No longer a parking garage queen

[supreme_gti]

so I decided to drive my GTI in the snow/ice, winter months here in Canada. She belongs to the streets, highway/freeway. At least when it's not crazy snow/ice out there.

Also need to get a minor oil leak I spotted checked/repaired. It's on the skid plate and I can see when I flash a light down, the other leak is coming from the PCV area, the hose from PCV to the air intake. I hope it didn't crack.

Ya so no more storage mode for my GTI!!!! she is meant to be driven all year around!!! Regardless of oil leaks lol

 

[king1138]

Good on you! I drive my GTI year round, I even drove it yesterday and today with nearly a foot of snow and below zero temperatures! As long as you are gentle with the clutch, these cars do really well in the gunk.

 

[supreme_gti]

it's -30 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada today, and I am not driving my GTI to work and leaving it parked for 8-9 hours....
My concern is the engine oil is thick (5W-40), I don't want the oil to have a tough time moving in the cold when I cold start at 5/6pm when I'm done work... I'm sure others have done it but I am not doing it...

 

[AM407]

Looks like it’s only going to be -16 when you get off work in the afternoon.

After sitting for 8-9 hours, your car will already have cooled down to the ambient temperature. Wind chill makes zero difference at that point.

FWIW, I ran 0W-40 in mine. Starting at -16 was no problem.

 

[king1138]

The coldest mine has been used in was -26 degree ambient with -51 wind chill. 5W40 worked fine!

 

[supreme_gti]

Looks like it’s only going to be -16 when you get off work in the afternoon.

After sitting for 8-9 hours, your car will already have cooled down to the ambient temperature. Wind chill makes zero difference at that point.

FWIW, I ran 0W-40 in mine. Starting at -16 was no problem.

I go based off the real feel temp reading... ya I'm being way too soft with my GTI 0_0

My work place is located 1.9km away from my home, so I really do not want to drive short distances... another reason, well the main reason why I don't drive to work.

This morning I had thoughts of the very cold freezing temps causing harm to my GTI by making the engine oil flow slower due to the thickness. I'm more confident now.

I walk/bicycle/e-scooter/dropped off to work. My last resort is drive the GTI to work, that's only IF I need to go somewhere else after work, but I usually go home from work, change, and then go down to my GTI and go where ever I have to go.

 

[supreme_gti]

The coldest mine has been used in was -26 degree ambient with -51 wind chill. 5W40 worked fine!

Alright, I am driving the GTI in the cold. Don't matter how cold lol....

 

[Saabingti]

5W should be just fine at -15 *C ... which is 5 *F

Switching to 0W-40 in advance of the winter may be a smart move for you in Toronto. I used to run 0W oils when living at your latitude in NY and we'd see temps down in the negative F's.

 

[Thumper]

I've got 5w-40 in the R and was driving it last week (Touareg was in for service) and week before when it was 4F, real feel was negatives LOL

Of course, my commute to work is 28 miles

 

[supreme_gti]

5W should be just fine at -15 *C ... which is 5 *F

Switching to 0W-40 in advance of the winter may be a smart move for you in Toronto. I used to run 0W oils when living at your latitude in NY and we'd see temps down in the negative F's.

I'm going to keep using 5W-40, if needed, I'll switch to 0W-40 in advance. Thank you for the suggestion

 

[supreme_gti]

I've got 5w-40 in the R and was driving it last week (Touareg was in for service) and week before when it was 4F, real feel was negatives LOL

Of course, my commute to work is 28 miles

honestly I would rather commute to work at a further location than 1.9km (1.18miles)... driving short distances suck... especially if I'm doing it daily.... which I won't lol.

yeahh it's always about the real feel or wind chill... whatever the weather networks call it.

 

[MLue1]

honestly I would rather commute to work at a further location than 1.9km (1.18miles)... driving short distances suck... especially if I'm doing it daily.... which I won't lol.

yeahh it's always about the real feel or wind chill... whatever the weather networks call it.

+1 Agree 100%. Cars need 15-20 minutes to burn off the condensation or it builds up a yellow pasty gunk inside your engine. Check the underside of your oil fil cap like you would buying a used car.