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Salty Roads - I refuse to take the cover off the C7
Originally Posted by Jeffthunbird
I guess there is something wrong with me.
Nothing wrong with you. Some folks drive their cars in any kind of weather. Others are concerned about minimizing damage from corrosive or chip-inducing materials. Just different opinions.
Around here, the DOT has adopted a policy of spreading small gravel over the roads when snow falls. So, now, if we try to protect our cars, yet still enjoy them, we have to find roads where the gravel has been spread to the sides by traffic.
Today the temp is predicted to be around 60; so am planning to put some miles on my C7. Already have a route picked out - gravel off the roads, and very scenic as the trees and bushes are starting to come out in buds.
Enjoy your car; take care of it as you think best.
Our winter started out a bit messy but from about the end of January on, it has been pretty dry so I've had a lot of opportunities to drive my C7. Even with the mostly dry weather, for some wierd reason they still have put a little bit of salt on the roads, but it's never been completely caked on there either. I am not afraid to drive it when there is a very slight amount of salt left on the roads. If I had been waiting for it to be 100% gone I would not have gotten as much time behind the wheel of my new beast. I'm not too worried about the miniscule amount of salt that is on our roads right now, it's not even enough to leave any salt dust on my paint at all, so it can't be doing any damage whatsoever, it just makes the roads have a whitish hue to them still. Life is too short and winter is too long, so I simply cannot resist driving this car on a nice sunny day, even if the temps are close to the freezing mark a lot of the time also.
This sucks. Winter won't end around here. It's a sunny day but the melted snow is making the roads wet and it is salt water. I'm holding off a few more days. Hopefully the weather will turn soon.
I know I'm saving the car for the next owner but I still don't want the undersides covered in salt.
And then, today, I see a new (what looked to be new) Ferrari out on the roads. I guess there is something wrong with me.
Right on! I live in Northern NY in the Adirondack Mountains and our highway department (Both county and town) do a dam good job. They put out salt and sand like its a Olympic event and their looking for the Gold prize. We still have about 2' of snow along side the road.
I HOPE this year to have my Vette out by April 5.(many years I can get it out before the end of March.) This was a bad winter we recently got 3 nasty snows in under 2 weeks.
Its not only the sand/salt getting on and under the car its also the fact that **** is very slippery and easy for a vehicle to slide. Of course I know all Vette drivers are among the best in the world but it does not have to be you at fault another driver could easily slide into you. My DD is a 4x4pickup.
Where I live we need a coupe good rains to wash the salt/sand away before I leave the garage!. Its extremely rare for a street sweeper truck to make it up here.
Our winter started out a bit messy but from about the end of January on, it has been pretty dry so I've had a lot of opportunities to drive my C7. Even with the mostly dry weather, for some wierd reason they still have put a little bit of salt on the roads, but it's never been completely caked on there either. I am not afraid to drive it when there is a very slight amount of salt left on the roads. If I had been waiting for it to be 100% gone I would not have gotten as much time behind the wheel of my new beast. I'm not too worried about the miniscule amount of salt that is on our roads right now, it's not even enough to leave any salt dust on my paint at all, so it can't be doing any damage whatsoever, it just makes the roads have a whitish hue to them still. Life is too short and winter is too long, so I simply cannot resist driving this car on a nice sunny day, even if the temps are close to the freezing mark a lot of the time also.
Up here in Sudbury the roads are pretty clear of salt. We did not get much snow. A lot of sand though and many, many portholes. The city crews fill them with dry-pack and they reappear the next day!
But, come April 1 and my insurance is back on the vette, I will tenderly make my way over the potholed city streets to Hwy 69 south and "open it up"!
John
GM builds these cars for everything Mother Nature can throw at them and that includes salt on the road...
I have 119k miles I put on since new on my c6 and you know what when on up on the lift the car car looks perfect...
I wash the corvette once a week or so.. I use it every day...
But then again I wouldn't bother to put a cover on the car either..it's in the garage...why corvette it? I don't know dust is the enemy...salt out on the roads?
Ah...it's my third new corvette..it's an awesome sports car..but it's still just a car...
To each their own...
I fiht every day to never let the things I own own me...
But then again I wouldn't bother to put a cover on the car either..it's in the garage...
That's something I've never really understood either. I have never used a car cover for cars I have stored. I like being able to take them out at a moment's notice if the weather clears up, so having a cover on there just makes it more inconvenient. A little dust won't hurt it. If anything I think that the act of sliding a tightly fitting piece of fabric onto the paint is going to do more damage to it in the long run.
I'm with you (OP). Our roads are literally white with salt, and more nuisance snows on the way next week. My job keeps me in MN for another year or so, but then who knows . . .
As much as I miss driving my car, when I look at it all waxed, beautiful and pristine in my garage the thought of taking it out for an hour spin and then having to do the whole wash/wax treatment immediately upon my return makes me just sigh and resign myself to driving it when rain has washed the salt away and temps are above 50ºF so the tires stick better.
That and we just got a Subaru Crosstrek and the car is a pisser. UNstoppable in snow. 8.6" of ground clearance, one of the best AWD systems you can buy AND 30+ mpg in real world mixed driving. Re-designed for 2018 by Subaru, they took a good car and made it great. Underpowered perhaps, but the tradeoff is well worth it. And I'm not kidding about 30 mpg on that car, if you set the cruise control on 70mph and drive 100+ miles the car will average 33-34 mpg.
Fun to drive (remember the underlying platform is the same as a WRX, or will be as soon as they update that car to the new platform). Amazing car, a dead cross between an SUV and an economy car. I've owned 30+ cars and never had my expectations blown away by a car like this one has. The C7 was #2 in that category, but in fairness to the C7, my expectations (coming out of a C6) were very high, they were not for the Subaru.
I have a 2017 impreza for bad weather and absolutly love it. Yes it is underpowered but the redesigned interior is great with a 8 inch 6 inch and 4 inch display plus the best awd system. One of the few cars you can get with awd and a stick.
My vette stays on life support till the salt goes away
Our roads here were finally cleared of salt until Friday night when we got hit with freezing rain. Mine will be in the garage just a little longer as well.
I have been driving my C7s in the salt since 2013 and I’ve had no issues with rust or corrosion. Same thing with my R8. I’m not going to park them in my garage and stand by as they lose value month after month.
Fact is that there is a major difference in the type of corrosion that salt has on iron as opposed to aluminum. The oxide layer on iron is called rust and it weakens iron components as parts of the iron outer layer flake off. The oxide layer on aluminum actually adheres to the aluminum and protects it from further corrosion.
Aluminum doesn’t rust because rust is iron oxide, formed when iron and oxygen chemically react in the presence of air and moisture. However, aluminum does corrode in what’s referred to as “white rust,” or aluminum oxide.
The cool thing about aluminum oxide though is that once it forms, it protects the rest of the aluminum from corroding any more. Rust on the other hand flakes off and exposes more metal to corrosion. https://www.equipmentworld.com/anoth...-it-wont-rust/
Since the vast majority of not only the underside but also the entire construction of our cars is aluminum, worrying about salt corrosion is like most things we worry about,
they don't happen.
Last edited by Walt White Coupe; 03-19-2018 at 08:52 AM.
I think they distributed all the salt in Oakville to where I live just north of Burlington. I think my road is the dumping ground for surplus salt. I'm parked until mid April.
Originally Posted by Patman
Our winter started out a bit messy but from about the end of January on, it has been pretty dry so I've had a lot of opportunities to drive my C7. Even with the mostly dry weather, for some wierd reason they still have put a little bit of salt on the roads, but it's never been completely caked on there either. I am not afraid to drive it when there is a very slight amount of salt left on the roads. If I had been waiting for it to be 100% gone I would not have gotten as much time behind the wheel of my new beast. I'm not too worried about the miniscule amount of salt that is on our roads right now, it's not even enough to leave any salt dust on my paint at all, so it can't be doing any damage whatsoever, it just makes the roads have a whitish hue to them still. Life is too short and winter is too long, so I simply cannot resist driving this car on a nice sunny day, even if the temps are close to the freezing mark a lot of the time also.
03-18-2018, 09:42 AM
PARTY on the Deck TODAY...Your all INVITED 
but it does not have to be you at fault another driver could easily slide into you. My DD is a 4x4pickup.
