What say yee ole Northerners who deal with freezing temperatures, snow and ice filled winters? Any rituals to pass along and compare as winter is beginning. A few more sundays (in the northeast) for houshold outdoor running water (unless I want cracked pipes)

Nat-

At a year old or so, your E should be in good shape...assuming you don't have 20-50 oil in it. I just do a pre-winter check of fluids, wiper blades, battery terminals, etc. When the temperature gets down close to zero I use gas line anti-freeze. Last winter the windshield washer nozzles froze up, even though the fluid in the tank was fine. They sell washer fluid anti-freeze, but don't know if it provides any real benefit (sorta feel the same way about the gas additive, but it gives me a higher cold weather comfort level). I relied on the stock tires last year with no problem, but am thinking about getting a set of snow tires on steelies.

You should have a good snow brush/scaper, maybe a bag of sand, thermal blanket/folding shovel. A lot of that depends on how far you travel and how remote your route is. Also get the salt crud washed off as soon as possible, including in the wheel wells.

How do you like your Borla exhaust and what did you pay for it?

Ahh winter..,. don't you love it?

One more suggestion. If you get a lot of freezing and thawing I find winter wiper blades are a good idea - the rubber is a lot more pliable at cold temperatures and clears the glass better.

How do you like your Borla exhaust and what did you pay for it?



I paid $59 for the muffler (XS Turbo) and the custom 2.5" pipe and muffler installation was done for $75 from Midas (I knew the mechanic there who also is lead mechanic on their Midas racing team). I am however adding back in a performance resonator. The muffler drone gets a bit wearing after a few hours behind the wheel. Other then that, The E takes a nice deep breath when I hit 3000 RPM. It definately sounds better and breathing is improved from a performance standpoint.

P.S. Borla muffler and tip was found on e-bay.

As a resident of northern Minnesota with 20 below zero common, here are a few tips I can pass along for winter vehicle maintenance:
1. Install a block heater. Subzero temperatures put extra stress on engines new or old. I think you can probably maintain your new car's engine longer by warming it with a heater. With older cars, it can mean the difference between starting and not. I put our heater on a timer so it turns on about 2 hours before I get in to go to work.

2. After going through a car wash, run the windshield washer for a moment to clear the lines of any water from the wash. This way they won't freeze up on you. Also use lock de-icer so you don't freeze you door locks (I've broken a few by not doing this). In my area, it's a good idea to wash the car frequently since road salt used to melt the snow wreaks havoc on your car and accelerates rust. The plastic quarter panels on the Element were a big selling point for me, since it's always the wheel wells that rust out first.

3. My Element owners manual says to use 5-20 oil year-round which should work fine for winter. In the past I always used 5-30 down to 30 below or so and I could start the car ok.

4. Drive at sub highway speeds for the first 10 minutes or so, if possible. This gives your engine a chance to warm up.

5. Park in a garage or under an awning if you can. This saves lots of time not having to scrape your windshield off.

6. For the driver: When winter hits, I find an open spot with lots of ice or packed snow and slide around with the car on it. This prepares me for the inevitable slipping and sliding. I don't recommend you practice this with your wife in the car!

I hope this helps.
Perry

Here in Jersey, the last few winters have been on the colder side. January and February are usually the coldest months here. Last winter is was at 10-15 degrees above 0, quite a few days with the avg temp that hovers at the freezing point 32 degrees. A block heater is beneficial, especially where it gets really cold (like Minnesota). I always make sure I have a shovel and a cell phone whenever I'm driving in a blizzard. Many weather folks have been saying that the North East (NY/NJ/Ct will have a colder then normal winter. The weather folks say the weather has been trending in 20 year cycles. In the North east, 60's and 70's winters were colder then avg. The 80's & 90's winters were mostly warmer then avg. temperatures. They now say from the late 90's winters and on, the northeast has been once again trending colder then avg and following this 20 year cycle theory which involves El Nino and his evil twin El Chucky (alright I made up Chucky).
Moral of the story is be prepared for a cold, snowy winter if you live in the North Eastern United States

You sound like I do before about 9:00 p.m. (or last year) -- all serious! I used to believe all the damn "wolf, wolf" cries in the weather portion of the evening news here, but we haven't had much of a winter here for as long as I can remember. You got an Element? Go to sleep and worry next fall. Mine made last winter seem like a slightly colder week than this past awful summer was, and nothing more. :wink: Yawn! :roll:

(edit) The one single thing I do is make sure I have my snowbrush with the long enough handle to reach the center of the roof of my Element. It's just plain rude (not to mention, illegal) to not brush the snow off your vehicle roof before venturing out on the roadways. Since I don't have the luxury of a garage, it's the one labor I have to perform on winter mornings. The good news is the sides of the Element are so vertical, you don't have to waste any time brushing off the side or back windows. :wink: