Cold weather doesn’t mean you have to lock your supercar away. These five tips can help prepare it for drives through beautiful winter scenery.
Now that it’s getting colder and snow is falling in certain parts of the country, people with supercars from brands like McLaren, Ferrari, and Lamborghini are locking them in garages until the weather gets warmer and dryer. However, there are some supercar owners who drive their exotic machines all year long, or, at least, have an interest in doing that. If you’re one of those people, pay attention to this video from Daily Driven Exotics.
Winterize Your Wheels
One of the most important changes to make to your supercar for winter driving is to switch it to rubber suited for snow and slush on the roads. Winter tires have deeper tread blocks and a softer compound that allows them to better grip the cold asphalt beneath them.
Wrap It Up
Of course, those frigid roads throw a lot of gunk up onto cars, particularly salt and sand in the parts of the country that get white Christmases. Vinyl wraps can guard a supercar’s pricey paint job from all that grit. Ceramic coating over a wrap, such as the one on the Huracan in the video, take that protection a step further.
Get Transparent
It’s even possible to wrap your car’s windshield with a transparent film. It can absorb the impact of rocks that can crack your windshield outright and makes sure smaller stones don’t give your windshield a barrage of tiny chips that can lead to big problems.
Go Big or Go Home
For drives up to ski country, you can top your supercar off with a cargo box big enough to hold your skiing and snowboarding gear. Just don’t hit triple digits on the highway when you have it on top of your Mac or Prancing Horse…
Remove Low-hanging Parts
Chunks of snow and ice can really do a number on bodywork, so be sure to take off any low-hanging parts from your car, such as the rear diffuser. It may not be as aerodynamic then, but it’s better than being stuck in park.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
