[GR82DRV]

This may sound a little stupid, but I just bought a beautiful used Elise and I was wondering if I can safely push it in and out of my garage for washing. I always do this with my Miata since it seems foolish to fire up the engine to drive just 20 feet.

Are there places on the clams that a person dares not push? (OK, I hear the snickering, so get your minds out of the gutter.) I'm serious here. Thanks

 

[Randy Chase]

Yes and yes. Don't push on the windshield, mirrors, wing if you have one.

I would recommend using the swept buttresses.... whatever they are called, that angle down from the cockpit to the rear clam. You can also open the doors and push on the front edge of the tub there. Or the roll hoop cover near the seatbelts since you are pushing on the rollbar then.

One common way I would push, if for example on the passenger side.... place the left hand on the body that angles down (near the gas cap) and the right hand in the crook of the front of the door under mirror area.

 

[fishguy]

the easiest way i have found to push a car is by the tires.
get on the top of the rear tire and give it a bit of a push.
its really easy this way, and on the lotus, you wont worry about breaking any fiberglass.

 

[pixlpush]

EDIT: Yout beat me to it Fishguy!

I push mine in and out of the garage all the time. I push it with the tires, your hands get dirty but it works great. No worries about breaking any delicate body panels. Someone at a track day suggested this to me and it works great. I don't know why I never thought of it?

 

[Randy Chase]

On the other hand, I have been injured from pushing on tires. Unless you are doing it by yourself.

How? When other guys pushed the car, my hand got caught between the tire and the well.

 

[Hello Kitty]

Seriously... start your car, and drive it!
What are you saving $0.01 in gas by pushing it? Get real!

:shift:

 

[alil'britdifferent]

Seriously... start your car, and drive it!
What are you saving $0.01 in gas by pushing it? Get real!

:shift:

+1 I'm glad someone said it!!

My typical garage/wash procedure
1. Open garage door
2. Sit in car and start up
3. Rev up a little
4. Think hmmmm... "need to warm engine now"
5. Drive around for 10 mins
6. Hit 2nd cam and drive for 10 mins more
7. Drive back home and park in driveway
8. Wash car.
9. Repeat steps 2 thro' 6.

 

[GR82DRV]

Seriously... start your car, and drive it!
What are you saving $0.01 in gas by pushing it? Get real!

:shift:

Maybe I'm wrong, but I figure that every time I start the motor and fail to bring the car up to temp I'm wearing it more than necessary. I've read that each start cycle is harder on the engine than maybe a half hour of operation at cruise with warm flowing oil.

 

[alil'britdifferent]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I figure that every time I start the motor and fail to bring the car up to temp I'm wearing it more than necessary. I've read that each start cycle is harder on the engine than maybe a half hour of operation at cruise with warm flowing oil.

...........hence my suggested procedure

 

[foosh]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I figure that every time I start the motor and fail to bring the car up to temp I'm wearing it more than necessary. I've read that each start cycle is harder on the engine than maybe a half hour of operation at cruise with warm flowing oil.

Yes, this is true. Every cold start causes more wear than most phases of normal temp operation (high RPM operations excepted).

You're getting the same wear, due to cold oil not flowing as efficiently as warm oil, every time you cold start it. You're not undoing that wear by subsequently warming it up. Having said that, it is important to routinely get the engine up to normal operating temp to burn off moisture due to condensation in the oil, but you've still experienced the extra wear of that particular cold start.

All cold start cycles are about equal whether you run it for 30 seconds or 3 hours. The bottom line is that it is not worth worrying about.

 

[CosmosMpower]

+1 I'm glad someone said it!!

My typical garage/wash procedure
1. Open garage door
2. Sit in car and start up
3. Rev up a little
4. Think hmmmm... "need to warm engine now"
5. Drive around for 10 mins
6. Hit 2nd cam and drive for 10 mins more
7. Drive back home and park in driveway
8. Wash car.
9. Repeat steps 2 thro' 6.

Problem is, after you drive it around for 10 minutes and everything is hot then you bring it back you have to wait some more. Cold water on hot brake rotors=bad.

 

[RoadDad]

+1 I'm glad someone said it!!

My typical garage/wash procedure
1. Open garage door
2. Sit in car and start up
3. Rev up a little
4. Think hmmmm... "need to warm engine now"
5. Drive around for 10 mins
6. Hit 2nd cam and drive for 10 mins more
7. Drive back home and park in driveway
8. Wash car.
9. Repeat steps 2 thro' 6.

I usually do the same procedure, except I skip step 8 all together.

 

[...m...]

...when i open my door and drop into the cockpit to release the handbrake, i just keep one leg draped over the sill to push with my foot - the car's light enough that it's trivial as long as i'm on a relatively flat surface...

 

[holmz]

My modus operandi...
Open narrow garage door
(see if charger is on the rear clam and see the wire going to the wall on drivers side)
Remove key from the ring with the garage key.
Reach in car start engine
put hand brake down
push car out.
set hand brake
close garage.
put key on ring - hop in and go.

--- later I get home ---
pull up to garage
set hand brake
turn off car
open garage
push car in
set hand brake
(hook up charger if I will be not starting it the next day or two)
lock garage

Usually push on the front clam just in front of the windscreen, or the door just near the mirror, as I need to steer it.

I can drive it in and out, but the garage is so narrow that it is easier just to push it...

But the funnest is when I am in the big garage (wife's garage) and have the top off.
I push it out and it starts down the driveway which is slightly sloped.
I hop on the sill and squat, riding the car like a skate board... Pull hand brake (carefully) when I want to stop.

 

[spf4000]

Problem is, after you drive it around for 10 minutes and everything is hot then you bring it back you have to wait some more. Cold water on hot brake rotors=bad.

What do you do when you get caught in a downpour?

 

[Gizmo3000]

I drive it out, wash it, dry it best I can, and THEN drive it around the block a few times
- which helps dislodge areas where water may have pooled up that I might have missed!
as there seems to be many!

 

[joe13531]

Prolly the silliest thread I've seen in a while. Dude? Dude. It ain't a F1 racecar. Dude. Wow. I feel like I'm in that movie Idiocracy. Is this thread for real? If it is, all I can say is... Dude? Really? Wow. /hang head in shame. DRIVE THE FREAKIN CAR INTO YOUR FREAKIN GARAGE BEFORE YOU MAKE MY MIND BLOW MORE BRAIN CELLS! Please? anic:

 

[zygotesoup]

Prolly the silliest thread I've seen in a while. Dude? Dude. It ain't a F1 racecar. Dude. Wow. I feel like I'm in that movie Idiocracy. Is this thread for real? If it is, all I can say is... Dude? Really? Wow. /hang head in shame. DRIVE THE FREAKIN CAR INTO YOUR FREAKIN GARAGE BEFORE YOU MAKE MY MIND BLOW MORE BRAIN CELLS! Please? anic:

its called being an enthusiast and a proud owner. you should try it sometime.


i do the same thing with my 1993 bmw rotfl every time i wash it i drive around for 10 minutes or so beforehand to get the engine to its proper operating temperature.

 

[Rondo Fondu]

Wash it after you've warmed it up by going to the store and getting a half dozen wobbly pops that you will consume while washing it when you get back.

 

[chapster5]

Wash it after you've warmed it up by going to the store and getting a half dozen wobbly pops that you will consume while washing it when you get back.

Excuse my Ignorence, but WTF!? is a Wobbly Pop?:shrug: