Winter driving...

RTFwBG · January 15th, 2013, 09:57 AM

I'm looking at potentially picking up a Viper before spring, but living in Illinois the weather obviously makes this difficult. If I decide to get the car I think I can arrange a for a friend with an open trailer to come pick it up, but it really would just be more convenient for me to drive it home.

My question is, how bad of an idea would it be? The trip would be about 120 miles. My understanding is that road salt is really the biggest concern (other than snow/ice traction). If I did go ahead and drive it back I'd try and find a time where there hadn't been any precipitation for 5+ days so the roads would be clear and at least semi-salt free. I've got a power washer at home so the salt could be cleaned off before it went into storage. Any thoughts/opinions on this?

Also, I briefly started to look into car covers and didn't realize there would be so many options - is there a preferred brand/type that people like?

virginiavenom · January 15th, 2013, 10:06 AM

I like my california CC if I were you, just wait a little longer. otherwise you risk freak storm etc. and road debris from the winter can be just as bad as the front is just getting pelted with it. don't ruin it before you even get it home.

SRTVen · January 15th, 2013, 11:44 AM

Why don't you get a flatbed tow truck or an enclosed trailer to haul it to your house?

angleiron · January 15th, 2013, 12:06 PM

Just drive it home...taking the interstates you will be fine.

Steve L · January 15th, 2013, 05:12 PM

Enclosed trailer for sure, the weather is unpredictable.

jesse031081 · January 15th, 2013, 08:51 PM

I bought mine in Illinois last week and I had a flat bed bring it home with out any worry of salt or no traction.

RTFwBG · January 16th, 2013, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesse031081

I bought mine in Illinois last week and I had a flat bed bring it home with out any worry of salt or no traction.

Any chance it was a black Gen3 convertable at Diamond Motorworks in Naperville? I noticed it disappeared recently from Autotrader.

Westxsrt10 · January 16th, 2013, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve L

Enclosed trailer for sure, the weather is unpredictable.

^this

**sundiego** · January 16th, 2013, 07:12 PM

Drive it. Never been a problem for me.

plumcrazy · January 16th, 2013, 07:39 PM

its just a car. drive it. when you get it home, clean the heck out of it

Hammerchuk · January 19th, 2013, 11:14 PM

I bought mine at the end of April and ran into a snow storm on the way home with it. Plowed the road with it until making it to the nearest motel. Sketchy drive for sure!

Just be careful with it and get off the road as soon as possible if you hit snow or black ice conditions!

Canadian Snake · January 20th, 2013, 09:32 AM

Nice Shot!

jerrynt · February 7th, 2013, 02:26 PM

you should have it towed on a flat bed to your home

RTFwBG · February 12th, 2013, 06:51 AM

Well, I finally picked up my viper last weekend. I got a Blue/White 97 GTS. The weather couldn't really have been better as we got a bunch of rain the previous Thursday that washed all the salt off the road. The only real issue was the long 800 mile road trip back from Texas, and now I just get to look at it in my garage until spring finally comes.

Hammerchuk - being up in Canada, do you really get much time to drive that thing around?