Dealing with Salt on the road
 

F type 2014, v6s. Live in Toronto, Canada.

It hurts me every time I drive because my car ends up being covered in road salt. I wash her twice a week, but was wondering if there's any concerns with corrosion etc.?

My understanding is that these cars are pretty well protected but I don't see a lot of folks driving around in the winter months.

Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Since it's an aluminum structure and body, it is still susceptible to surface corrosion, but not to the extent of steel vehicles that can rot through. Any exposed aluminum could begin to oxidize causing adjacent paint to come loose. Easily repairable, but could be a nuisance if you don't keep the salt flushed off.
I suspect the reason you don't see a lot of F-Types on the road this time of year is that the RWD and the super wide tires generally make for real bad traction on snow and ice. Some on the forum , however, have extolled the winter driving virtues of the F-Type. Another reason is that most folks dropping $100k+ on a car are going to have a winter beater (can you say SUV? :icon_mrgreen:)

Hey Sonic. You'll see me driving around next winter in TO. Will be either V6S or AWD depending on pricing delta for the 2016’s.

I prefer to leave the salt on in powder form rather than turn it into brine. I'm thinking it's less corrosive that way especially at -17C.

I've never done it on any of my cars, but there are special undercoatings you can get applied to assist in protecting automobiles. I'm not sure what, if anything, Jaguar applies to their cars from the factory, but it may be something for you to look into if you are concerned.

I would avoid that. Costly, of limited incremental value on aluminum, and adds performance robbing weight (though it would marginally lower the center of gravity).

There are areas in which is helps (it's typically sprayed everywhere and while the frame is aluminum, there are many other aspects of the vehicle where are not that can also benefit from corrosion protection). It's not like the Emperor's New Clothes. ;) The weight comment I do find amusing as it's not like the F-Type is a Lotus Elise. The weight gain is negligible (considering everything else) and I doubt a majority of this forum is using the car in a competition manner where they would notice a loss of a 1/10 of a second on their lap time. ;)

I understand where you're coming from as I felt the same way. But I'm in Ottawa with a soft top on top of that and I daily mine. I doubt any surface corrosion will appear if the car is sprayed down as often as twice a week. Just watch your quarter panels or protect it with clearshield pro or something of the kind.

Otherwise the car is a peach to drive and snow mode helps a lot I find. There is the occasional spin or loss of traction from a dig in the deep stuff but nothing she cannot handle. I keep it at home on snowy or icy days though.