Hello,

It's winter here in NY and this weekend will be snowing.

Now I want to test my r53 that I've been working for 2 years now. I want to take it for a spin in snow

My R53 2004 is all stock, any recommendations\warnings? Can it handle snow?

Thanks.

 

If you have snow tires - yes. It’s all about the tires. At these low temps summer rubber is hard. We ran a 2005 r53 for 14 years in NY/CT - with dedicated snows. It retired to San Diego.

 

I’m sure this is right. I haven’t had dedicated snows on my R53, as I try not to drive it in the winter much (pay no attention to my avatar above…) All season tires do a passable job, but surely winter tires are the best answer.

When I bought the car, it had Michelin Pilot Exalto summer tires on it, which were excellent in the summer, and absolutely useless in the snow. Tire choice is important.

 

Careful if you stop on a hill, you will most likely spin your tires when you start off and slid a bit to the right even in 2nd. Take it easy and get the feel for it, it can be mostly fun... remember it isn't the ability to go, you need to give yourself plenty of space to stop, drag your brakes and try not lock 'em up ... even with the ABS you can easily lock up your front s in fresh snow, packed, and iced.

 

What about freezing temps? for the 2 year I've owned this ( used ) I only get to drive it in spring, summer and fall, then I parked during winter.

What I meant was any issues with the engine driving in freezing temps? issues with coolant? or the plastic expansion tank?

 

Oh, I’ve definitely driven mine in freezing temps. I’ve not had coolant issues in the winter; I use a 50/50 mix of Genuine Mini coolant and distilled water. Colder climates might need a higher percentage of coolant than that.

My coolant tank failed in the heat of summer.

The one annoying winter issue I have had happen is the door locks freezing. Once, my driver side door would not open. And on another occasion, after a snow storm followed by sub zero temps, I was able to open the door, but the lock froze and I could not get the door to close. I ended up tying the door kind of closed, ran the heat on max, and idled the car for @ 45minutes. Eventually the lock thawed.

 

It’s a good platform. We ran it 365 days a year. March 2005 - Aug 2021 - that many NY and CT winters. Snow Tires. We also ran dedicated high perf summer - the best of Michelin each product cycle.