s house on a regular basis. I slowed my speed and had no problems. I cringed when a truck came cruising by at high speed........
Plus, there can often times be a lot of dust associated with the gravel roads that tends to settle in everything around it. Just a thought. Good luck!
Last edited by Jstan2014; Aug 5, 2018 at 09:51 AM.
Drive your car on gravel roads and you can bank on it.
I did just that (drove down gravel roads) with a somewhat freshly painted '87 I owned awhile back...got stuck driving on about 10 miles worth of gravel roads, and NOT by choice I might add...and I can tell you that car got the bejesus chinked out it. Now I know it was not a C3 (obviously) but the principal and end result will be the same on a C3. Without any type of protection like splash guards, your car will get chipped to death in no time flat. Splash guards will slow the chipping down some, but you can still expect rock chips. Just look at the unprotected "target" areas behind the front and rear wheels...they take enough of a beating on regular roads.
My parents built the house I grew up at in 1973. They still live there. It was at the end of a 1/2 mile unpaved road. The county paved the road in 1980.
Pre 80 fhe family cars/trucks looked like hell. Post 80 suddenly I was a lot more presentable when mom dropped me off somewhere. Although I could no longer practice wheelies on my TL125 in the cul de sac.
Historical sidenote. In 1973 America you could sign up for $149/monthly house payments for 30 years for a humble 2-story abode that in present day would go for roughtly $750k were it for sale. I keep looking for that same deal but never find it lol.
I was seriously looking at relocating to an area that is very rural. I love it for its beauty, and high altitude moderate temps. Except in winter of course. If you've never driven down a gravel road for several miles, you really need to do just that. It will take its toll on not only the paint, but the suspension as well. My buddy has a place near where I was looking. You are always either dodging depressions in the roadways that hold water, or not and just going through them. Stutter bumps? You better either crawl or have a soft suspension. My suggestion, get a good truck and keep the car in a town storage facility.
Definitely would have to put some protection on the lower panels amd wheel lips. Some gravel roads when maintained are no issue others have too large of rocks that kick up. The dust is a major drag, having grown up on gravel roads the house/cars everything had coating of dust... Almost had a party when the oil truck came by.
I live on a gravel road, I love the rural area and it becomes a trade off on what is good for you and your family. I drive slow, pull over whenever someone is behind me and the drivers have always been respectful when passing. Rain is another issue to think about too. Gravel, sand and dirt carrying trucks is what I avoid as much as possible.
The body shape on C3s throws a lot of rocks/dirt off the tyres up the sides of the car. It's 6 miles further in each direction for me to commute to work on sealed roads, but I do it if I'm driving the Vette. Being a semi-rural area where I live there's plenty of loose material on even the sealed roads. My car was painted late last year and has a lot of stone chips already, despite not having seen dirt (other than a couple of roadworks, and the entry road to my local hillclimb track) since. Not to worry, that's a small price to pay for the enjoyment of driving it! But yes, a dirt or gravel road will very quickly take its toll on your paintwork.
This photo is from back before painting it, after driving over maybe 100m of dirt driveway following some light rain. I wasn't driving fast either, just crawling. You can see what I mean about how the wheels throw the dirt up onto the bodywork.:
I dunno dude. They are great cars but i would use something else for hill climbing...
Are you referring to my post? A C3 Corvette may not be the obvious or ideal choice if you want to be the fastest person at the track, but it's a great way to enjoy the car and it's more competitive than you'd expect. Not sure if you're thinking of the same thing when I mention hillclimbs or not? All the competing is on sealed roads/tracks. I was 12th outright from 65 competitors a couple of weeks ago, and the fastest 2wd street registered vehicle other than a >$200k Lotus (and less than half a second behind him). Beat an E46 M3, and a bunch of WRXs and EVOs, all with competitive drivers...
Might be moving ?
