Yup - a car is meant to be driven... but it's not realistically possible where I live.

Might be fine in an urban setting, where roads are cleared within hours of a snowstorm and stay pretty much like summer except during the worst weather. I envy you.

I live on a farm. I'm 2+ miles from a highway, and they stop plowing my sideroad when the school busses get cancelled. Being to the lee of one of the Great Lakes, this happens a lot. My commute is 21Km each way on rural roads with a few steep hills and plenty of deep ditches. Many times I've had to abandon my 4x4 pickup truck at the end of my 1/4 mile driveway and walk in through waist deep drifts. Occasionally, I wake up to cars & trucks dumped at the end of the lane when they couldn't make it any further.

We already have snow pack on the road (yes, this is way too early), and these conditions are prevalent in my vicinity through late March, with salt usually going down into mid April.

It's laughable for me to even consider driving a sports car for at least 5 months of the year! Even if I could, what's the point in throwing salt all over the frame, when it's too cold for the summer tires to hook up, and there's always the chance of a snow squall hitting before I can leave work?

I can see your points. Like I had said, some areas may be worse than others. The frame is Rock solid, the only rust is on the exhaust and stub axles. If there is it is something, I can address fairly quickly. As for driving it, there is a little thing called light throttle and know your limits.
I have a Focus RS for the snow, and when the Z is paid for there will be a Tacoma or Frontier in the plans. I didn't realize how rare the RS was when I bought it.

Edit:I wouldn't drive it in a situation where I could get hit by a snow squall, meaning weekend warrior.

Yeah, assuming the roads where people live get plowed, rust shouldn't be to big of a worry.. don't forget there are quite a few parts made out of aluminum on our car so you don't need to worry so much about rust just some corrosion.

"aluminum corrosion is aluminum oxide, a very hard material that actually protects the aluminum from further corrosion.

at freezing temperatures you dont need to worry about rust too much, pair that with frequent washing and your good.

Guess it isn't the first time winter has come early to the Great Lakes.

November 10, 1975...

Fake! The cops would actually be helping the criminals push the car and then get back into theirs. :bowrofl: