Car prep/protection tips for Winter? (Chicago)

[DarkPhysicx]

Hello fellow "Great Lakeians", I live in the Chicago suburbs and as you know the snow can get absurd. I plan on keeping my FWD 10' Mazda 3 as a daily as much as I can, but I gotta be realistic. I'm going to want to drive my Z. Also the Mazda is getting old, chances get higher by the day it's gonna bust. I've never really gone the extra mile to protect my Mazda in the winters, it was my first car and it was used so I always thought "oh well, it was only 10k". With the Z it'll be my first new car purchase and I will want to baby it.

What do some of you do to protect your car during the winter? Especially when it comes to salt. Exterior and interior. Any tips are welcomed. All I did to my Mazda was wash it weekly. "Just don't drive the Z" I get it, but it'll be tough.

Those with lowered 350z/370z in the Chicago winters, how bad is it? Slip n sliding everywhere? Get stuck often? Trying to get an idea of what I may face. I will get coilovers so I can always raise it a little bit.

 

[Brickyard]

? Winter Sucks . . . Not the Most Friendly Environment for a RWD Sports Car at all . . .
Especially Lake Effect Snow that can come out of nowhere when the Winds Shift . . .
Best Bet for Great Lake Winters . . . Just drive the Z when roads are clear . . .
Keep plenty of quarters for the Spray Wand Wash Bays and be prepared to spray underneath to rid all the road salt and grime.

A bottle of Detail Spray also helps to keep a luster all year round, I like a product called Zymol, its cheap and smells good too

As for Driving in the Snow . . . Best to leave that to other Vehicles in the Family Fleet . . . AWD or 4WD troopers . . . .

Nothing like an AWD ~ 325 HP ~ VQ VHR V6 Powered INFINITI Branded ~ Luxury Winter Beater ~ Sport Wagon - Shooting Brake thing to get through the Winter . . . Malbec Black ~ 2016 J50L Platform ~ Assembled in Japan is the Commuter of Choice in the Winter

Doesn't hurt to have Snow and Sand ~ Non Luxury ~ Rag Top either to handle the Great Lakes Weather Conditions in Winter . . .

But when the Roads are Clear and Cool Air Goes through Brickyard 3.5 V6 Z . . . Wouldn't want to be in anything else . . .

 

[West Aussie]

@Brickyard I love the colour of your Z
@DarkPhysicx you could just move to Western Australia, then you will never need to worry about snow or ice…and little rain ??