iamcanadian

I too grew up in Winnipeg (Fort Richmond) and went to U of M. I took up Gord on his good advice re: Toyo Garits . . . fantastic and completely drivable in winter conditions. The 8 w/winters in Winnipeg will be fine with the only caveat being clearance as Literatii mentioned. Let us know your comments on the Blizzaks when winter arrives once and for all!

Literatii

Well, it's -25c this morning here in Calgary! Maybe a bit later I'll go see how the car starts

Digisan

Just took my 8 out to test it in the snow. I didn't even make out of the gate! LOL, I expected to at least leave my residence. Heck, I saw a Mustang Cobra make it out (barely)!

Literatii

With OEM tires you won't be able to go anywhere. People don't believe it until they actually try it.

sewingguy

Wow. You guys were right! We had our first snow here in New York today and I had to leave my car at work - (I took a train home.) it just wouldn't move on the stock tires. It was so bad that I was all over the road. I'm used to people staring at the car and pointing - up till now it's been because of its looks - today they pointed because it looked like a drunken sailor (not that there's anything wrong with that) Please tell me that snow tires will make a difference; I never experienced anything so bad.

Gord96BRG

All over this forum for the past 2 months, I've been preaching that the stock summer high-performance tires will be absolutely useless on snow, and that anyone considering using the car in winter will have to get winter tires. I put mine on 6 weeks ago, and we've had snow for 5 weeks here. I started this particular thread 5 weeks ago to report that the RX-8 does great in snow on winter tires. Lots of other people have now confirmed this experience; lots of other people have also confirmed that the car goes nowhere on the stock tires. Since I reserved the right long ago to say this, I won't refrain: I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!! At least you followed one bit of my advice, and left the car parked rather than crunch it while trying to slide home. If at all possible, get yourself a good set of winter tires - they do make all the difference. I actually prefer driving the RX-8 in snow to our Audi quattro (also equipped with 4 winter tires), the RX-8 is a lot more fun and nearly as sure-footed.

Regards,
Gordon

RX8Lover

Count me in on those doubtful that tires make the difference!

My wife took the car to Target today and got stuck in the parking lot when she wanted to leave 5 minutes later due to the snow. It's all because I still have the stock tires on it. I took our other car, a Hyundai Elantra (which has NO problems in the snow - it's like a truck!), to assess the situation and to try myself to get the car out of the lot...guess what, it's IMPOSSIBLE. No traction. NIL. My tires never EVER stopped spinning on a flat grade with very little snow coverage. Ugh, how disheartening.

With the threat of a blizzard tomorrow, I did not want to leave the car in the parking lot until Sunday, and decided to bite the bullet and get the car towed home for peace of mind.

Now, I have to seriously and QUICKLY look into winter wheels and tires.

Samyv

I’m also pleased with the performance of my GS--RX8 with winter tires. The other day I woke up to about 6 inches of snow and ice. I had to take the car out and test out the 1500$ tire package I bought from talon tires in Montreal. I was amazed at the stability, the car didn’t seem like it was pushing from the rear. I played with it a bit in the corners, rev’d it up a little and it fish tailed a bit. However it is a very easy car to correct. Having said that I have one tip—Remember it is the winter So on those bad days make sure you keep the rev’s low--change gears at 2k--3k.

tip--Remember it is the winter. So on those bad days make sure you keep the rev's low--change gears at 2k--3k.

bgparsons3

Heya Samyv .... low revs?!?! You must be crazy! With DSC on the car behaves like a dream in snow (with good tires) - special favourite of mine on snow is accelerating hard from a stop, especially when taking a corner. What a blast!

mdmaclean

From Samyy's profile, he has a GS --- which means no traction control nor DSC. For Canada, the GT is much nicer in the winter, in my opinion anyway...

rotten42

So what do you think...is it essentail to get 4 winter tires or can you get awy with just the rear tires. I know handleing will be affected but I use a mild driving style in the winter. I was also just thinking of getting winter tires in 18" and using the stock rims...

any thoughts?

bgparsons3

Get 4 tires. Putting winter on the rear will only get you enough traction to accelerate enough so that you lose steering control.

Do a search on "group buy" in the Canada forum and you will find reams of info.

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

Naaah, if you live in Calgary, you won't need winter tires all round, it don't freeze there......

If you put the snows only on the back, it should be OK, it's not like you will need to steer or brake in a hurry.....and that way only the FRONT of the car will spin off the road, the back will be just fine.

Sorry for the stupid sarcasm, but I am being a lot easier on you than Gord96BRG would be......be glad he didn't see your post first!

S

rotten42

Point taken...the only reason why I brought thatup is because I used to drive an 84 Capri RS with over 300hp in the winter. That car only needed rear winter tires because you used the gas pedal to steer the car in the winter and the car never stopped well in summer so it wouldn't have made much difference in the winter.

The rx is a much better balanced car so what you have on all 4 corners will have a bigger impact....just was wondering if anybody had tried that.

Wing

Did your Capri have summers in the front? Seriously the tires on the 8 will just turn to hockey pucks at minus any degree, even around 0 it starts to get VERY slippery like your consitently driving on ice. You won't be able to stop at all. When you stop all the weight of the car is transfered to the front wheels, you'll just slide, and then chances are your back end will swap with your front end.

rotten42

Yes it did have summers on the front....but the Capri was heavy in the front so it would bite just fine. The RX is more balanced in weight distribution. I've been reading in other threada about just how slippery the RX is in winter without full blown winter tires. I was just curiuos what people had experienced. Thanks for the feedback.