Same here I've lived in Chicago for close to 20 years and Im sick of winters (love the city though) cant wait to move out to sunny Florida or Cali. On a side note I had my 06 Evo IX shipped form Cali a couple months ago and driving it in the snow right now would defeat the purpose.

 

My evo has seen 7 winters, no rust. It has never been "rust proofed".

 

You've only had your Evo for 7 months.

 

So from what I gather you are saying that
H20+HSLA (High-strength low-alloy) Steel= Rust
if this is true,
what does H20+NaCl+HSLA Steel =

 

Yep, these cars are fun in the snow, but if you have a nice one why ruin it by letting salt eat it alive?

 

You're absolutely right in this. I can't believe this is even an argument, really. Living in Chicago and Detroit for years I can tell you that the salt will eat a car up eventually. Even if the sheetmetal still looks good on a northern winter-driven car, the underside of the car, particularly suspension pieces, nuts, bolts, etc... with be rusted terribly. The salt on the roads RAPIDLY INCREASES the deterioration of the metal. Will the metal "eventually" deteriorate from just exposure to water? Sure. But common sense experience with northern winter-driven cars clearly shows that salt ruins cars. Period.

There's a reason people like to buy cars that have lived down south all their lives, and its NOT that they have been exposed to less water....duh

 

I know; it's absurd. Above is a pic of my old GTI. The car saw about 15 salted winters. The car look good. No rust, right? Well, not really. The hatch is rusted through-and-through. The floorboards are full of holes. Every few months the shift linage needed to be 'unstuck" due to the rust, and on and on. Hell, I have a '04 van in my driveway with paint bubbling under the edge of its hood after 6 Upstate, NY winters.

A few years ago, I met an older guy who moved to our area from Texas over the winter. He couldn't believe there were no high-performance cars on the roads, or mostly any decent cars, period. Then, spring came, the winter cars were put away, and almost overnight the roads well full of all kinds of machinery. I smiled when he told the story, as it's a normal part of life here.

 

I drive my EVO in the winter. If the salt EATS it, then I will just get a different car. I did not buy this car as a lifer, and I doubt many others will keep their car forever. Life happens and things change and you will probably have to give it up at some point for one reason or another. Besides that, modern cars have much better corrosion resistance than cars from 10-20 years ago. The underside of my X looks brand new except where the stock exhaust stuff remains. There is no rust anywhere. Regular undercarriage rinsing will certainly help with salt also.

 

True. If one isn't planning on keeping the car, or using it for a specific purpose that outlines a given mode of operation, why not drive it anywhere and everywhere? I'm not sure anyone argued this point.

I may be unfamiliar with the X. If the car has aluminum suspension components, like the CT9A, that have seen prolonged exposure to salt, your claim is impossible to believe. The effect is easily seen with the naked eye.

There are, in essence, two ways to proceed: try to wash the salt off or not try to wash the salt off. If one's environment doesn't see many freeze/thaw cycles, in theory, it's best not to wash and dissolve the salt, allowing it to greater impregnate the nooks and crannies in the undercarriage. In practice, it makes virtually zero difference. Drive in salt, the car will rust. It's only a matter of time. OTOH, in a climate that sees very infrequent use of salt, washing the undercarriage can be beneficial.

 

grand rapids michigan checkin in here....we are getting close now gentlemen!!! i just hate when the weather teases us with a few 50 degree days and then snows 5 inches the next day....

 

I can deal with cold weather and snow. I just hate it when Michigan throws in a couple random days of warm weather, melts the snow, then freezes overnight creating ice havoc the next day or two, LOL! I don't like ice

 

screw it...mine is coming out tomorrow...i don't care if its gonna snow again ill store it for a few days if i have to, just can't wait any longer