briggs2k

Hey, I'm actually in CO too! First off, I have an '03 that's been having the same issues on startup. I hit the start button and release it like normal, but it makes the same sound that it would had I been pressing the starter too long. Also seems to nearly die after startup when it's really cold if you don't give it a little gas for about 10 sec. I have no idea if this is super bad and needs to be fixed or if it's just the name of the game. FWIW I also moved here not too long ago, coming from a crazy different altitude/environment (Tucson, AZ).

In terms of winter driving, i don't need to DD (can walk where I need to go) so I haven't driven in the really nasty stuff in my car yet. Everyone on s2ki.com swears by winter tires, which makes sense if you DD. I would think you could probably just pick up some steelies and throw some winter tires on them. Not great for looks, but it's functional. For my needs I actually just moved up to Conti's DWS's, which do very well in the slush and wet. Haven't tried them in deep snow yet, but I don't have any complaints about functionality. On the other hand, they don't handle nearly as well in the dry. I think next time around I'll look into the Conti DW's for summers and dedicated tires for the winter.

In the way of groups, there are a lot of Coloradans on s2kca.com, but the moderator for the s2ki Rocky Mountain group said that it looks like most will be moving over to s2ki to plan meets and stuff. Not great mountain driving conditions for now, but I can't wait for the summer! Sorry for the essay, but it looks like we're having a lot of the same issues!

Briggs2k

LandShark

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LandShark

It's cool dude, it sounds like you have the exact same issue as me! It's good to know im not the only one with the engine dropping rpms after the initial grind. Im still wondering why it even happens However yesterday it was perfect outside, around 60/65 degrees, and when i got in my car, what do you know, no startup grind. My car has gotten much better/quicker too since i put my ecu backup fuze back in, so i guess it did need to learn the conditions of CO. Once the car is warmed up it drives awesome so i dont think this issue is something to worry about to seriously. However i wont say its not weird though lol. Hell sometimes I get scared to even start it when it's super cold outside now because i hate that stupid grind noise so much

Unfortunately my S is my daily and i still have a good 2 more years of payments on it, so thats the way it's gonna have to be for a while. But Ya im going to get winter tires, maybe i'll pickup a cheap set of ap1's off craigslist for some winter beater wheels. The only reason im still a little worried is because even when i drove my brothers jeep in 4wd the other day i still almost lost control of it while turning lol. I guess i have to learn to slow up in the snow. Hopefully the tires will solve it. My rears are so bald they pretty much power slide every corner wherever i go, so at least it was already time for me to switch tires anyway.

Im going to start checking out the local CO section of the site and be on the look out for group drives posts. What part of CO are you from dude? Im in the middle of lakewood and so far i just go driving down Morrison into the mountains. Im usually a big fan of snow in the south because it happens so rarely, but here im already sick of it. Cant wait for summer so i can go tear these mountains up