I'm curious, this is the first summer I've had my DSM and just want to know how many people have or will drive their DSM's in the winter?

Me? 95 TSI + winter = TTC & 'rents car!

U?

Driven mine 3 winters now. AWD is a pleasure in the snow.

I park the 95 for the winter and drive a 1991 AWD AT.

Ghislain.

Well. I had my 92 awd 2 years ago. Snow drifting in the parking lot at say 2 am is alot of fun. Can't wait to take her back on the snow again. But this time I'll take it easier.

I bought mine in the end of fall last year, so I drove it in the winter... AWD + Snow = FUN!!!!

2g + snow/salt = rusted strut towers.

Invest in a good undercoating, if its not already too late.

Stored in the winter for previous 3 years, since I got the new paint job!

AWD+4 Snow tires = pure fun, bring on the snow

2 years ago I had a turbo fwd for the winter. last year I had a awd auto. This year will be my 92 fwd turbo. All had or will be snow tire equiped.

Dec 24th 2004, driving to work after a snowstorm had dumped 5" on London.

Cars were backed up on the on/pff ramps to the 401 because they hadn't been plowed yet.
Honda Civic stuck blocking the way to the Exeter road exit; couldn't make it through the snow.

Enter a lowered 97 Tsi AWD with snow tires......

Snow isn't a big deal, it's the salt/corrosion.

I second that. Mine's never seen snow, and never will, and still showed a bit of rust in the one tower.. about the size of a quarter. Already had it cut out, soaked both layers with POR 15, and metal re-welded back in.. too much invested in it to take the risk of it creeping.

I swear they were designed to rust! Stupid 2 layer metal design.

Im gonna store my 1G for the winter so that the rust doesnt get n e worse. As well, it gives me time to do all the things I did not have time to do in the summer because I was too busy driving. I still have an old 4WD Subaru for the winter though. 4WD is the way to go for winter.....and my Sub is ugly but built like a tank. Run it in to a brick wall and keep driving (trust me).

Hey tyler you got an old subie justy?

3 winters so far plus whatever the previous owner did and 250,000 kms later I'm just starting to show a spot now.

No under coat either.

With snow tires, you can drive in the snow with the AWD as if it's a rainy summer day

Since my new shell, this will be her second time winter stored in Ontario. She hasn't seen a day of salt ever (western shell).
People think I'm crazy when I tell them I store my AWD in the winter and drive a FWD instead.

i just got my 2G AWD this summer.. and i will be storing it and driving my old accord... the car already has little rust from last owner..d ont want it to get worse....

Looking forward to driving AWD with snows in the deep stuff...after I get her properly undercoated.

Just remember, you may have AWD, but everyone has 4 wheel brakes. Every hard snowfall usually brings out the wreckless overconfident SUV drivers that that the first ones smashing into curbs and snowbanks.

Had mine for 2.5 years & this will be my third winter to store it. Car was from SC and doesn't have a spot of rust anywhere including the undercarriage & I wan't to keep it that way. I hate working on rusty parts that get seized up & break . Plus the ZR tires are 3" of ground clearance aren't the best for winter driving

True, but not everyones 4 wheel brakes have limited slip differentials and viscous couplers to help even out the speeds of those 4 braking wheels. Ours do. (Especially those of us with a front LSD as well)

While it's still possible to lock up a wheel, it usually won't happen until you get all 4 to lock. Up until that point, the wheels that have traction are still keeping the "sliding" wheels turning (although at a lower speed than they would be if free rolling), and as long as they are turning and the slip angle isn't too great, there is still a portion of that tire's tread that is gripping the ground and helping to give you lateral stability, even though the tire is "sliding". The amount of the tire contact patch that is gripping depends on the difference in speed between the ground and the tire.

EDIT: My new talon will also hibernate for the winter, as it has done since it was bought in Ontario in '92.

ive just bought my car this year and i will be putting it away for the winer. Too low in my opinion i fear for my front end. And salt= death .

I drove my TSi FWD first winter with all season Pilots, bad decision. Second year with Blizzaks, third the engine was being rebuilt. This year winters but undecided which tire to go with.

Dan you got lucky on Dec 24th, I finally left my place around 10:00 am (after helping push out 2 civics, an Outback, and a Jimmy from my street. Anyway the plows where only doing some of the major roads, so if you tired to turn onto a road not plowed from a road that was plowed you got hung up. Saw an Police Explorer hung up and about 12 guys (from a Timmy's) running over to a Hummer that was in a ditch that day on the way into work. I got to work about 15 minutes before they sent us home. London is sweet for the ladies but not for the snow.

Built a 1990 Talon ES AWD. That's right. 135HP and AWD. It's a dog on the pavement but the test is on the snow.

lol

lol, don't think your the only one... my car ran like that for 12 months after i blew the turbo motor in it!

But now,

I only drove my car one winter, the winter it had the NT motor in it, besides that she was parked last winter and she'll be parked again this winter to due some body work & paint.

Bought my first Talon (90 TSi FWD) in summer '95. Bought my current one in summer '00. Neither one ever saw snow (while I owned them). It's not the snow I'm worried about, it's the salt and everybody else sliding around in the snow. It's no secret, the body lasts longer if it doesn't see salt. Ask any body shop in which season they see their most collision work. Hint: it's not in the lazy days of August.

I'll be storing mine, previous owner did not and theres a huge nasty patch on the passanger side strut tower and a few rust spots on the drivers side starting, i'll be fixing them this winter. Driving a 87 Olds Cierra.

I didn't think that many people would be cool driving a sports car in the winter but I guess I was wrong. Also, I've noticed the AWD guys have more of a love affair with snow than us FWD guys.

also, rust sucks! I've a little spot on the towers and in the hatch. Undreneath it's clean, just those 2 areas. Any where else is big on rust in 2g's?

it is a Subie Loyale actually. It is more rust then car. It is a flat 4 and if I take the muffler off it sounds like a WRX.
Subaru Loyale has officially been PIMPED

Drive one in the snow with snow tires and you'll understand

I love my AWD 2G in the winter. When I was looking to buy a newer car, one of the criterion was that it must have 4WD to handle snow with ease.

I'm getting snow tires this year, but even with crappy all-season tires so far, the car has amazed me every winter. Sometimes I'd even go out in the worst possible weather, and stop on steep hills in deep snow, just to see if I would get stuck.

And of course smoking everyone off the lights is just way too cool while they're stuck there in the snow.

I drove the first few years on the 97 AWD in the snow... mmmmmmmm fuuuuuunnnnn...!

BUT!
Not safe/fun, without good snows.
Just doesn't compare with so called "all season" tires.

You know, there's no such thing as an "all season tire", unless you live in Arizona.
Everything else is a compromise.

Nokian Hakkapalitas 2 are one of the best.
The hold on ice, cut the snow, and actually last several seasons.
If you had any thoughts, get them FAST... they'll almost all be gone by now. They come from Finland (where they know something about snow) and always run out!

I'm storing the VR-4 in the winter and play with my rally prepped rally car (90 Tsi)...

This will be the first winter for my 1993 AWD, it has never been winter driven before. Not a spot of rust, I will make sure it gets heavily undercoated though.

AWD NT 5 SPD w/ winter's and ABS for me. Good DSM's in the garage.

*warning shamless plug*
I have an awd rolling shell without motor or tranny if anyones interested.
Cheap.

How cheap are we talking?

I'll push it down the 401 if its cheap enough!

Just picked up a 90 TSi AWD already equippped with Nordic Icetracs for the winter.. actually looking forward to some snow now!

I drove my last 92 thru winter a bit .It was alberta car and was in good shape. Also they don't use much salt in saskatchewan as it wouldn't help much.It's usually too cold to melt it anyway so they mostly use sand.
The awd 92 turbo was great and put snow/ice tires
on it..think they were kumo forget now...
I still almost died a few times getting a bit
crazy with the big turbo modded up car and if did it again would have put the optional studs
in the tires. It was good on snow but lousy on ice,better than standard all seasons but not
enough to really grip without studs.The kumo snow/ice were pretty cheap though not like expensive blizzacks.
I am not driving my new 97 which was a bc car
.One reason is its just too nice to risk having someone rear end it or crash into it or lose control of it and bang it up. I may drive it a month or so longer than my other car toys and take it out maybe a month earlier than them also.
One thing I notice is the turbo cars generally get pretty fast in negative 40 below days!!
Not much heat soak then even on stock intercooler.

I may get another beater awd turbo someday if come across one for dirt cheap. I have two daily driver vehicles right now..99 taurus and 2001 two wheel drive dodge ram so not a big deal to store my nice cars.

I'll be drifting around london thats forsure!! Got some serious snow tires and steel rims!! Now if I hit a curb I wont care as much lol.