I have a question for those of you that drive the S all year round. How does it hold up. Does it do ok in the winter? How does the soft top hold up in the cold weather and elements?

I ask these questions because my current DD, a 2000 Ford Focus, just turned over 157k so this is WAY longer than this car should probably live hahahaha. I just wanted to be prepared incase it dies. At night the S would be parked in a garage so thats a plus. I live in Boonsboro, MD which is close to Hagerstown and I work in Baltimore and frequent Towson. So basically I drive like 120 miles round trip to work.

Any opinions and info would be greatly appreciated

 

I daily drive... I recommend getting some all-seasons or even winter tires mounted on a spare set of wheels. Swap to these when the weather drops below 50-55 degrees.

 

I currently drive 50 miles round trip and I hate that I put that many miles on my car. It makes me If I were you and could afford another DD, then I would go that route.

I drive year round its no problem as long as there is no snow, then I make other arrangements. However, I would suggust all seasons if you plan on driving it in the Winter. Stock S02's get very squirly under 45 degrees.

But once again, honestly if I had a commute like that I wouldnt put my S through that many miles a week. 120 a day.....That = 28800 miles per year and that is only driving two and from work Get another beater and so you S will last along time and you will enjoy all those miles on curvy roads on the weekends and evenings for the next 5-10 years.

 

01 daily driver here about to hit 100K, never had a major problem, its still running fine, and its been "driven" just get some decent tires if you plan on driving in snow and you will be fine.

 

I've got over 145K miles on The Bruised Banana now. I'm into a second top...and primarily because my knuckle-headedness liked to drop-the-top in sub-40 degree winters during the first couple years of ownership . Seriously, our vinyl ragtops are not meant to be 'crinkled' up & down when temps are in the sub-40s (unless you want a new top ).

Other than that...the rest of the car is puuuuuuure Honda (amp'd! ).

 

How many years before the first top gave, Dave? I have a habit of dropping it in sub-40s (or 20s) weather.

All seasons are fine for a few inches or if your way will be plowed. Winter tires are good in deeper snow; or in other words, it will handle pretty much whatever height of snow the Focus can.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm hoping that the old Focus will run for at least another year or so. I'm planning to hopefully move to the Baltimore area next summer so then it won't be a big deal if the S is my only car.

 

DO NOT try to drive in the snow with S-02's. On 4 Dec 03 I had an after work social event. About 9:00 PM my wife called me to tell me that it was snowing heavily at our house (west of where I was). But the time I got near my house there was about three to four inches of snow. The main road had been treated and I would test the traction every once in a while by gassing it in third gear at about 30-35 MPH and it seemed OK. However, when I went to turn down my road onto virgin untreated snow, things got ugly very quickly.

To qualify my statement: I used to road race motorcycles (even in the rain) and I have been to the Skip Barber school twice (where I nailed the skip pad stuff). But at 8 MPH, I could not keep the car pointed straight. It was one of the scariest 6/10's of a mile that I have ever experienced. I could not get over how useless S-02's are in the snow.

I picked up a set of Dunlop M-2's as winter tires and they work great. Over Thanksgiving 04 I was in snow deep enough that it was scraping the belly pan and never spun a wheel.

 

dood! do whatever you can to keep the focus running at least for winter. i know guys on here get away with running all seasons and they work but the only thing i would be worried about is the possible hills you have to deal with up around hagerstown....at least the highways you drive would probably get treated fairly quickly. i did have a scary time (not in the S) on the strip of 70 between hagerstown and frederick, when it gets hilly.

good luck man

 

I purchased in Nov '01. And actually, it started cracking at the base [of where our "B" pillar would be...if we had a "B" pillar] approx winter of '03. Right at the hinged point. Split on both sides roughly 2".