I see alot of talk about people and their new snow tires.... but I want to know who has decided to opt out of the winter season and store their cars for the winter. When did you, or when do you plan to put it away?


This will be the second weekend my car has been in the garage on stands. It snowed the monday after putting it away. Sure I miss driving it... especially in this current warm string we're having in Ontario... but it'll be so satisfying when I finally take it out in the spring.

 

Well with living in Calgary, I personally don't like to store anything for the season. We have winter, then spring, then fall, then winter, then summer, then winter.... all in the same month. Chinooks, we don't get much snow, when we do it's gone quickly and the streets are clear, but it may be cold. So I couldn't bare not driving the 8 for months at a time, especially if the streets are clear and the sun is shining.

 

I'm driving it until the last possible minute. I'm in Toronto and there's no sign of snow yet in the forecast. It's going to be very difficult to put it away for the winter but I just can't stand the thought of subjecting it to all the crap on the roads. I'll be driving my '92 MX-3 GS in the winter. It's still running well with 267,000 kms on it.

 

I'm getting close. I had it in today for an oil change so other than filling it up and putting fuel stabilizer in it, I'm ready when the weather gets worse. I need to build a mezzanine in my garage however and won't be able to put it up on stands until I'm done. Hopefully I can do some initial work on it this weekend and finish it next weekend. Until them I'm taking it out on nice days before the salt shows up.

 

I live just far enough south of Lake Erie to put me directly in the snow belt (100+ inches each of the last 2 winters). Although I haven't seen snow yet, I put my baby away 2 weeks ago, hoping to drive it again in early April.
My wife picked me up a custom made cloth car cover, fits like a glove.
It was hard to go back to the Mercury Sable, my middle-aged car.

 

Well I still drive it on sunny days, been lucky so far, some cold clear days but no snow accumulation, salt, sand issues . . . You just have to be careful with those stock tires in the cold, they are hockey pucks, kicked the backend out a couple times on dry pavement. I will leave it in the garage as soon as they start tossing the salt around.

Just had the oil changed, won't bother with stabilizer or jack stands for what amounts to about four months of storage. Will just boost the tire pressure a bit to avoid flat spots. That worked just fine for another car I parked in the winter.

I don't know how people can bring themselves to drive this car in winter, especially in the east, they will be crying if they end up following a salt truck. Follow the bouncing rocks as they pelt the front of the car . . . Everything that makes this car great in summer will also make it bad in winter, RWD with lots of power, even weight distribution and fat tires. The limited slip and traction control will get the car moving but it's going to handle like a toboggan in the snow. Just wish I had those Xenon lights in my winter car though, I can't see a darn thing . . .

 

Forget winter... I dont care what tires i have equipped, i am still going to drive.

Use your DSC and TCS. What do you think they were made for. *sigh*

 

Omg your not one of these little ******* 16 year old kids who's mommy and daddy bought them a car are you? Oh wait you are: "16 year old 8 driver". Thats something a kid would do.
I don't put my age in my title.

 

stop with the hate,

why call someone an *******,

when yo momma and dadda are too big of a loser to make any money in life

 

Mine has been put away for about 3 weeks now and I can't wait until April rolls around.

 

mine is in for the last 2 weeks to, Its not a question of winter tires, its just that I wanna keep the front end looking good, and better resale value..

 

DSC and TCS were made to keep wheel spin under control and compensate for driver error on dry pavement. Find a nice slippery slope (if possible in Texas, even steep loose gravel will do) and try to go up it from a dead stop. Some cars equipped with DSC/TCS AND all-wheel-drive can't get moving in flat snow covered parking lots with it enabled! Actually I think in the owners manual for the 8 if I remember correctly it tells you to shut it off if you get stuck . . . So much for that plan. It also doesn't do much for low speed cornering and braking which are also important factors to consider. The fact the car is so well balanced and you can't get really skinny tires on there you don't have a lot of weight concentration. I sense it may under steer badly in tight corners and the DCS/TCS may keep you from kicking the back end out to change directions quickly in a crisis situation, pure speculation on my part. I would be careful out there, I wouldn't be surprised if some violent curb rash was announced before winter is over . . .

 

I'm drving my car all winter. I bought the car to drive it. I'm too old to be driving a beater around in the winter.

 

Me too. I thought I was going to garage it, but I decided to spend the extra on tires and drive the thang! I needed to work it in to work out the bugs so that I can get the warranty to cover the fixes. Yes the brakes are squealing- and I got the info on the replacement parts warranty information (thanks).
I had only one rear skid incidnet so far in Calgary and that might have been 1/2 second long and 1 foot over the Flyover a few days ago. Getting used to driving a rear drive car in winter conditions was most of the issue. Those Garit H's really hold the road well- I'm impressed so far!

I will definitely take the Expedition when the roads get ugly for obvious reasons, but it's like a good video game: it is hard to put away!

 

Mine isn't technically away yet, but that's because the "2-5 cm of now turning to rain overnight" forecast a week ago turned into enough snow to partially collapse my deck, and a 27.5 hour power outage (and 4 to 5 days in some areas). I'm waiting for the snow to melt enough to get the 8 into where I'm storing it....

And why I don't drive it in the winter? They drop enough salt out here to turn the roads so white you can't tell if there is snow on them...
And I don't think I could put the 8 through what I put my "winter beater" MX-3 through. This is from yesterday:

 

Ah... brings back memories, sold the mx3 for the RX8. Loved the car - miss it a bit. Lucky we don't get that kind of salt here. Calgary, they use a fine crushed gravel mostly. (not great for windshields, but it doesn't rust a car out).

 

I plan to store my car on jacks in the next 120 days.

Questions:

What is the procedure to set up the jacks, rear or forward first ? Does it matter ?
Where should the jacks be located ? I bought the Michelins jacks (2 tons) at Canadian Tire.

Should I buy a commercial jack to lift the car or one side at the time is enough ?

Should the tires touch the ground ? What tire pressure ?

How do I remove the battery ?

Thanks.

 

Well, I'm not done for the season. I just had my ski rack installed on my 8 yesterday!

 

snow tires??? not for me we never see snow here

 

Put my car away Oct 31/04. Roads are gettings crappy for the stock tires. Too cold. The stock tires don't perform well until they are warmed up. Plus I hear that Toronto is going to use the salt solution this year instead of the salt rocks as the solution stays on the roads for about a week So I figure if it will stick the roads that long, imagine how long it's going to stick to the car.

I just changed the oil in it the other day and am going to take the battery out. I don't know why you guys are putting the car on jack stands. Unloading the suspension is not good for the car, but I guess it's up to you.

 

November 30 2004 will be the last ride for this year here in Laval Québec.
April 1 2005 will be the first day out.

 

Had a little snow the other day and could barely get out to the main roads. Had to shut off the DSC. I still don't want to put it away. I'm thinking I'll still take it out on nice days. The weather here is all over the place so I'm not putting it on jacks.

Hey Hard Body, You said you took it back because the brakes were squealing? My front brakes are starting to do the same. Any problems with Mazda replacing them? Thx.

 

I plan on storing my 8 in my garage. The garage isn't very big and I need access to it for doing woodworking throughout the winter. Thus, I wasn't planning on putting it up on jacks. I was planning on overinflating the tires...I have the stock Potenza RE040's. And I was planning on backing the car out of the garage once a week (warming it up competely before shutting it off obviously), working in the garage, then moving the car back in. Do you think this is enough to eliminate the flat spot issue ? btw , the garage is not heated and can get down below freezing.

Thanks for any help.

 

I left mine sitting on the RE040s all last winter, and they didn't flat spot.
Just cranked them up to about 45 lbs of pressure.
I'm planning to do the same thing with the Kumho 712s this year.