How bad is winter storage on sport cars
#1
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
How bad is winter storage on sport cars
Living in Canada a new sport car could see a lot of storage, aside from keeping the battery healthy,flluids fresh do they succumb to storage related problems ie seals, brake lines, not a mechanic just wondering.
btw are magnetic shocks and HUD options on a base c7? thanks
btw are magnetic shocks and HUD options on a base c7? thanks
Last edited by ojm; 01-24-2018 at 12:02 AM.
Popular Reply
01-24-2018, 03:47 PM
Safety Car
FWIW - Tribology is the technical field of scientific study focusing on the design, friction, wear, and lubrication of interacting surfaces in relative motion (as in bearings, pistons or gears).
Without getting too technical (and I do have some experience here), let me just say that it is more prudent to let the engine sit without starting during periods of little/no use than it is to start on an infrequent basis --- particularly if start up occurs under what is considered to be a corner point design operating condition or combination of corner point operating conditions.
Countless academic Masters/PhD theses and technical (or white) papers have been written that are based on designed experiments and/or technical studies conducted to identify and assess impact of critcial factors and possible interaction of their effects on bearing surface wear and durability. Critical factors studied to identify/evaluate corner point operating conditions (i.e., bearing/piston life) include: design, finish, composition, operating temperature of contacting surfaces; clearance of mating contact surfaces; lubricant type (i.e., synthetic liquid) and viscosity, composition, additives; lubricant supply strategy and operating pressure; cleanliness, contaminant particulate size and composition; moisture/condensation effects; relevant gap clearances; system load and ramp up rate to normal operating conditions.
Without getting too technical (and I do have some experience here), let me just say that it is more prudent to let the engine sit without starting during periods of little/no use than it is to start on an infrequent basis --- particularly if start up occurs under what is considered to be a corner point design operating condition or combination of corner point operating conditions.
Countless academic Masters/PhD theses and technical (or white) papers have been written that are based on designed experiments and/or technical studies conducted to identify and assess impact of critcial factors and possible interaction of their effects on bearing surface wear and durability. Critical factors studied to identify/evaluate corner point operating conditions (i.e., bearing/piston life) include: design, finish, composition, operating temperature of contacting surfaces; clearance of mating contact surfaces; lubricant type (i.e., synthetic liquid) and viscosity, composition, additives; lubricant supply strategy and operating pressure; cleanliness, contaminant particulate size and composition; moisture/condensation effects; relevant gap clearances; system load and ramp up rate to normal operating conditions.
#2
Burning Brakes
Can’t say...too busy driving mine...
#5
Racer
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It'll be fine over a winter and driving it in the summer. Dealers keep them over winter with no issues. It's when you let a car sit for 2-3-4+ years where the issues start. I daily drive my vette but my lambo sits from late Oct to late March. I keep it on the tender and about once a month start it up for 10 or so minutes and move it a smidge to prevent flat spots and it's fine.
#6
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Storing the car over the winter should not hurt it at all as long as you took proper precautions when getting the car ready for its winter nap.
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ojm (01-24-2018)
#7
It'll be fine over a winter and driving it in the summer. Dealers keep them over winter with no issues. It's when you let a car sit for 2-3-4+ years where the issues start. I daily drive my vette but my lambo sits from late Oct to late March. I keep it on the tender and about once a month start it up for 10 or so minutes and move it a smidge to prevent flat spots and it's fine.
OP, yes you can order a base car w/ MSRC. HUD is part of the 2LT pkg, which you can also order on a base car.
Last edited by Foosh; 01-24-2018 at 12:39 AM.
#8
Race Director
I personally don't like to let my car sit for more than a 3-4 weeks at a time, so any sports car that I have "stored" for the winter has always come out to play quite a few times during the winter months, as long as the roads are dry. I can only recall one winter in the past 20 years (the winter of 99-00) where I could not drive my sports car (at the time it was a 98 Firebird Formula) for a solid 4 months. But last winter was a good one here in southern Ontario, I managed to drive my old C6 at least 10 times, there were plenty of opportunities where the roads were dry.
I thought this winter was going to be a bad one, as the day after I picked up my new C7 on Dec 20th, we just kept getting one snow storm after another and it looked like the roads were going to stay messy for the entire winter. But last weekend we got some warm temps and the roads for the most part were pretty good. I did run into some wet spots from melting snow, but I immediately washed the car at the local coin op. I know there are a lot of people on here that cringe at the thought of driving their Corvettes if there is even a hint of salt on the road, but to me as long as the roads aren't caked in a thick layer of the stuff, I don't fear driving on a slight bit of it. It's really not going to harm anything as long as you don't put the car away filthy and let it sit on there for a long period of time. If it gets a tiny bit of dry salt dust on it, wash it off and it can't hurt a thing. IMO, life is too short to spend time waiting to enjoy these fun cars, so when I get the slightest chance to take it out, I will. And in my case I only have a few more Canadian winters to go anyhow, and starting in the fall of 2022 my wife and I will be spending our winters in SW Florida.
I thought this winter was going to be a bad one, as the day after I picked up my new C7 on Dec 20th, we just kept getting one snow storm after another and it looked like the roads were going to stay messy for the entire winter. But last weekend we got some warm temps and the roads for the most part were pretty good. I did run into some wet spots from melting snow, but I immediately washed the car at the local coin op. I know there are a lot of people on here that cringe at the thought of driving their Corvettes if there is even a hint of salt on the road, but to me as long as the roads aren't caked in a thick layer of the stuff, I don't fear driving on a slight bit of it. It's really not going to harm anything as long as you don't put the car away filthy and let it sit on there for a long period of time. If it gets a tiny bit of dry salt dust on it, wash it off and it can't hurt a thing. IMO, life is too short to spend time waiting to enjoy these fun cars, so when I get the slightest chance to take it out, I will. And in my case I only have a few more Canadian winters to go anyhow, and starting in the fall of 2022 my wife and I will be spending our winters in SW Florida.
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#9
Drifting
I personally don't like to let my car sit for more than a 3-4 weeks at a time, so any sports car that I have "stored" for the winter has always come out to play quite a few times during the winter months, as long as the roads are dry. I can only recall one winter in the past 20 years (the winter of 99-00) where I could not drive my sports car (at the time it was a 98 Firebird Formula) for a solid 4 months. But last winter was a good one here in southern Ontario, I managed to drive my old C6 at least 10 times, there were plenty of opportunities where the roads were dry.
I thought this winter was going to be a bad one, as the day after I picked up my new C7 on Dec 20th, we just kept getting one snow storm after another and it looked like the roads were going to stay messy for the entire winter. But last weekend we got some warm temps and the roads for the most part were pretty good. I did run into some wet spots from melting snow, but I immediately washed the car at the local coin op. I know there are a lot of people on here that cringe at the thought of driving their Corvettes if there is even a hint of salt on the road, but to me as long as the roads aren't caked in a thick layer of the stuff, I don't fear driving on a slight bit of it. It's really not going to harm anything as long as you don't put the car away filthy and let it sit on there for a long period of time. If it gets a tiny bit of dry salt dust on it, wash it off and it can't hurt a thing. IMO, life is too short to spend time waiting to enjoy these fun cars, so when I get the slightest chance to take it out, I will. And in my case I only have a few more Canadian winters to go anyhow, and starting in the fall of 2022 my wife and I will be spending our winters in SW Florida.
I thought this winter was going to be a bad one, as the day after I picked up my new C7 on Dec 20th, we just kept getting one snow storm after another and it looked like the roads were going to stay messy for the entire winter. But last weekend we got some warm temps and the roads for the most part were pretty good. I did run into some wet spots from melting snow, but I immediately washed the car at the local coin op. I know there are a lot of people on here that cringe at the thought of driving their Corvettes if there is even a hint of salt on the road, but to me as long as the roads aren't caked in a thick layer of the stuff, I don't fear driving on a slight bit of it. It's really not going to harm anything as long as you don't put the car away filthy and let it sit on there for a long period of time. If it gets a tiny bit of dry salt dust on it, wash it off and it can't hurt a thing. IMO, life is too short to spend time waiting to enjoy these fun cars, so when I get the slightest chance to take it out, I will. And in my case I only have a few more Canadian winters to go anyhow, and starting in the fall of 2022 my wife and I will be spending our winters in SW Florida.
#10
Race Director
Another thing I often hear people say is that when the roads have been salted, they won't drive their Corvette until after a good rain, but I have found that even if it doesn't rain, that the salt just dissipates on it's own after a day or two, especially on heavily travelled roads and highways. Sure, the road doesn't look as black as usual, but it's not caked in the stuff by any means. As long as you don't see the cars in front of you leaving a trail of salt dust behind them, then it'll be fine. When I went for a drive last Saturday, my son took this picture, and you can see the condition of the highways here. They are definitely whiter than they would be in the summer, but when you drive on them they don't leave a huge amount of residue behind.
#11
Le Mans Master
It won't hurt a thing to store it for the winter. I did that with my C5 for the 15 years that I owned it and never had any problems. The C7 is on its 4 winter of storage and it has been fine as well.
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#13
Le Mans Master
Another thing I often hear people say is that when the roads have been salted, they won't drive their Corvette until after a good rain, but I have found that even if it doesn't rain, that the salt just dissipates on it's own after a day or two, especially on heavily travelled roads and highways. Sure, the road doesn't look as black as usual, but it's not caked in the stuff by any means. As long as you don't see the cars in front of you leaving a trail of salt dust behind them, then it'll be fine. When I went for a drive last Saturday, my son took this picture, and you can see the condition of the highways here. They are definitely whiter than they would be in the summer, but when you drive on them they don't leave a huge amount of residue behind.
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Patman (01-24-2018)
#15
Race Director
I've been storing sports cars, Corvettes and others, for winters (4-5 months typically) for years with no problems. I just take the usual precautions but nothing special.
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449er (01-24-2018)
#16
Instructor
How bad is winter storage on sport cars
Lots of winter in western new york, but each spring it is unwrapping a new car again. Battery on a charger, fluids all changed prior to storage and stabil in the tank. What could go wrong after sitting for a few months.
Just drive it and enjoy.
Just drive it and enjoy.
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tomtoro (01-25-2018)
#17
Team Owner
No problems at all after sitting out the Winter, the Vette appreciates the rest.
#18
Le Mans Master
I personally don't like to let my car sit for more than a 3-4 weeks at a time, so any sports car that I have "stored" for the winter has always come out to play quite a few times during the winter months, as long as the roads are dry. I can only recall one winter in the past 20 years (the winter of 99-00) where I could not drive my sports car (at the time it was a 98 Firebird Formula) for a solid 4 months. But last winter was a good one here in southern Ontario, I managed to drive my old C6 at least 10 times, there were plenty of opportunities where the roads were dry.
I thought this winter was going to be a bad one, as the day after I picked up my new C7 on Dec 20th, we just kept getting one snow storm after another and it looked like the roads were going to stay messy for the entire winter. But last weekend we got some warm temps and the roads for the most part were pretty good. I did run into some wet spots from melting snow, but I immediately washed the car at the local coin op. I know there are a lot of people on here that cringe at the thought of driving their Corvettes if there is even a hint of salt on the road, but to me as long as the roads aren't caked in a thick layer of the stuff, I don't fear driving on a slight bit of it. It's really not going to harm anything as long as you don't put the car away filthy and let it sit on there for a long period of time. If it gets a tiny bit of dry salt dust on it, wash it off and it can't hurt a thing. IMO, life is too short to spend time waiting to enjoy these fun cars, so when I get the slightest chance to take it out, I will. And in my case I only have a few more Canadian winters to go anyhow, and starting in the fall of 2022 my wife and I will be spending our winters in SW Florida.
I thought this winter was going to be a bad one, as the day after I picked up my new C7 on Dec 20th, we just kept getting one snow storm after another and it looked like the roads were going to stay messy for the entire winter. But last weekend we got some warm temps and the roads for the most part were pretty good. I did run into some wet spots from melting snow, but I immediately washed the car at the local coin op. I know there are a lot of people on here that cringe at the thought of driving their Corvettes if there is even a hint of salt on the road, but to me as long as the roads aren't caked in a thick layer of the stuff, I don't fear driving on a slight bit of it. It's really not going to harm anything as long as you don't put the car away filthy and let it sit on there for a long period of time. If it gets a tiny bit of dry salt dust on it, wash it off and it can't hurt a thing. IMO, life is too short to spend time waiting to enjoy these fun cars, so when I get the slightest chance to take it out, I will. And in my case I only have a few more Canadian winters to go anyhow, and starting in the fall of 2022 my wife and I will be spending our winters in SW Florida.
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Patman (01-24-2018)
#19
Safety Car
I agree with you except for one very major part. Starting it for 10 minutes is doing more damage than good. Unless you're going to drive it, running the engine up and down through the rev range and are getting the engine and trannie temps up to normal operating temps, you're better off letting it sleep.
There has been a LOT of discussion over the years about this (start-don't start periodically).
FWIW - just think about it for a minute: what is the worst possible set of conditions that you could subject your engine to? Answer: repeated cold starts a week or more apart in extreme temperature conditions.
Last edited by Range_Rat; 01-24-2018 at 09:34 AM.
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Foosh (01-24-2018)
#20
Another thing I often hear people say is that when the roads have been salted, they won't drive their Corvette until after a good rain, but I have found that even if it doesn't rain, that the salt just dissipates on it's own after a day or two, especially on heavily travelled roads and highways. Sure, the road doesn't look as black as usual, but it's not caked in the stuff by any means. As long as you don't see the cars in front of you leaving a trail of salt dust behind them, then it'll be fine. When I went for a drive last Saturday, my son took this picture, and you can see the condition of the highways here. They are definitely whiter than they would be in the summer, but when you drive on them they don't leave a huge amount of residue behind.
The following users liked this post:
Maxie2U (01-24-2018)