Rustproofing '08 Subaru In Cleveland & Tires

Miss Motocicletta is asking if her father should rustproof his '08 Impeza, She asks me 'the car expert' if it should be done, all of her family in Cleveland are on the rustproofing bandwagon for their similarly old cars before the snow arrives.

I say *NO*, the car is driven little, grocery store, gym, few errands, he is 80+, no commuting to work and next to nothing freeway driving.

On a similar note la motocicletta complained that last winter while driving for her father on ice and snow she slid into an intersection. The car has 50% worn all season tires, 4wd, and I don't know if it has traction control. We prefer not to do the winter wheel & tire change, again because of his age, little driving and avoiding complications and expense.

I proposed driving on snow tires year around given the minimal miles, Tire Rack has a range of options, I like this:



Dunlop Wintermax on sale $ 99.00 ea.

We live in So. Cal and have no snow experience, what do he adventurers think?

Studded snows are the ultimate for winter traction. Especially for braking on ice. But in most states you've got to take them off for the summer..
"Rustproofing" often causes more trouble by blocking vents & drains. I think spraying used motor oil on the undercarriage is the most effective rustproofing.



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Miss Motocicletta informed me that in Ohio studded tires are illegal.

I agree that rustproofing can plug drain holes, then there are those that dill holes and spry inside, this I do not like as well. The Subaru is galvanized, I think it is difficult to improve on the factory, drain holes, chemical processes and plating.

I have really loved the Dunlop Wintersport M3 3D. Forget the fact that sport is in the name, and that the name itself is really stupid when you say it out loud.

What I like about them is their good snow-tire characteristics while maintaining good dry handling. Many of the 'ice' rated tires are dismal dry-conditions tires.

Tom in Minnesota.

hmm... i would double check if studded tires are illegal in ohio, i ran them every winter on a truck i had in ohio - i think they are legal seasonally. i could be wrong.

all subarus rust out in the rear wheel wells. i would assume anything is better than factory...

vdc ((vehicle dynamics control) is subarus traction control - in 2008 it was available on all imprezas except for the base model... i have no experience with it...

I put a set of Bridgestone Blizzaks our our car last year, they have the best traction of any snow tire I've had.

I've heard good reports about these, but have not tried them;
http://www.greendiamondtire.com

They have carborundum particles in the tread, and supposedly work as well as studded tires on ice.

If skipper doesn't need to be on the road, then he should only do so when there's no heavy snow, or no snow at all. Id use the tires that are on there.
I would also have the undercarriage sprayed.

Would you derive the Blizzacks year around given the very low miles driven? We are not looking for stellear summer performance but good braking traction in the snow and ice.

Thanks

Nokian WRG3. It is a TRUE winter rated "all season" tyre.
I don't have personal experience with this model, but have used various versions of the studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta series over the past 15 years and swear by them.

I am looking at these Tire Rack does not carry them, it looks like that they can do the job year around. Again we are looking for the best winter traction without the 'winter setup'. Simple & low maintenance

Thanks

Studs are legal in Ohio from October 15th through March 15th unless something has changed in the last few years. Nokian's are phenomenal tires and I have used them year round on a little used Subaru and they wear well. Blizzak's not so much as they are made from a very soft compound that wears quickly.

As for rustproofing I would skip it. I agree with the other poster that an oil spray would be best if you can actually find someone to do it. A better option would be to just get it washed once a week with a chassis spray to prevent the accumulation of salt, brine, calcium chloride or whatever they are using in their Ohio community. I know in some areas they were using a beet juice derivative last year. :huh Either way they use way too many chemicals around here and it does eat away at cars quickly. Subaru's seem most susceptible around the rear wheel arches where dirt and debris accumulate on the fender lip. I make sure to spray it out and have been able to keep my Suby's rust free for a little longer than most. No matter what it will eventually get you though.

Thanks for the good info form an Ohioan. We will not use studs to simplyfy expenses and life for an elderly man.

We will not rustproof, but look into washing the underside at the end of the season.

It looks like the Nokian's will be the best winter tire fit that can be uses all year long.

Good decisions.

My thoughts on the matter-

1) the car is already 5 years old, if rust is to be an issue in the future it is too late now to change that.

2) studs are a hassle, and since the car is 4wd anyway if the roads are bad enough that studs would make a significant difference, IMHO an elderly driver should not be out anyway as any sort of mishap could become a health or safety issue.

Find a detailing shop close to where he lives and call them to find a quality car wash that has an undercarriage spray and take it there in the spring.

As one who originated in Minnesota and lives in Ohio studs are next to pointless. We got a whopping 4" of snow here last year and running around with studded tires would be more annoying than useful.

Rust I wouldn't worry about. A wax before winter and one after winter should help, and wash it as frequently as you possibly can. If the car can be driven through one of the automatic car washes once a week it would go a LONG ways towards preventing rust. You want to get the road grime off as soon as is possible.

For tires, I cant recommend any specific one, but just looking through the reviews on tire rack is a great start. The other side of that is the driver. Even in MN with a real winter every year for 6 months long every new snow brought out the idiots who forgot what its like. Here in OH its worse as we get few true snow storms. The end result is drivers end up forgetting what you need to do and don't leave appropriate space to stop. The usual result is someone blameing the tires. All season tires are usually good enough, although factory tires are usually crap intended for good fuel economy and SUCK in the snow, and a different set of street tires won't make your car an F1 car again when it snows.

I live near Toledo and have an '11 WRX. I use Dunlop SP Wintersport 3D tires for my winter set on the stock rims. They are a "performance winter" tire with great traction in snow and rain but I would be comfortable driving on them year round. They can get squirrely when cornering aggressively in warmer weather due to the softer rubber compound, doubt your fil will notice. Cleveland gets plenty of lake effect snow so the season for snow tires is 5-6 months long anyway. I would stick with winter performance or dedicated snow tires that fit your budget.

An 08 Subaru should have traction control and ABS brakes. The drifting into an intersection could be just be late braking in snow with worn tires. Snow tires will make a big difference but if it was ice nothing helps, you are just along for the ride.

I don't do any rustproofing. I take my car to a touchless car wash that has an under body spray every couple weeks. The area of cars I see rusting around here is either the rocker panels or around the wheel wells where the inner fender liner rubs on the fender lip. The rockers can be hosed out or use the underbody spray at a car wash. The fender problem wouldn't be affect by "rustproofing". You have to get a rag between the fender and liner wipe out all the salt and road grime. Or if you wait too long like I did with my truck (03 Dodge), remove the fender liners, sand the inside of the fender to bare metal and paint. Easier to clean that area out each spring.

Welcome to northeast ohio.

I know a guy that does oil spray in canal fulton out of his garage, Did that one winter and my truck still got noticeably rustier. I just bought this peice of shit to drive in the winter instead.

Can one argue that in this case rust starts from the inside of doors and unibody?

Condensation, no or little paint on the inside surfaces, paint and rust treatments will never get inside the rocker panels.

Thanks for the poignant pic. I like the Porsche style window lift.

I'll add my 2¢ here as well, having grown up in Colorado and lived all over the place.

Studs are definitely pointless for city driving, and as others have pointed out, most states only allow their use in the winter. We didn't have this problem in Colorado, as the clicking of my studs on pavement one year in August reminded everyone (my apologies to the DOT).

That said, a lot of the studdable winter tires are a harder compound than the studless Blizzak-type tires and will last significantly longer when used on pavement. I like General's Altimax Arctic, which is the tire formerly known as the Gislaved Nord-Frost 3 (Continental owns both companies, so the discontinued Gislaved molds made their way to Germany to turn out more tires). They hold up nicely, grab pretty well even without studs and are among the cheapest snow tires on the market now. Firestone's Winterforce is a similar tire, but it does make more noise. If you have a Nokian dealer, the Nordman 4 is a discontinued Nokian Hakkapeliitta design and should also be cheapish and relatively long-lasting.

The less performance-oriented all-seasons also do decently well in snow: the blockier the tread pattern and the deeper the sipes, the better.

As for rustproofing, wash it. Then wash it again. And it'll still rust, but it'll rust less if you keep the salt off. Freaking Subaru. It blows my mind that a brand specifically marketed at people who live in areas with snowy winters is one of the most poorly rustproofed available. They tend to rust through in places not covered by an old-school oil or wax spray, though, so that's not worth it.

I've seen a few Focuses (Foci?) like that here too. I gotta wonder what the hell Ford was smoking when they built those. That's some 1960s rust right there. Volvo and Saab seem to have figured it out in the 80s, and so did Ford in the 90s, but wtf happened on these?! I've seen that model Focus with (very light) rust in Los Angeles.

I use FluidFilm. Lanolin based so it keeps my cars skin moist and wrinkle free

Seriously though, it doesn't react with the plastics (some sprays swell or discolor plastics) but does a good job of keeping the chemicals off of the metal (what little metal there is in my Chevy Cruze).

I got my can from Amazon and have used it on 1 bike (Ural) and 1 car (Cruze) for 2 years now. I spray the wheel wells, the rocker panels and as far as I can underneath.

I own a business with a fleet of cars. We use Blizzaks exclusively in the winter. They're amazing. We can get 3 winters out of a set if we take them off before warmer weather hits. If you run them in the summer, you will burn them right off though.

For rust proofing, we spray our under carriages with Boeshield T-9. A gallon is about $100 and I can do three cars with a gallon in a pump sprayer. It lasts a couple of winters. Fluid film is all the rage here in Maine. It works too but doesn't last as long and makes the vehicle a pain in the ass to work on.