# Road Salt Season: What Winter Roads Do to a Lotus Chassis

The aluminium tub will not rust, but the steel parts bolted to it can. Where salt does its damage on a Lotus, and how to keep it off through the winter.

Source: https://lotustrails.com/blog/2026-10-20-road-salt-and-the-lotus-chassis/

The gritters will soon be out on the colder nights, and anyone who keeps using their Lotus through the winter will be driving on salt. A Lotus is not immune to it, although the damage turns up in different places from an ordinary steel-bodied car.

## Why the tub is not the whole story

The [Elise](/models/elise-s1/), [Exige](/models/exige-s1/), [Evora](/models/evora/) and [Emira](/models/emira/) are built around a tub of aluminium extrusions bonded together with epoxy adhesive, and the body panels are composite. Neither rusts in the way a steel monocoque does, which is a large part of why so many early Elises are still on the road.

But the tub is only part of the car. On the Elise and Exige the rear subframe is steel, and so are the suspension wishbones, many brackets and most of the fasteners. Our [buying guide](/guides/buying-a-used-lotus/) and [known issues guide](/guides/recalls-and-known-issues/) both list corrosion of the rear subframe and wishbones on older cars in wet or salted climates as something to check.

## Where steel meets aluminium

Salt water conducts electricity well. Where steel and aluminium touch and stay wet with it, the two metals form a simple battery, and one of them corrodes faster than it would on its own. This is galvanic corrosion, and it is why mounting points, bolts and brackets on a mixed-metal car deserve more attention than the large flat surfaces.

Salt also collects where it is hard to see on a low car: inside the wheel arches, on top of the subframe and behind the clamshells. It stays there long after the surface looks dry.

## If you drive through the winter

- **Rinse the underside after salted roads.** A garden hose or a low-pressure rinse is enough. Concentrate on the arches, the subframe and the suspension.
- **Be gentle with a pressure washer.** Keep the jet away from electrical connectors, wheel bearings and bushes, where it can force water in rather than washing it out.
- **Let it dry before you close the garage door.** A wet car in a sealed, unheated garage can stay damp for days. A short drive on a dry road, or leaving the door open for an hour, helps.
- **Protect the steel parts.** A wax or lanolin-based underbody protectant on the subframe and wishbones, applied in autumn, gives the salt something to sit on other than bare metal.

## If the car is going away

Never lay a car up with salt on it. Wash and dry the underside first, then follow the usual routine of tyres, fuel and [battery care](/blog/2026-10-14-battery-care-over-winter/).

In spring, before the first trip, get the car on a ramp and look at the subframe, the wishbones and the bolts that hold them. Surface rust caught early is a wire brush and a coat of paint. The [road trip preparation guide](/guides/road-trip-preparation/) covers the rest of the checks before you head for the hills again.