I agree. I have a friend who has an $85K '05 997 C2 and he drives it in the winter, but of course he mounts snow tires in early December. A car is not a piece of art. It's meant to be driven and enjoyed.

 

2Evolved...

Did you guys get the lighting and thunder during the snowstorm up where you are in Mass?

It was pretty crazy where I live(Taunton area.. which is about 20 miles south of Boston). Heavy snow and freezing rain, wind gusts up to like 80 MPH(resulting in whiteout conditions), and thunder and lighting.... all at the same time. I can honestly say I've never seen/heard thunder and lightning before during a snow-storm in my 28 years of life.. all of which were in Mass.

As far as driving another car in the winter... I'm all for that. I do it for 2 reasons(after owning a Sentra and 240SX before my G35).

1) I want to protect my G35 and keep the salt and crap off of it. It's pretty tough to wash a car when it's like 15 degrees outside every day for 2 weeks straight, and if you take it someplace to get it washed by one of those touch-free washes, you have to make sure it can be dried completely before you leave... or your car will turn into a block of ice. Also.. it doesn't really matter if you wash the car, because it wil be covered in salt again within a matter of minutes. The worst part of the salt is not what it makes your car look like, but the irreperable damage that it does to your frame by rotting out the entire undercarraige.

2) It's just safer to have a 4x4 as a winter vehicle. No matter what you do to a G35 for a winter setup, it will never compare in its winter-road-worthiness to a 4x4(unless the 4x4 has bald tires). Most 4x4's have high ground clearance which lets you pass over the snow without scraping the bottom of your car along all the snow and slush(causing added drag and resistance, and making it harder for your wheels to keep you moving forwards). I took my Tacoma out during the storm the other day and went bombing around and wheeling in some open fields and some trails that were covered by about 9 or so inches of untouched snow.. and the truck pulled through it like there was nothing on the ground(even when going up steep hills). This comes in handy if you live in very rural area like I do, where the roads don't get plowed until the next day after a storm. My G35 wouldn't be able to drive through 9 inches of snow on the road, because the snow is deeper than the ground clearance of my G is... no matter what kind of snow tires you have.

I actually save money on insurance during the winter months by not driving my G35 from November till mid-April, because I put less miles on the G35(making me qualify for a low milleage incentive), plus I completely take the G35 off the road for those months(the car is paid for, so I don't have to keep it insured). The truck is also quite a bit cheaper to insure than the car is. If I only kept one of my vehicles on the road at all times(meaning take the car off the road during the winter, and take the truck off the road during the summer), I would actually save money on my yearly totals for car insurance..... but I keep my truck on the road all year, so that I can use it for hauling crap and offroading during the summer as well.

Plus... If I want to carry dirty things around, I'd rather have a second vehicle for doing that, so I don't mess up the interior of my G and get it all smelly.

Another thing to consider, is that(particularly with Toyota trucks), 4x4's that aren't abused tend to hold their resale value particularly well. I paid 10.5K for my 2001 Tacoma 4x4 with 60K miles(It was a really good deal), and I could probably sell it in 2 or 3 years and get close to the same thing for it, and you can run an ad in autotrader for however long it takes to sell the vehicle for like 60 or 70 bucks. Feel free to look it up on autotrader or anything else if you don't believe how much a quality used 4x4 goes for, or how much it costs to sell a vehicle on it.

Everyone is entitled to their own decision on what they do for a winter car, but these are the factors that were involved in me deciding to buy a Tacoma as a second vehicle/Primary-winter-whip.

 

We had the whole snow/hail/high winds/thunder/lightning thing going on in Pawtucket, was pretty cool to watch. We were out there playing with some RC cars at the time (this was for work, not play.... )

 

Hey

Partyman, I know exactly what your saying.. I personally live in Boston and here we have very limited parking so keeping a 2nd veichle will give me a very tough time to find parking.

I did notice the lightning during the snow storm but didn't think much of it because I was indoors busy working. I didn't hear much thunder, I work on a high level floor in a tall Boston building so I got a pretty good view and also I left early, I really only drive my G sometimes anyway as I take out my girlfriend's Rav 4 (very inconvenient for me) for blizzard days but once the roads are cleared and the next sunny day comes out I take my G for a spin in the snow such as the day after our snow storm.

My parents live in Easton, which is not very far from where you are (taunton), it is almost like the country side and the roads are still very snowy there but my G35 still does fine as far as any slipping or getting stuck is concerned.

Salt is not much of a concern for me, I only keep my cars for about 5 years at most and get something new, I've had Civic for 2 years, Celica for 2 years, Maxima for 1 year, Evo for 1 year and now I'm in a G35. I wax my car twice a month before it starts getting cold and it looks better than ever when spring comes around.

Also in the cold weather, I take my car to one of those car washes where you put in quarters and wash your car.. I don't know what you call them but take a few moments to wash it there, I've grew up in cold weather all my life and I will be standing outside in 15 degrees with a T-shirt on and be fine (most of my friends think I'm cold blooded).

 

Ah... yeah, Easton. I actually live in Raynham(not Taunton), which is the next town over from Easton.

I hear ya about the coldblooded though. I'm the same way. I've always been a long-distance runner, and usually go outside and go for runs in like 15 or 20 degree days with a pair of shorts and a long-sleeved T-short on, with a hat and gloves. Heh... People definitely think I'm nuts.

I won't lie though, I hate the cold weather and am really sick of it. There's only soo much snow and shoveling a person can take before you want to move to Cali... which is where my mental state is at right now.

 

lol right.. I hate snow as well, I don't mind cold weather but only to a point its comfortable.

 

We got well over a foot in Billerica, and plenty of thunder to boot

I got around just fine for the most part. BUT...I parked on the street so I could shovel out a spot in my driveway, and when I went to move the car in, I got stuck. I had to shovel out a path to my driveway, as well as nock down the height of the snow, because I was basically getting buried out there.

I have LM-22's btw, and usually they do the job. I think it had something to do with the fact that there was way too much snow on the ground (so I was almost plowing myself to the driveway)

 

My G after our local snow/ice cover. And there was no way I was driving in it!

 

Eh, my G will sit in the garage until the nasty salt goes away. Everyone has an opinion, and mine (like a few others here) is to enjoy my car in the spring, summer, and fall. For those 4 months of ice, salt, snow, stupid drivers, and snow plows....it hides

 

I'm still driving in my summer tires!! Thank god for San Diego.

 

I got my G new in March and I knew I needed a winter solution for Michigan.

I bought a set of slightly scruffy OEM 17"'s on eBay, with 2/3 worn Blizzak WS50's, for $460 shipped.

They rock. I can't floor it all the time but, if I am a good boy, I am always in control. Also, when those dry spots show, I can still dig in.

Who wants to drive a f@kking 4-runner anyway?

Garry

 

Thanks god for summer tires

 

I love my Tacoma. It's awesome not having to get all bent out of shape everytime I see a bunch of potholes in the road or other harmful road hazards that I know the truck can handle and the G can't. Plus.. the truck and car are about as different as possible in just about every mannerism.

Car is fast, nimble, sporty, bumpy, attention getter, with poor rearward visibility and expensive to mod/fix.

Truck is high up, rides smooth, slower, goes over anything, and has absolutely NO blindspots and is pretty cheap to upgrade and fix(relatively speaking)... plus I don't mind getting the truck dirty and carrying huge things with it.

Having my truck makes me appreciate my G35 more, and vice versa. After driving the truck and getting in the G35, the car feels like an F1 Machine.

 

As long as your car is washed on a regular basis, it's not going to be any worse off than a car getting beat on by the sun every day of the year. Like someone said on here, the G is no Ferrari. I guess I've lived with snow for 30 years, so driving my G in snow and ice doesn't bother me...and I've never had an issue with a car rusting due to the salt. I am certainly not going to move because my car might get a little dirty...I mean the thing is going to the track anyway, I'm sure I'll do much worse things there than any snowfall or salt will do. And if you're trying to preserve it for a sale down the road...I can assure you that you'll get no more than I will in the same period of time. I also kind of like the self inflicted loss of control that you get with the G35 (even with a winter setup), but don't underestimate the performance of the car in the winter. For those who are afraid of their G in the winter, get over it. If you just like the performance of a 4X4 in the winter, then so be it...but I certainly won't buy a seperate vehicle for something that occurs so infrequently. If it's the snow that's bothering you, then I agree...but if you're simply afraid of getting some salt on the car...come on!

Sorry, my opinion, I'll shut it now.

 

Oh...

I completely forgot to mention one of the other great things about having a 4x4 truck in winter... Your seating height is usually about 2-3 feet higher in a 4x4 truck/SUV than it is in a G35... which allows you to actually see over those massive snow banks at the intersections. I swear, whenever I used to drive my 240SX in the winter, I felt like I was playing russian roullette anytime I'd try to pull out into a street with those massive 4-5 foot snowbanks obliterating every ounce of potential visibility.