Which of you use your 240s as a daily driver ,year round ie to say during winter. I’m asking it as a serious question of drivability for people with just oen car and drive to work every day.
A NA Ka engine , sensible ride height and good tyres, is it possible to drive this in winter?
yes many do so.
possible yes, i even enjoy it
its alot of fun but you can not go up big hills dont even try unless you have mud boggin tires dont bother but its fun
i love the way my 240 handled in winter. And it was an economy sports coupe when it was for sale in the north american market. So it would need to be driveable through the winter
Make sure u have a vlsd for winter though. Open diffs in the winter=poopy driving. and unpredictable at high speeds. it can change the power from wheel to wheel and throw u into a spin, i know ive been in a spin at like 80km around a corner, its not fun with an open diff. LSD’s are soooo predictable and the only way to go
I drove a Camaro during the winter (with summer tires), so I’m assuming a 240 with less power should be good. Get some winter tires and drive smart and sensible. Nobody is going to be impressed with your car and/or driving skills when you’re wrapped around a pole…in other words, don’t be a showoff.
I DD mine to work in winter and everything, however i have two sets of wheels.
its an 89 coupe, 1st year i got it no vlsd and winters, it was tolerable. next year put in vlsd with same winter tires but less tread, complete night and day difference.
never got stuck, if i thought i did, just punched it and i’d go sideways for a bit, but i’d still go forward, never got stuck ever, this year got new winter tires, and damn even a better drive.
I drove 240 all year around for 11 years except last winter and I never had more fun with any other car. If you now how to drive there is no problem going uphill on icy road (vlsd and winter tires help). Make sure you have good brakes and alignment. Last year I bought winter-beater and I’m glad i did because finding 240 in acceptable condition now is very difficult. Believe me it’s cheaper to spend $500 or so every 2 years for POS.car than driving any good car over all that patholes and bathing it in salty mixture for 5-6 months of winter in Toronto.
If you plan to keep you car and invest in it - don’t drive it in the winter here.
If you are rich and have 240 in good condition, please drive Mercedes and sell 240 to somebody from this forum who will really appreciate it.
Dude I’m so not rich, but I get all that you and everyone has said. Good so I’m not so scared anymore to do the RWD in snow. Thank you gentlemen for the wisdom.
good winter tires and good driving works well in the winter…
NA or Turbo wont matter as long as you have those two things
i dd my old s14 thru 2 winters and one of them with bodykit thru snow… so i must say it is not a problem… u jsut need to remember rwd = good winter tires or new winters for WINter… no all season bs… and ul be fine.
I daily drove mine this winter. It’s pretty bad compared to most other cars. The front wheels lock up SO EASILY (mine has ABS so it just buzzes and the car slides forward helplessly), I don’t know why, I had absolutely no braking ability in snow, but this was with crappy all seasons. It would fishtail like mad with the all seasons, which was extremely fun but dangerous in traffic. Also, I have a VLSD, so no one wheel spinning and getting stuck occured unless I was on a steep hill. VLSD is really beneficial, that I can say. Also, I had a bit of money so I put Michellin X-Ice’s at the back but only at the back, and it made a significant difference in grip and the ability to accelerate, or take a turn without oversteering. It threw off the balance of the car though, turning it into an understeering monster, unable to brake in time lol.
Worst thing though, is the ground clearance, that little underspoiler (diffuser?) at the bottom of the front bumper turns into a scoop lol. Honestly, if you have winters, a VLSD and ABS, you shouldn’t run into to many issues unless there’s a lot of snow, like more than 3".
Our cars rust to shit man, winter driving them is deadly for their underbody, and I try to minimze it because I don’t have the funds for a beater and no room for storage, as with most other people who have to DD their 240. I just had my frame rails, rockers and quarter panels repaired, and I’m gonna spray undercoating (rubberized asphault) to seal over the primer and then get rustproofing done on top of that. Call me paranoid if you want I don’t care lol. I hope this post is what you were looking for. Good luck.
vlsd, good winters, 5 spd… S13 is a powerhouse in the winter.
i think the question is more, how much of an all year driver are you?
quoted for truth
P.S. hatch for winter, coupe for summer = win
I drove my coupe all winter. VSLD, gnarly winter tires… I made my friend’s ranger look incompetent every time it snowed.
i’m taking off my winters next year. I was surprised by how well the s13 drove in the snow i just had some good snow tires, 1.5" drop, no lip or aero, stock KA and about 40 lbs of weight in the back at all times.
This is my 1st winter in my 1st car in canada, & its an s13hb. I have only driven in the winter so far, & i drove daily over 80kms through winter snowstorm warnings & whatever was thrown at it. Only once i bumped a snow bank on avenue rd when the car was still auto & understeering. After my 5 spd swap it would shame some fwds awds even those SUVan jokes . All i had was a pair of winter and a pair of all seasons, vlsd, and hicas sometimes. For a while i didnt even have power steering, hence no hicas either. Great car for winter, just patch framerail sometime.
i drove my car all winter with silvia front end welded diff, kinda bald winter tires and a sr with no problems, its not how much power you got its just throttle controlw.
KA-T’d 2 winters successfully, as people have said what matters is:
– Winter tires
– VLSD
– Intelligent driving
chyea! thats what im doing.
hatch for daily, including the next winter, coupe for the summer.
btw, anyone know if those rust-prevent boxes from CT acctually work? i’d like to survive the hatch’s frame somehow.