Who drives their GTV6 in the winter (SNOW)

[krazymaan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott in MN Please don't drive these cars in the snow. As a Minnesotan I can attest to their excellent performance in it. I can also attest to their exponential rusting potential in that environment.

[Scott in MN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krazymaan Hay Scott in MN I thought I was the only one in MN with a GTV6. I am down in bloomington, me car is being fixed up by me and my boys as we speak. Got any spare parts? like a drivers side door handle? Exterior

[gtv6-3.0]

Christmas tree run followed by a thorough wash with lots of hot fresh water and rust preventative.
Handling was exceptional.

[planetmojo]

Oh yeah... forgot: If you do decide to risk spending your afterlife in Hades for vaporizing a GTV6 via winter driving rust, here are a couple more issues you can add to the fun.

1) Frozen moisture, between door and door jamb, will Super Glue the door closed. Since the exterior door handle paddles are made of fragile cast metal, and there is no real handle to yank on... you'll likely snap your paddle off, trying to get into your car on a cold morning. You'll want to keep a couple of wooden clothes pin halves with you to carefully help pry and persuade the door open. Set your wake up alarm 10 minutes earlier, so you aren't too late for work.

2) Also, any ice build-up on the door window will glue the glass to the exterior squeegie at the belt line. Even without ice build-up, the rubber squeegie still wants to bond to the glass. For this reason, I used to carry an artist's palette knife in the console to zip between the two, to break the adhesion and give the windows a chance to move. Of course, you have to first be able to get inside the car to get to the palette knife (see issue #1)!

3) The plastic interior door handles are fragile also, when forced. If there is a freezing rain, and you've forgotten your palette knife to open the windows... your windows and doors may not allow you to exit your car without risking snapping the interior handle. Hopefully, you have a GTV with a sunroof--- this doubles as an emergency escape hatch! I know this from first-hand experience.

After experiencing the thrill of exiting the car vertically... my solution for my next entrapment incident was to let the car idle for 30 minutes, with the heater and defrosters going full blast. Things finally thawed to the point I could now use the window or door (whichever freed up first) to free myself, after being trapped in my own car for a half hour. A cell phone can be helpful to request a rescue squad. But, if you have a friend who's always bragging about his Porsche or Nissan Z... his number may not be the first one you want to call. You will just be giving them ammunition, for future debates, that will have a very, very long shelf life! Probably no expiration date on that one.

These are a few more reasons (beyond the inevitable RUSTING to a fine powder) to think about a winter beater for the nasty months. Mine, now, goes under cover with the first snow storm. Night, night... see you again in March!

[Balocco211]

Quote:

gtv6-3.0 says Christmas tree run followed by a thorough wash with lots of hot fresh water and rust preventative. Handling was exceptional.

[gtv6-3.0]

look again, she's in the back seat!

[patjo]

I drove mine last winter. It was a blast and a positive surprise handling wise (a friend went off road inspecting trees and fences with his Milano, wrecking it, the winter before that so I was wary). The TS transaxle was a great addition too. Didn't use any sand bags though.

I should say I tried as far as I could to only drive it when it was too dry or cold for splashy melting snow or salt to do its thing.

[turtlerich]

Oh yeah, there're great in the snow!! Except she will hate you for it... And you will regret it for ever. I drove up through Lake Tahoe one snowy night in 2006 and am still finding gravel and road grit in every window seal and door jam. Keep her out of the snow!!!!

[Sandman]

Nothing better than an old 164L automatic, with 155,000 miles and snow tires. Here is a pic of her in our last snowstorm 3 days ago. I didn't drive her only because I cant figure out how to fix the stripped driver's side windshield wiper. Anyone have any tips?

[wonderbrad]

Regarding PlanetMojo's comment about snapping the door handle off in cold weather (which makes the paddles even more brittle than they are.) Glenn taught me that applying some force juidiciously to the rearview mirror stalks (on their mounting points) can get you added leverage to open the stuck doors when the handles aren't enough. The mirrors are bolted on securely, so as long as you apply force to the mounting point rather than the mirror itself, this trick works!

[racingswim2006]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sandman Nothing better than an old 164L automatic, with 155,000 miles and snow tires. Here is a pic of her in our last snowstorm 3 days ago. I didn't drive her only because I cant figure out how to fix the stripped driver's side windshield wiper. Anyone have any tips?

[dmacris]

I love my gtv6 in the snow. Just hose off the bottom in your neighbors driveway. Those fender wall things in the front should be taken off and cleaned out so you don't rot it out.

[Mark_toro]

GTV6 - five years - 120,000 miles. winter, summer, whatever.

Dunlop Graspics on the ugly Milano Silver 14" wheels and it will go through any snow up until it get's lifted off the ground by the floor boards. Also excellent for Rally X.

I scrape and repaint the undeside each fall. Last winter the rust hit hard, but until then it was minor. I do own a welder and am not afraid to use it.

I look at it this way - I can sit and stare at the car and wonder how it would drive, or I could drive it and enjoy it. Use begets repair, but also gives big smiles. Plus power slides are FUN.


The biggest winter problem with this car is the defrost / heat. It's mediterranean roots show there.

[MotorCityDuetto]

Not a GTV6, but an Alfetta GT that was my daily driver from 1978 to 1988.
I used to have a dipstick warmer and a manual thermostatic actuator control. Somewhere there is a photo of me under the Alfetta, changing the oil in two feet of snow.
It finally rusted beyond hope and was sold for parts.

[Romeo85]

Has anyone tried any special undercoating before driving it in winter?

Something like this that 3M sells. 3Mâ„¢ No Cleanup Waterbased Undercoating, 08804, 20 fl oz, 6 per case