Official Stuck in Snow Thread
#1
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Official Stuck in Snow Thread
Im making a thread for all the 8 winter drivers so that you can tell your story of how you got stuck in the snow, cause im sure some of us will be.
I'll start with my story,
This morning I was heading over to 16th and Markham road to get my snow tires on. As i was backing out of my driveway i already couldnt make it out, there was only about 3 cm of wet snow at the spot i was trying to leave. I ended up shoveling the 15 cm of wet packing snow for and hour before i could get out of my driveway, only to get stuck at the edge of it. I called for help and even with 2 people in my back seat i could barley move up the driveway at all. After placing 3 bags of salt in the trunk and pouring another 3 on the ground around my wheels i finally got the car back in the garage. All in all it took almost 2 and a half hours to move 15 ft.
I rebooked the appointment for tomorrow, i hope i'll make it next time.
I'll start with my story,
This morning I was heading over to 16th and Markham road to get my snow tires on. As i was backing out of my driveway i already couldnt make it out, there was only about 3 cm of wet snow at the spot i was trying to leave. I ended up shoveling the 15 cm of wet packing snow for and hour before i could get out of my driveway, only to get stuck at the edge of it. I called for help and even with 2 people in my back seat i could barley move up the driveway at all. After placing 3 bags of salt in the trunk and pouring another 3 on the ground around my wheels i finally got the car back in the garage. All in all it took almost 2 and a half hours to move 15 ft.
I rebooked the appointment for tomorrow, i hope i'll make it next time.
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Im making a thread for all the 8 winter drivers so that you can tell your story of how you got stuck in the snow, cause im sure some of us will be.
I'll start with my story,
This morning I was heading over to 16th and Markham road to get my snow tires on. As i was backing out of my driveway i already couldnt make it out, there was only about 3 cm of wet snow at the spot i was trying to leave. I ended up shoveling the 15 cm of wet packing snow for and hour before i could get out of my driveway, only to get stuck at the edge of it. I called for help and even with 2 people in my back seat i could barley move up the driveway at all. After placing 3 bags of salt in the trunk and pouring another 3 on the ground around my wheels i finally got the car back in the garage. All in all it took almost 2 and a half hours to move 15 ft.
I rebooked the appointment for tomorrow, i hope i'll make it next time.
I'll start with my story,
This morning I was heading over to 16th and Markham road to get my snow tires on. As i was backing out of my driveway i already couldnt make it out, there was only about 3 cm of wet snow at the spot i was trying to leave. I ended up shoveling the 15 cm of wet packing snow for and hour before i could get out of my driveway, only to get stuck at the edge of it. I called for help and even with 2 people in my back seat i could barley move up the driveway at all. After placing 3 bags of salt in the trunk and pouring another 3 on the ground around my wheels i finally got the car back in the garage. All in all it took almost 2 and a half hours to move 15 ft.
I rebooked the appointment for tomorrow, i hope i'll make it next time.
Last edited by djfa; 12-10-2009 at 01:14 AM.
#4
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Indeed. I picked up a clean little 90s Subaru Impreza AWD with snow tires for what a set of snows for the 8 would cost. Thing is a tank in the snow, plus the gas savings alone will pay for it's self by spring.
8, 7 and MSP sit in the garage all winter, Impreza and Yukon deal with this foolishness.
8, 7 and MSP sit in the garage all winter, Impreza and Yukon deal with this foolishness.
#6
Edmonton - We had a massive snow storm here on Friday night. Was coming home from work at 3am and got stuck on the street in front of my house. Had someone behind me who got out and helped me shovel my 8. We managed to move it about 50ft and then she wouldn't go any further. The ruts in the road were too much and the car was just bottoming out on the snow. Had to dig through a snow drift to make myself a spot on the side of the road until it got flattened out a bit more. Finally got to bed at 5am. I've got brand new Blizzak WS60's on stock rims---go figure.
#7
Edmonton - We had a massive snow storm here on Friday night. Was coming home from work at 3am and got stuck on the street in front of my house. Had someone behind me who got out and helped me shovel my 8. We managed to move it about 50ft and then she wouldn't go any further. The ruts in the road were too much and the car was just bottoming out on the snow. Had to dig through a snow drift to make myself a spot on the side of the road until it got flattened out a bit more. Finally got to bed at 5am. I've got brand new Blizzak WS60's on stock rims---go figure.
-Edmonton
-whos has an RX-8
-who has WS60 on his 8 (well on 17"rims)
-to get stuck on Friday night
Yup I got stuck in the back alley and it took some digging and rocking to get unstuck and into the driveway.
Driving on the Hwy2 to the airport on Friday was fun... not really.
My car flooded on Monday.
#9
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I got stuck in place trying to do a left turn at a yellow light even with my snow tires on. I guess i accellerate too fast. Everytime my wheels spin i feel like its dollars being burnt
#10
So this Rotary thing...?
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Last tuesday, I was coming home at about 9PM. This Suzuki is doing about 40km/h in front of me. I figure "OK, it's icy but it's not THAT icy" and pull out to pass at (what I thought was reasonable) 50km/h. Big mistake. As I accelerated the car starts to fishtail slightly. All I can think is "Don't hit anyone!". Instead of hitting anyone, I bailed into the median, where there was about 30cm of snow and chaff from the plow, and promptly got stuck.
While digging myself out, two more people stopped to help dig and eventually push. Definitely, the most Canadian moment I've had in a long time: Two complete strangers stopping to help push my car out while it's snowing and around -20C!
While digging myself out, two more people stopped to help dig and eventually push. Definitely, the most Canadian moment I've had in a long time: Two complete strangers stopping to help push my car out while it's snowing and around -20C!
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I was caught out in a moderate snow fall that came at just below freezing without snow tires one time. Suffice to say, TCS and ABS and LSD don't work at all if you don't have any traction. I drifted sideways for about 100 m before I called it off and a gracious co-worker drove me home.
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My winter truck dumped tranny blood last week, so I pulled the RX out of the barn, put the snows in the RX to go get them mounted on the rims. Could not get out of my driveway. I slid off to the side with one wheel on the lawn and three in various ruts. It's solid ice from that slush storm 10 days ago. My drive has about a 2' rise over 100' and a slight slope to the south.
I called a farmer with a 'rock pick' on his tractor to smash up the ice, will be taking another run at it today.
I called a farmer with a 'rock pick' on his tractor to smash up the ice, will be taking another run at it today.
#16
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Last night the roads were very slippery in the GTA. The rain water on tarmac froze as the temperature drops below zero. My car on Garit KX was spinning in first, second and third and slides on every turn on unused roads.
Should I have decreased the tire pressure to gain more traction? On that note, for the Ontario folks, what tire pressure are you running with your winter tires?
Should I have decreased the tire pressure to gain more traction? On that note, for the Ontario folks, what tire pressure are you running with your winter tires?
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Last night the roads were very slippery in the GTA. The rain water on tarmac froze as the temperature drops below zero. My car on Garit KX was spinning in first, second and third and slides on every turn on unused roads.
Should I have decreased the tire pressure to gain more traction? On that note, for the Ontario folks, what tire pressure are you running with your winter tires?
Should I have decreased the tire pressure to gain more traction? On that note, for the Ontario folks, what tire pressure are you running with your winter tires?
#18
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Last night the roads were very slippery in the GTA. The rain water on tarmac froze as the temperature drops below zero. My car on Garit KX was spinning in first, second and third and slides on every turn on unused roads.
Should I have decreased the tire pressure to gain more traction? On that note, for the Ontario folks, what tire pressure are you running with your winter tires?
Should I have decreased the tire pressure to gain more traction? On that note, for the Ontario folks, what tire pressure are you running with your winter tires?
you're talking about the car slipping around on ice. guess what, every car ever will do that. winter tires help, but its going to happen. you have to slow down and drive smarter in those conditions. theres no way to cheat the weather other than to run studded tires, which are ilegal here and will make stopping on dry pavement very sketchy to say the least.
im running 29-30 pressure for winter. I dont know what people bitch about because the 8 in winter is amazing. Its better than my lancer ralliart and the stability control makes up for it. It snowed like 1 foot of snow in montreal 2 weeks ago, went to work no problem. Yesterday was raining like hell and there was slush all over the roads I was driving a little slower than usual but I wasnt scared at all. I guess it all depends on how generous your foot is on the pedal. Mine isnt im stingy lol
Last edited by rotarygreg; 12-28-2009 at 06:03 AM.
#20
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Gotta go with Thief on this one.. Mine spends all winter in a nice, warm garage.
Spent 2 1/2 hours getting the GFs Eclipse out of the snow that same night bmacneill is talking about if it makes anyone feel better.
Spent 2 1/2 hours getting the GFs Eclipse out of the snow that same night bmacneill is talking about if it makes anyone feel better.
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My 8 got stuck in the snow 2 years ago, when they didn't send out the plow trucks until there was ~18 inches of snow on the ground. My entire undercarriage was packed with snow in every nook and cranny, there was snow packed against the radiator above the splashpan, etc... Simply couldn't get the tires to the ground any more.
Kinda glad though, as that was at 1pm, and I was one of the first in the state to get stuck, so I got one of the first tow trucks. 2 hours to get home, and the tow truck got stuck on my street for 4 more hours after that. Providence was in total gridlock until nearly midnight, including most of the kids stuck on school bus's until ~10pm.
Since then, nothing winter has thrown at me has gotten me stuck. A few weeks ago I threaded my way between stuck SUVs up a steep hill into work, the guy in the Jeep behind me looked pained and irritated at first, but looked completely shocked when reached the top without issue.
Kinda glad though, as that was at 1pm, and I was one of the first in the state to get stuck, so I got one of the first tow trucks. 2 hours to get home, and the tow truck got stuck on my street for 4 more hours after that. Providence was in total gridlock until nearly midnight, including most of the kids stuck on school bus's until ~10pm.
Since then, nothing winter has thrown at me has gotten me stuck. A few weeks ago I threaded my way between stuck SUVs up a steep hill into work, the guy in the Jeep behind me looked pained and irritated at first, but looked completely shocked when reached the top without issue.
#22
Almost all RX-8s have been mistired for winter IMO. Because we can only minus-size to 17" wheels, and the original 225/45/18 was a weird size to begin with, tire shops often sell us less than stellar winter tires in sizes that are way too wide to cut through the deep stuff.
If you can find traction, this car is really easy to drive in snow. But most of us are slipping and sliding around in our 17" steamroller winter performance tires once it hits 2-3 inches outside. You can see it in all the threads that have been written on the subject here. People who were lucky enough to have gotten good snow tires have no idea why the rest of the board is always complaining about bad snow traction in the deeper stuff.
If you can find traction, this car is really easy to drive in snow. But most of us are slipping and sliding around in our 17" steamroller winter performance tires once it hits 2-3 inches outside. You can see it in all the threads that have been written on the subject here. People who were lucky enough to have gotten good snow tires have no idea why the rest of the board is always complaining about bad snow traction in the deeper stuff.
Last edited by climacus; 01-08-2010 at 09:55 PM.
#23
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Heh, if your using the OEM tires in the snow, expect traction to be non-existent with any fair amount of snow/slush. The tires were designed for dry warm pavement. Even in the rain, they aren't that great. They have no grooves and they are way too stiff.
I recently bought quality winter tires, Blizzak LM60 225/45/18 mounted on the OEM rims. This basically makes the car now drivable. Instead of not being able to move from my driveway when the snow falls, I can now drive around np. I've been waiting for serious heavy snow to come for testing but so far hasn't happened since I got the snow tires on so I can't say in serious snow yet. But now I'm not checking the weather anymore every time I go out to make sure its not going to snow that day lol.
Although it took away the fun with minor snow where you could initiate a drift with just a flip of the wheel and a blip of the throttle. You can still do it but its not as smooth anymore, the tires keep catching traction so I don't bother anymore lol. Also, can't go up hills with the car climbing sideways anymore either but thats a good thing haha.
thewird
I recently bought quality winter tires, Blizzak LM60 225/45/18 mounted on the OEM rims. This basically makes the car now drivable. Instead of not being able to move from my driveway when the snow falls, I can now drive around np. I've been waiting for serious heavy snow to come for testing but so far hasn't happened since I got the snow tires on so I can't say in serious snow yet. But now I'm not checking the weather anymore every time I go out to make sure its not going to snow that day lol.
Although it took away the fun with minor snow where you could initiate a drift with just a flip of the wheel and a blip of the throttle. You can still do it but its not as smooth anymore, the tires keep catching traction so I don't bother anymore lol. Also, can't go up hills with the car climbing sideways anymore either but thats a good thing haha.
thewird
#24
Are you saying that going to 215/55/17 is a bad idea?
Almost all RX-8s have been mistired for winter IMO. Because we can only minus-size to 17" wheels, and the original 225/45/18 was a weird size to begin with, tire shops often sell us less than stellar winter tires in sizes that are way too wide to cut through the deep stuff.
If you can find traction, this car is really easy to drive in snow. But most of us are slipping and sliding around in our 17" steamroller winter performance tires once it hits 2-3 inches outside. You can see it in all the threads that have been written on the subject here. People who were lucky enough to have gotten good snow tires have no idea why the rest of the board is always complaining about bad snow traction in the deeper stuff.
If you can find traction, this car is really easy to drive in snow. But most of us are slipping and sliding around in our 17" steamroller winter performance tires once it hits 2-3 inches outside. You can see it in all the threads that have been written on the subject here. People who were lucky enough to have gotten good snow tires have no idea why the rest of the board is always complaining about bad snow traction in the deeper stuff.