I want to drive my car so bad, but am so afraid of all the shit getting caked up underneath it. Damn NJDOT, it doesnt even snow enough to stick and they dump 2 feet of salt on the roads. . .

Is it alright to drive? Haha or am I just too anal?

i live in a salt wonderland and i wouldn't dream of driving my M3 in the winter

Damnit.

i know its killin me.....the other week i took my M5 out for just a little drive because it was pretty dry here, for some reason i don't feel so bad about driving the M5 as i would the M3.

Yeah, the main roads around here arent too bad, but like any street besides the highways are pure white. :help

Is the m5 your daily? Mines a 1987 civic LMAO.

Stop being such a poon and drive the car.

Oh okay, you tell me to take the truck and now you tell me drive the car.

Make up your damn mind!

If I had a system U, you better believe I would be out breaking that ish in :mad

haha, i felt the same way, but my rabbit is getting its oil changed today so i had to take the BMW and the whole time im like, this just feels awful!

Try having a Jet Black car in this crap......I dont' know whether to change my paint code to AW or NaCl right now. :(








And yes, I know Sodium Chloride is table salt, and not the stuff they put on the roads.

Yeah, assholes with alpine are lucky, especially ones thatget to pick up their system u's.

the trick to winter driving is not to worry about the salt drive when ever you want. what you have to do is make sure you religiously wash the car to get that crap off. if you are going to drive in the winter, you HAVE to wash the car at least once a week.

the trick to winter driving is not to worry about the salt drive when ever you want. what you have to do is make sure you religiously wash the car to get that crap off. if you are going to drive in the winter, you HAVE to wash the car at least once a week.

What about the underbody? I dont have access to a lift or powerwasher.

yea the salt sucks, i bring my car to the carwash every week during the winter, sometimes 2 times a week and pay the extra $2 to get a chassis bath

What about the underbody? I dont have access to a lift or powerwasher.

it's coated. and just have a nozzle on the hose and spray in the fenders. that about covers it. i have done it with mine since i've owned it (july of 99)

When it doubt?? Don't drive it out!!! I don't. They don't do a good job at most car washes. The scratch the car more than clean it, specially if there is salt sprayed on the paint.

Try having a Jet Black car in this crap......I dont' know whether to change my paint code to AW or NaCl right now. :(








And yes, I know Sodium Chloride is table salt, and not the stuff they put on the roads.
I know how you feel. the pickup in my sig is currently alpine white....I just hope the snow storm we're supposed to get gives us something to play with.

I miss my car. :(

I'm surprised nobody said it.


Pay 100 bucks and get the rust/salt protectant for your underbody. Lasts like a year.

alpine love! lol just drive it and wash it when you can, its all you can do.

Be very wary of getting wet salt on the car. If the roads are dry you should be OK.

Yeah, assholes with alpine are lucky, especially ones thatget to pick up their system u's.

hahahaha yeah well..........you can always listen to mine! :D I wish it was warm enough were I could wash my car right now......:(

you guys should see my car right now, itd make you cry... lol

How do you guys manage to wash your cars in the freezing cold?

How do you guys manage to wash your cars in the freezing cold?

Buy some large long rubber gloves, and wear some winter gloves under them. keeps your hands warm and dry.

How do you guys manage to wash your cars in the freezing cold?

We all have secret indoor heated wash bays in our homes.......except you. You are the noob......no wash bay for you!

We all have secret indoor heated wash bays in our homes.......except you. You are the noob......no wash bay for you!

:(

start with warm water, not hot. try and cover everything as well as spraying the underside of the car. dry the car indoors to prevent the wind from freezing the water.

How do you guys manage to wash your cars in the freezing cold?

Load it onto a C130, fly it into Opa-Lock cargo airport in Miami.

Deplane the car, and there's this kickass hand was place on Biscayne........

If you plan on keeping the car for 10 years or more don't drive it in the snow. The rust demons will eat your car.:evil2


I'd love to drive my car right now, but it's not worth it. Even if it's dry salt some of it will get into the nooks and crannies and the next time you wash the car you will activate the cancer.

Even if it's dry salt some of it will get into the nooks and crannies and the next time you wash the car you will activate the cancer.

Details please. How does that happen? I just washed my car today......it was saltified lol.

<TR><TD>Road Salt Ate My Car!


</TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE class=typeList2 height="100%" width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD width="100%" bgColor=#e7e7e7 height=28>Supermarket parking lot
Amherst, NY
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Last week, I wrote about salting roads and the effect salt has on the freezing point of water. Well, all that salt on winter roads has a side effect--rust!
There is a noticeable difference in the amount of rust found on cars in the North (high salt) and cars in the South. After I moved from western New York to Virginia, I took my 1995 Nissan Sentra to get it inspected by a local mechanic. The fierce winters and high levels of salt had taken their toll, and my new mechanic was flabbergasted. He could not believe the amount of rust on the underside of my car.
This is the same car that--after two and half years--had the muffler and heat shield rust completely off the car in separate incidents. The car underwent quite a torture test. It was never in a garage and rarely washed. It was exposed to wet, salty conditions, followed by warm driving conditions, followed again by a splashing of salty water as a I drove through slush puddles. At night, during the winter, the warm, moist car frequently sat in snow that was high enough to touch the bottom of the car.
What was it about these conditions that caused my car to rust so dramatically? What role did salt play, and what is the chemistry behind it all?
Rust Background
Rust is iron(III) oxide (Fe<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB>); the oxidized form of iron (Fe). It is reddish-brown, brittle, and powdery and does not adhere well to "un-oxidized" iron. The steel in a car is mostly iron.
Iron Oxidation
If oxygen and water can gain access to an iron surface, oxidation (loss of electrons) can take place by the following reactions.

At what we call the "anode", each iron atom loses two electrons (for 2 Fe, 4 e-), and becomes the Fe<SUP>2+</SUP> ion in solution. For this to occur, there has to be a least some water present. The electrons released by iron then travel to the "cathode", where they are grabbed by oxygen (O<SUB>2</SUB>). By gaining an electron, the O<SUB>2</SUB> is reduced to hydroxide (OH-). The OH- and Fe<SUP>2+</SUP> combine in solution and precipitate out as solid Fe(OH)<SUB>2</SUB>.
Upon further exposure to air (with its supply of O<SUB>2</SUB>), Fe(OH)<SUB>2</SUB> becomes Fe<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB>.

The important thing to remember in the case of my rusting car is that all three reactants (Fe, O<SUB>2</SUB>, H<SUB>2</SUB>O) were present in abundance. My Nissan also had numerous warming cycles. Heat speeds up the rate of the reaction, but it also evaporates the water and exposes newly formed Fe(OH)<SUB>2</SUB> to oxygen.
Salt's Role
In addition, these reactions require a transfer medium, water. Sufficient water is necessary to transfer or conduct the electrons from the Fe anode to the O<SUB>2</SUB> cathode. But pure water is a poor conductor.
This is where salt (NaCl) comes in. NaCl breaks up into Na+ and Cl- ions in water and helps conduct electrons. The saltier a solution is, the better its conductivity. If the salt solution is warmer, say near a car's muffler or heat shield, its conductivity will also increase. The better the flow of electrons, the faster the rusting process.
The small chloride ion can also sometimes work its way past protective coatings and leach out soluble iron chloride salts, exposing new surfaces for attack.
My car was eaten by oxygen and water, but the road salt played a role too. Many of the risk factors are unavoidable, but if I can suggest one thing, it is to wash your car (especially the underside) on a regular basis to remove the road salt. I didn't, and I probably had salt aiding in the oxidation of my car long into the spring months.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR>The combined degradation caused by SALT, SUN (along with WATER, TEMPERATURE, and OXYGEN) is called "weathering". The collective action of these four components is very complicated, and is a topic of ongoing research and development in every industry that puts "some--thing" outside. Each of these factors affect the interfaces: atmosphere/coating(s), atmosphere/substrate, coating(s)/substrate. Oxygen, light (especially ultraviolet), and water cause chemical reactions in the paint that destroy the chemical bonds holding the protective coating together. Oxygen, water, and salt cause oxidation of the steel components of an automobile. Temperature cycling causes a differential expansion and contraction of the substrate and the coating, behaving like a thermal "chisel" delaminating the substrate and coating.The general strategy of corrosion prevention is to minimize one or more of these five factors (and/or) their combined interactions. Inhibiting even one of these factors can have a dramatic effect. The whole problem is far too complicated to go into much detail but one example is: In the desert southwest you find many more "vintage" autos than in the northeast and upper midwest because the factors of salt, and to some extent water, have been removed. Oxygen and high temperature, in the absence of the other factors,are not so important.
</PRE>

What is going on between Grey Phox's post and NMMR's post?

Is it just my computer or is everyone else's messed up too?

Looks like NMMR's post has some funky HTML in it...

Yeah, definitely the HTML.

Copy, paste, and preview this as a post:

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I don't know about all the paranoia...I live in the northeast and drive my M3 every day of the year. You never see rusted out cars up here, and mine has no sign of rust anywhere on it.

Just drive the damn thing. This isn't the 1970s, when the Germans were using Soviet Bloc steel. It'll be fine.

alpine love! lol just drive it and wash it when you can, its all you can do.
+1

i don't have much of a choice, one car, lol.

I would drive mine but it breaks so much I am afraid it will simply fall to pieces on the road after one mile. Piece of crap.

Try having a Jet Black car in this crap......I dont' know whether to change my paint code to AW or NaCl right now. :(








And yes, I know Sodium Chloride is table salt, and not the stuff they put on the roads.



NaCl :lol

We have always driven them all winter through anything mother nature can throw at us and touch up the rust if and when it shows. So far so good on our current two cars!

I would drive mine but it breaks so much I am afraid it will simply fall to pieces on the road after one mile. Piece of crap.

I know, well, knew, how you feel. Hopefully everything is okay for now. . .