Might be a stupid question, but will snow getting caught in the front airdam and intercooler screw anything up on the EVO?

I know, I know, I've seen the shots of this thing knee deep in powder catching air, but I want to make sure the elements won't screw up my ride. I don't have a race crew or spares if ya know what I mean.

Also. can this thing be run through a car wash ?

I'd like to hand wash it when the time comes, but it's about 12 degrees out.

They have those laserwash carwashes that detect the outline of your car, but what about the hood venting/grill?? What if water goes in there??

One school of thought is just drive it in the snow and wash it at the car wash, and will pay for it if anything screws up, but I just don't want to go through any hassle.

(So far, my car has been a garage queen because of our **** weather and general temp outside. (9 as in fricken 9 degrees.)

I feel bad, but I don't want to **** it up!!

 

You won't have to worry about the snow nor water getting through the vent on top. After all it's a car and car's were meant to be driven in rain at times. It doesn't hurt the motor to get water on it. In fact many people use a hose to spray down the motor to clean it. So long as the water doesn't get inside your motor like under the valve cover and into your spark plugs or something it will be fine. This doesn't usually happen unless the cover isn't on right.

BIG thing for you and other members to remember is DON'T wash your car with any type of soap for about a month. It's a new car and you need the paint to set. Using any type of soap will hurt the clearcoat on it.

Also salt on the roads for snow will erode the car faster but that's going to happen no matter what in a snowy climate.

 

Everything Evilution said is right on the money.

Now, when it comes to an automatic car wash, I HIGHLY recommend you only go to brushless ones. With my old cars, one being a POS, and the other a lot nicer, I went to a regular car wash... Scratches. Big scratch on the rim of the nicer car, and a million little abrasion lines on the POS (didn't care about the second so much). For about $5, they have a really nice brushless carwash in Orlando, which is laser-guided like a freaking missle. Does a great job, and the spotfree rinse and blow dry are good enough for me when I can't hand wash. So yeah, a car wash is fine, and now you know the kind to go to.

 

No soap for a month ?

I thought the paint on factory cars was baked on. And the only thing you had to be careful of was using waxes that would not let the car breath ie: only pure carnuba waxes like Zymol (no, not the 7.99 crap from pep boys)

 

I've never heard that before. I've always gone under the safest route which is rinse and dry but never use suds. Another good reason to not let the dealership wash your car.

 

Good advice if you are buying a domestic, but doesn't apply in this situation.

You shouldn't wash or wax new paint. But this isn't new paint. Look at the build date on your car... it's already at least a month old. Remember these are built in Japan and shipped over. You can wash and wax this car as soon as you pick it up. In fact that's a good idea - a good layer of wax right away.

You car was probably already washed at the dealer.

 

In order to work effectively, the intercooler needs adequite airflow. Without airflow, the intercooler will become heat soaked and you will lose some horsepower. A little snow won't hurt. On the other hand, if you ram it into a snow bank when you park, the snow will partially melt and refreeze into a big ice plug. This will not melt/blow away as quickly as snow would. The intercooler on Talons and GSX's was sidemounted and it was very easy to plug up the opening with snow and ice if you parked rather aggressively. I doubt the front mount on the Evo will have any problems with snow obstructions due to its size. Just check it once in awhile and be sure to clear any leaves/small animals out of there.

 

Ahhhh good point. Forgot about the whole importing process. In that case get some damn Zaino people and properly bathe your beauties Do a wash with some Dawn liquid soap to strip the car of any residue and contaminents on it. Then put the fresh coat on over and over and over. I used this stuff on my Prowler and man it looked rich and wet. Beautiful stuff.