washing in the winter
 

my car is gettin pretty dirty and i was wondering how yall washed your 8 when the temp is below freezing outside. would it be acceptable to do a no touch automatic wash or do i just need to suck it up and do it myself and risk hypothermia...

touchless is fine.

touchless wash works. You can also go to the self wash bays.

I feel you, man. Nothing says "this sucks" like washing your car in December/January.

I was so unmotivated to wash my car that I went through most of November/December without washing it. Last week I finally gave in and went to one of those manual bay car washes and cleaned it up.

Touchless washes work fine, nothing to worry about.

Get waterproof gloves and do it yourself.

cept its freezing, water becomes ice instantly.

^ How would you do it yourself ??? The water wont even come out of my hose if i were to turn it on, its solid ice lol

True. I was just thinking of how it is where I live (mid 30s).

haha, I dont. I just park her in my garage. driving a winter beater.

The question was for pdxhak lol. Lucky i wish i could store my baby. Oh well, a cars meant to be driven .

I agree cars are meant to be driven, but I think a good car is meant to be driven right. I'm not gonna deal with all the idiots on the road in my baby.

thanks for the help guys. ill probly just take it to a bay

yup, take it to an indoor cleaning bay. Give a good wash, making sure you get the wheel wells and underneath!!!! Depending on how cold it gets, make sure you wipe down the doorjambs and whatnot as best you can (don't want them freezing over night!). And when you get home, lift your wipers off the glass so that they don't freeze and get stuck for the morning ;)

i live in an appartment so car is in the basement. I have a bucket so i just fill it up with hot water and take it down and throw that on the car and wipe it down. works good and wont freeze that fast.

haven't wash my 8 for the past 2 months, simply because its too cold.

but I don't drive it when there is snow.

I suggest you get some no rinse wash shampoo cuz just water you gonna scratch the paint.
http://www.amazon.com/32oz-Optimum-R.../dp/B000E9TS6O

alright so what about waxing.. what kind of effect does the weather have on that?

depending on what kind of wax. usually when you done wash the car, the water doesnt bead, you need some wax.
http://www.chemistryland.com/CHM130W...WaterBeads.jpg

i know that im just askin about the effects temperature has on wax.. like if its bad to do it when its really cold..

The problem with touchless washes is that the chemicals must be very harsh to be effective. They attack rubber seals and after a few years, you can tell which cars have been through touchless washes. There will be some rubber and foam trim that is starting to peel upward and warp.

How the rx8 does depends on how much rubber and foam is exposed to the exterior. Not much compared to some other cars, so it is a risk gamble. It is difficult or impossible to use no rinse in such a perfect manner as to not introduce scratches in the clearcoat over time. Can't have it both ways, pick what you can live with.

When it's below freezing outside and I want to wash, I just run very warm/hot water in the bucket with the soap, take it outside and wash with that. I keep a spare water hose inside the garage so it is fairly pliable and has no frozen water inside, and use that to rinse. Then just unhook it, drain it, and bring it back inside for next time.

If I am in a really good mood I will pull the vehicle into the garage and use ONR and hand wash/dry it in the comfort of the inside temps. That stuff does an EXCELLENT job but it takes two or three times as long to do the entire car, because you are making three to four effective passes over the entire car (wash, 2-3 drying towels/strokes per area). I actually just did my corvette last night because it had sat outside and gotten dirty over the last few weeks.

Don't drive it, keep it covered, and it won't get dirty. Mine is in hibernation! :)

You know, years ago before I got on the internet, I had never heard of "storing" a car for the winter, unless it was some really rare or exotic car. Apparently this is only done with people north of the mason dixon line (or thereabouts). Around here, there are maybe 4 or 5 days a year that you couldn't drive a sportscar due to some ice/freezing rain, or a few inches of snow. Aside from those few days, winter here is just cold, windy, overcast or rainy days that suck but present no real drivability problems. On the one hand, I'm kinda glad we don't get the extreme cold and more severe winter weather that those up north do, but on the other hand it sucks to have most of the negatives of winter (cold, wind) and not the positives (snow, to go play in a parking lot!).

Dont wash it yourself when its cold.

I had a bad experience years ago attempting this. Lets just say frozen soap water on your car is not fun...

I'm 18 and this is my only car otherwise i would definately have it covered right now haha.