EVO
well if you plan on keeping it for a while, and you don’t mind salting it up - might as well get winter wheels, and whatever other parts you need to winterize it. You only need to buy them once and can use them for entire life of the car, or however long you keep it.
If you plan to keep it for any amount of time get a beater. If not, then I guess you might as well ruin it. Get underneath either one of my Galant VR4s and see what our winters have done to a similar car to help you make the decision. They’ve practically rotted away to dust.
Double post. Whoops.
Get a shitty DD. For the cost of winterizing your car, you could find a throwaway DD.
This. Plus, if you’re going to keep it for a while, you only have to spend on the money on rims once.
Evo, it awd. Plus whatever piece of shit you buy will likely be just that, a piece of shit and will be way more likely to leave you stranded or break down than your nice new car. Plus you’ll probably have to buy snow tires for the pile of shit too.
In the end Fuck it, it’s a car. It’s not likely to go up in value. My R has never seen a winter, but fuck it I’m getting meaty snows and going to enjoy the hell out of my awd this winter.
I had a five-speed Legacy winter beater and my Evolution last winter… in the end, the Evo won hands-down (both cars were / are on dedicated snows). After a while, fixing rusted brake lines and patching gas tanks just ended up sucking too hard. Keep the X clean and oiled and enjoy.
Drive it.
Dealing with fixing POS winter cars and realizing you have a perfect winter car in the garage sucks. And I wouldn’t sweat raising the car, that inch is not gonna make a difference. The only downside is spending a thousand bucks on 18" winter tires. I need them for the BMW that I rarely drive in the snow.
X…
I’m not really too worried about ruining my new car. I have a nice corrosion warranty anyways. It’ll be the next owners problem.
I guess I will keep an eye out for a good deal on wheels, but only then will I rock my car in zee winter.
I do have a work truck. But for what its worth in wear and tear on something that makes me money, I’d rather have a more gas efficient DD or winter car.
There is a neon in West Seneca that the owner takes the front bumper off in the winter…actually, it seems to work quite well and you get gobs of clearance. Take off Front and Rear Bumpers and Drift that shit all winter long…!
I have an AWD dsm going on the market in a day or two, needs work but runs and drives. look for it in the classifieds soon.
Just PM me.
EVO. After buying the beater, registration, inspection, insurance, fixing little shit all the time, etc… you won’t come out that much ahead. Enjoy the nice car you have, year round. Get the delta sonic unlimited car wash deal (has the underspray), and just give it a buff in the spring. We do this with my wife’s car, it’s an 07 and the undercarriage looks good as new.
That’s some good thinking.
But it’s still nice to have a 2nd vehicle just to have as a back up.
This. Plus, if you’re considering a DSM for a beater, you will most likely be fixing it ALOT.
If it were my car it would not be the underside I am worried about rusting. it is the body. rockers, front of hood, bottom of doors. There is not much you can do to prevent it. you can undercoat the underside of your car and not worry about rust but in a few more years rust spots WILL start to show up on the body after 6-8 years in salt. It is just part of living in the rust belt. The front and sides of your car gets hammered with salt all winter and it causes chips which will begin the rust process. Not saying washing it will not help I just hate seeing nice cars turn into shit boxes because they are winter driven. + the chances of being in a crash are WAY higher in the winter. You might do everything right then have some jack ass on bald tires slide into you at a light. It happened to me but since I was in a beater I said don’t worry about it and went about my business. Just my opinion of course.
Store the X. It’s the cool thing to do. I don’t plan on driving mine. I cant justify spending $1000+ for snow tires when I can get a car I don’t give 2 shits about and hit stuff with and save my BRAND NEW minty car. I plan on keeping mine forever, I don’t know about your situation on keeping it or not. Plus, I’d rather not wrench on a corroded, rusty pile of shit. Thats no fun.
Store it and get a beater. Never understood driving a sports in the winter. Yeah it would be fun but not worth it.
What’s the lug pattern/size you looking for