How cold do you still drive your Ferrari before storing it for winter? | FerrariChat

How cold do you still drive your Ferrari before storing it for winter?

Discussion in '348/355' started by Franc, Nov 6, 2009.

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  1. Franc

    Franc Rookie

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    I plan to winter store my car around mid December; my garage is not a heated garage. Should I be concern about that? I am located in Manheim, PA and it gets really cold in January and February for sure. Any inputs?
    Thanks,
    Francisco
     
  2. cbstd

    cbstd Formula Junior

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    What is this "Winter" you speak of? Year round out here in LA.

    I would expect that most F cars and their tires are challenged by a few inches of "snow" (Not to self: I must investigate the words "snow" and "rust" some day).

    Scott
     
  3. modena2904

    modena2904 Formula Junior Owner

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    I drive mine in any temperature. Typical mid-winter temps around here get down to around 0F. You should be fine.

    Note that I have Pzero Nero's on my car specifically so that I can use the car at low temps. To me, it's worth giving up a little bit of ultimate traction for year-round driveability.

    - Eric
     
  4. mesoscale

    mesoscale Formula Junior

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    I'll drive mine in any temperature too. I'm more concerned about salt on the roads after snow. Things may be a little different up in PA. I actually find that the engine performs better in colder temps.
     
  5. Llenroc

    Llenroc F1 Veteran Rossa Subscribed

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    I live in the desert in western colorado, here there is no real snow to speak of but it can get chilly in Dec. & Jan. 30s-40s. I will drive the car when I can in those months. As was said above I would be more concerned about salt than anything else in your area.
    Do a search there has been quite a lot of discussion on car storage.
     
  6. Saint Bastage

    Saint Bastage F1 Rookie

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    Temp has nothing to do with it....I hate SAND. Black cars show every little nick. I park it after the first snow and leave it until a real good spring rain or street sweep.
     
  7. AceMaster

    AceMaster Three Time F1 World Champ

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    Same here, salt is my car's Kryptonite.

    To the OP: our weather is comparable to PA's, so I understand your concern. The day it snows or the day they dump salt on the road is the day I store mine. The temperature has nothing to do with it.
     
  8. dlynes

    dlynes Formula 3

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    +1

    the cooler the temperature the better your engine will run unless you are in maybe Alaska where you are at the other end of the extreme spectrum. I just would not want to drive my car on salt, sand or snowed roads.
     
  9. FBI

    FBI Formula Junior

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    Yeah Yeah keep on rubbin..Here is the Snow we speak of... LoL!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0id9fUYb95A

    Cheers!
     
  10. Steveny360

    Steveny360 F1 Veteran

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    Mine is already in storage but it's only for lack of space as my whole house is under construction and I don't have any space in the garage. I was thinking of going to retrieve the car this weekend and go for a little drive.
     
  11. FUNRARI

    FUNRARI Formula Junior

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    I drive my car in any temp as long as the road is clear of salt and dry, the only concession I make is the use of driving gloves, (the shift knob can get very cold in winter). :D
     
  12. UConn Husky

    UConn Husky F1 Rookie

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    with dry roads, I drive in any temps. I have seen some ill-effects recently though, cold weather belt squeak on startup for a few seconds and the starter doesn't always want to engage the flywheel.

    Still it's much much better for the cars to keep things moving over the winter...you really don't want those cam belts to be sitting in one position stretching for 3 months or more.
     
  13. rbellezza

    rbellezza F1 Rookie

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  14. 355

    355 F1 Rookie BANNED

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    Thats for sure!. There is more to storing a car than many think. Throwing in some gas stabilizer, plugging in the battery tender and parking it for the winter is not the way to go. These cars need to be started up, let warm up fully and taken around the block every 3 weeks or so. Not doing that is only asking for trouble down the road and yes the garage you store it in needs to be heated, not like your home but well above freezing.
     
  15. 96cobrakid

    96cobrakid Formula Junior

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    Its a car, not a water bottle. It won't freeze and change forms.....lol drive ti like it was meant to be driven
     
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  16. AceMaster

    AceMaster Three Time F1 World Champ

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  17. 355

    355 F1 Rookie BANNED

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    Unfortunately the timing belt will change forms if you leave it in one positon for a long time especially in the cold.
     
  18. 96cobrakid

    96cobrakid Formula Junior

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    and I also said Drive it :)
     
  19. BLAMPEE

    BLAMPEE Man Card Status: Never Issued

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    What is this "shift knob" of which you speak...?

    LoL
     
  20. IvanRico

    IvanRico Karting Rossa Subscribed

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    Resurrecting this thread - I also tend to drive my car in any temperature but once it snows I don't want to deal with sand and salt and gets stored for the rest of the winter.

    In warmer weather my water temps tend to run around 180-200F and oil temps around the same. Yesterday at highway speeds with ambient temps around 25F I was seeing water temp only get to 150-160F and oil temps around 130F.

    Is this normal for cold weather running? Engine out this year so the thermostat will get replaced soon anyway.
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  21. audi_328

    audi_328 F1 Rookie Silver Subscribed

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    I don’t take it out below about 40F, as the tires (Michelin PS4S) aren’t designed for temps below that. Otherwise I drive whenever there’s no salt on the roads.
     
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  22. IvanRico

    IvanRico Karting Rossa Subscribed

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    You are of course 100% right that summer tires below 40 deg F are a bad idea and should be switched for all seasons or snows for safety reasons. Putting that aside, I'm still curious if the car is designed to get up to proper operating temps at highway speeds and ambient temps below freezing.
     
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  23. 308 GTB

    308 GTB F1 World Champ Rossa Subscribed

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    I ordered PS4Ss the month they were released for use as rain tires. At this Lime Rock Park track event at the end of October 2018, the temperature in the morning was about 38ºF and never got above 42º

    Slicks were out of the question so on went my PS4Ss...


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    The sun was out so that helped a bit with tarmac temperatures. I drove 4 laps at 6/10s and pitted in to check the tires. They heated up nicely. I went back out and drove faster. I soon forgot that I wasn't driving on slicks...


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    Temperatures both days were in the low 40s.

    Those PS4Ss are some great tires!
     
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  24. bball16

    bball16 F1 Rookie Rossa Subscribed

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    As long as there is no salt on the road I drive it
     
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  25. IvanRico

    IvanRico Karting Rossa Subscribed

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    What water temps do you see on the highway at colder temps?
     
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