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Driving in Salt

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Love watching the progress of this tour. Thanks to all of you for posting photos.

Seeing all that salt makes me cringe! I decided to drive my Roadster this winter, salt or no salt. I'm glad to see I'm not alone. I installed a hose in my basement and try to spray it every day. Sometimes it's too cold for that so I fill a 2 gallon garden sprayer with hot water and spray it down.

I drove my roadster all last winter. Was great but lots of dirt and salt gets under the door sills. I would caution you against spraying the car with the hose every night as when I tried this I noticed that it caused the brakes to develop a lot of rust in a very short time. With the water and cold I would notice a lot of rust on the discs causing noise etc after when driving. These discs are very prone to rust and if you start spraying around the wheels you are asking for trouble. Plus if you are doing this inside a garage it will cause a lot of moisture and humidity to be in the air and remain trapped there. Just be careful and see how it goes.
 
I drove my roadster all last winter. Was great but lots of dirt and salt gets under the door sills. I would caution you against spraying the car with the hose every night as when I tried this I noticed that it caused the brakes to develop a lot of rust in a very short time. With the water and cold I would notice a lot of rust on the discs causing noise etc after when driving. These discs are very prone to rust and if you start spraying around the wheels you are asking for trouble. Plus if you are doing this inside a garage it will cause a lot of moisture and humidity to be in the air and remain trapped there. Just be careful and see how it goes.

The rusty rotors have been a problem. I've switched to new pads which helps a lot. The Carbotech AX6 pads clean the rust off the rotors much better than the stock pads without loading up and losing grip like the old pads did. It's still not great. I spray the car off outside where it often freezes while dripping off, and then pull it into my garage which has a wood floor. It's a hard choice to drive or not to drive when they spread salt. I can't stand driving my gasser but also can't stand to see my expensive Roadster get exposed to such crud and the constant hassle of cleaning it in sub-freezing weather.
 
Here's the kind of crap sand-salt mixed that accumulates on the car and falls off in the heated garage.

I have in-floor heat so the water evaporates but the humidity is another issue, especially when you drive out into cold weather.

I swept up approx. 5 gallons of sand already this winter.
Salt_Garage.jpg
 
Related questions for fellow canucks,

1. Has anyone ordered the paint armor with their S? If so, are you happy with it, specifically how it looks when the car has been liberally splashed with slush and winter road grime?

2. This one is more for fellow Quebecers, but is anyone thinking of getting aftermarket paint armor and / or window tinting, and if so, do you have recommendations as to where to get it done (ideally in Montreal, but not obligatory)?

Thanks in advance.
 
Related questions for fellow canucks,

1. Has anyone ordered the paint armor with their S? If so, are you happy with it, specifically how it looks when the car has been liberally splashed with slush and winter road grime?

I have it. It's early days but the car is holding up very well.

The line across the hood is pretty obvious when the car is covered in salt. Probably at some point I'll get the hood re-done with full coverage.

My Roadster has the paint armour too, and I'm really glad I bought it. I expect to replace some of the Roadster's paint armour in the spring; after a few years of wear and tear there's been some damage to the sheets under the doors (it did its job - protected the paint!).