[mrwolf]

Guys, not sure how many of you experience this or will experience this, but nonetheless I feel concerned and therefore compelled to ask this question.

Could anyone enlighten me as to the effect of dusty / sandy weather conditions and its effect on our cars?

I am not a technician but today in Dubai it has been extremely windy and unsettled with dust and sand filling the air. I'm guessing it obviously makes sense to not drive the car in these conditions..... am I being paranoid?

 

[andy c]

Guys, not sure how many of you experience this or will experience this, but nonetheless I feel concerned and therefore compelled to ask this question.

Could anyone enlighten me as to the effect of dusty / sandy weather conditions and its effect on our cars?

I am not a technician but today in Dubai it has been extremely windy and unsettled with dust and sand filling the air. I'm guessing it obviously makes sense to not drive the car in these conditions..... am I being paranoid?

Good point! I could be wrong but the engine should be protected by the air filter,as for the paint a good wrap would do the trick,but as to the driving i would suggest pressing winter mode this will dial back the response of the gearchange and flyby wire which will help with the low traction of sandy roads,just a suggestion you might want to try.

 

[roundincircles]

Well we in Blighty do not know what dust is and sand only appears in builders trucks. However fine particle sand and grit will erode the paint surface pretty quickly if the wind is high........I sand blasted some old aluminium parts for just a few seconds and they appeared like new as the top surface was removed. The Mclaren has very soft water based paint and it will chip if you shout at it! So I imagine sand will just eat it?

Not sure how good the air filter is or where it is in the engine compartment. But sand is not kind to aluminium engines in large quantities.

But I guess. Surely the local mechanics have experience of stripping engines after sand storms and general weather abuse?

I thought you all had 6 litre Ford 150 trucks for bad weather days............ you're doomed, doomed, sand doomed.......

 

[mrwolf]

Yes that's a good idea I will try the winter mode Andy....

Roundincirles, lol !

I dont have the ford but rocking a G55 AMG You really have me concerned now about my paint!! It has a soft water based paint ?!?! My Garage is not fully covered, its outside but with a massive shelter but she is still out in the elements. Im going to have to look for a wrap or some kind of solution. Or build a garage. Or move houses. ahhhhhhhhh

 

[Jerry]

I have no paint protection, a garage that is partially open to the elements, have never even considered winter mode, drive the car almost every day, don't always put the cover on it when I'm travelling and the only problem I've ever encountered (so far) is the car looking disgustingly dirty!

IMHO, if it cannot be used every day, in all conditions then it'll be getting traded for something that can .... fortunately it can be used as desired

I did however hear of one Saudi owner who drove his 12C straight out of the dealer there to here and stripped all of the paint off the front end .... but a couple of thousand km through the desert is bit more extreme than driving around Dubai when the wind is gusting and you'd would want some form of protection if planning on doing that.

 

[extremeride22]

I have no paint protection, a garage that is partially open to the elements, have never even considered winter mode, drive the car almost every day, don't always put the cover on it when I'm travelling and the only problem I've ever encountered (so far) is the car looking disgustingly dirty!

IMHO, if it cannot be used every day, in all conditions then it'll be getting traded for something that can .... fortunately it can be used as desired

I did however hear of one Saudi owner who drove his 12C straight out of the dealer there to here and stripped all of the paint off the front end .... but a couple of thousand km through the desert is bit more extreme than driving around Dubai when the wind is gusting and you'd would want some form of protection if planning on doing that.

I'm sure that no matter which car you choose to subject to any level of sand blasting will not stand up well, unless you've installed some sort of deterrent. Cheers.....??