I notice a lot of people talking about driving their cars in the winter and asking questions so I decided to start a thread for those people who want to drive their cars in the winter. If anyone wants to add anything or criticize what my opinions are they are welcome.

Driving your Crossfire in winter conditions is completely possible with a little extra care and finesse.

1. Bare minimum get yourself some good All-Season tires. Summer tires won't cut it in the snow at all. Winter tires are recommended.

2. Turn your Traction Control off only if you are stuck (courtesy of magneticred).

3. Add weight to the trunk. 50/60lbs sand bags work well.

4. Want to keep that Crossfire looking good but afraid the road salt and sand will hurt your car? Well you can't be lazy when it comes to keeping your car washed and waxed. Road salt WILL hurt your cars paint and cause your car to rust. So that means wash your car as often as possible. Whether you take it to one of those car washes or wash it by hand doesn't matter. I recommend waxing the car after washing it each time cause you never know how long your going to have to go without washing it again in the winter months. Get yourself some of that fast wax stuff that comes in a spray bottle or use a liquid wax of your choice. Make sure you wax the wheels, inside the doors, under the spoiler, and any other nook and cranny you can think of. (Thanks to onehundred80 for pointing out that road salt will do damage no matter the temperature.)

5. Keep your car parked outside if you have a heated garage. Reason for that is because this will accelerate the rusting process. You keep your car parked in the heated garage you can expect your car to start rusting at a faster rate. I have read a few articles where people kept their cars parked in a heated garage and they have seen rust already appearing on their brand new cars in less than a years time.

6. Keep the underside of your Crossfire rust free. I'm talking about muffler, cats, and anything metal that can rust underneath your car. The best way to do this is to get some ramps or jack up the front of your car and get underneath with a hose and spray everything down real good.
- A "sprinkler hose" one of those flattish multi tube hoses with small holes all over the top of the hose placed in long coils under the car makes a great belly wash. (courtesy of Pacemaker)

7. Watch for pot-holes and debris in the road and do your best to avoid it. Most of you would say this is a no-brainer, but most people don't REALLY watch. The XF's rims bend pretty easily if you hit something large enough. (courtesy of shapeshifter309)

8. Pretend as though there is an egg that you are not allowed to break between your foot and the gas and brake pedals. A light touch works better to get you going or slow you down on a slippery road.

A few more;

Always assume the road is slippery, even if it seems it's not.

Increase your following distance by a *lot* and make sure you are paying attention to everything around you and as far ahead as possible. You want to avoid having to do any emergency braking or maneuvers to the greatest extent possible.

Make sure to watch your mirrors, especially when stopping or sitting at a light. The person coming up behind you may have ignored the slippery conditions. Keep your car in gear and have a plan to get out of the way if you need to. (courtesy of Joliet John)

9. You have to be afraid of the idiots out there as they will nail you every time.
There can only be one first rule for hazardous road conditions and it is a question;
'Do I have to go out onto the roads today?'

One small fender bender when you really did not have to be out there will really make you think harder the next time, if you're smart that is. (courtesy of onehundred80)

10. Also, a trucker I used to drive with taught me that you should go into Neutral if you have any idea that you may slide in a stopping situation. Works well on the XF so far. No sideways funhouse stuff on these icy TN. hills (yet). (courtesy of Pacemaker)

All in all the Crossfire is a blast to drive in the winter months and I believe the people who do drive their cars year round are getting the most out of their vehicles. Their is nothing to be afraid of as long as your careful driving and take those extra steps to keep your car looking good.

 

I'm not sure many will follow this rule but.......??

 

You turn traction controll off only after you are stuck in the snow to allow wheel spin. Otherwise leave it on; it is a safety feature.

 

I don't think of them as rules but as suggestions. Think of it as a warning of what could happen.

 

Your tip was added.

 

[quote=Cody M] ...............Road salt will not hurt your cars paint or cause your car to rust unless the temperature is above 32F. [quote]
Not true, salt keeps the water from freezing at 32deg.F. So the water will still be there below that temperature.
Salt also attracts moisture from the air, so even if there is little to no humidity outside the salt is doing its damnedest to eat the car.
You just can't win.

 

[quote=onehundred80][quote=Cody M] ...............Road salt will not hurt your cars paint or cause your car to rust unless the temperature is above 32F. Did a little more research and found out that you are right. Your normal road salt is effective up to 15F and after that temperature salt with a mix of other chemicals is used and is good for -0F temperatures. I will be fixing that. Thanks for the heads up!

 

Good advice. This is my first winter with my Crossfire and I'm ready to go.

1. "True" All Season tires are available for the Crossfire - although they can be tough to find. I just put a set on my Coupe; Continental Extreme Contact DWS - like 'em so far. I read they do pretty well in light snow. NOTE: You will give up some dry weather/summer performance because of the softer sidewall and rubber compound. Not a problem for me because I don't push my car that hard. It's my year-round daily driver and I needed new rubber for it anyway. In the summer when weather is nice I'm riding on two wheels anyway.

2. A second set of rims with studded snow tires. Yes, it can be expensive but a set will probably last as long as you own your car unless you put a LOT of winter miles on them. I put together a set of 4 after and saved some cash by spending some time on the computer visiting craigslist or you can go to a tire store and get a set of "cheap" alloy rims with winter tires. Yes, its expensive but this is the best route if you prefer summer tires for your non-winter driving or already have a good set of summer tires on the car. A garage, a small floor jack and 1/2 hour is all you need to swap 'em out when it snows.

3. Blizzaks? Others can comment on this one.

4. Agree! Wash that salt off and keep her waxed!

 

This is exactly what I do. My stock rims have all season tires on them and are used for winter only. The person that owned the car before me really did a number on the stock rims and they are all chewed up so that is the main reason why they are used for winter. I have a nice set of aftermarket rims with summer tires on them for use in warm weather.

 

I don't need tips for winter DRIVING I need tips for winter BRAKING. Idk about you guys but this is my third year driving the car in the winter and every year I put new blizzaks on the car but the car will still slide like a maniac in the snow when braking

 

Try adding some weight to the rear. Drive slower and brake earlier .

 

Lol I don't drive like a maniac. My fiancé wouldn't let me! All I know is even crawling at 10 mph the car wants to slide a good 4 feet before it stops. Maybe I'll try adding more weight to the rear. I already have about 40 pounds

 

Just brake a little earlier.

Or maybe it's the Blizzaks. I don't have trouble braking from 10.

With Chicago winters (and Peoria winters when school is in session, they don't have many plow trucks down here), I have to say, the XF will do quite well with only a good set of A/S's. I remember the original set, the Contis, did quite well. The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus's I bought after that weren't so good and I got stuck about 3 times that winter. Now I carry a small shovel in the back. Doing any of these other things would help, but for me, they aren't necessary. Usually if the snow's bad enough that I can't go anywhere in my car, neither can anyone else.

 

Oh. PRO TIP for winter driving: Watch for pot-holes and debris in the road and do your best to avoid it. Most of you would say this is a no-brainer, but most people don't REALLY watch. The XF's rims bend pretty easily if you hit something large enough.

 

Your tip was added to the list.

 

An actual winter Driving tip, which applies to any vehicle, but it seems many people forget or ignore:

Pretend as though there is an egg that you are not allowed to break between your foot and the gas and brake pedals. A light touch works better to get you going or slow you down on a slippery road.

A few more;

Always assume the road is slippery, even if it seems it's not.

Increase your following distance by a *lot* and make sure you are paying attention to everything around you and as far ahead as possible. You want to avoid having to do any emergency braking or maneuvers to the greatest extent possible.

Make sure to watch your mirrors, especially when stopping or sitting at a light. The person coming up behind you may have ignored the slippery conditions. Keep your car in gear and have a plan to get out of the way if you need to.

 

Best Option.

Move to South Texas.

No snow
No Salt
Hot Girls
Right now 70 degres.

Let`s call it

Win/Win

 

You have to be afraid of the idiots out there as they will nail you every time.
There can only be one first rule for hazardous road conditions and it is a question;
'Do I have to go out onto the roads today?'

One small fender bender when you really did not have to be out there will really make you think harder the next time, if you're smart that is.

 

I love driving my Crossfire and I will be most of the winter. I'm going to avoid driving in snow and salt but there may be times when I can't. However, my first choice is going to be park my Crossfire in my garage (not heated) and take my sons car. Heck, I gave it to him anyway, so I fiqure I'm entitled to steal it back on snow days!

Happy winter motoring............

 

You forgot the ice storms. Then again, I think those only ever happen right *after* I land in Dallas!