jonalan

I HIGHLY recommend winter tires.

For one, the stock tires are NOT all-season; they are summer performance tires. They will NOT work on snow, ice, slush, etc. They also, do not perform as well in cold weather. What many people do not understand, is that summer tires are made with different materials than winters. The traction with the summmer tires in cold weather, is not that good even on dry pavement. Winter tires are not just snow tires, they are designed for winter driving (wet, dry, snow, etc.) in cold weather.

Unless, you have the option of leaving the car in the garage (or parking lot) for a few days when it snows, you DEFINITELY should get winter tires, period. If this would be your every day driver, you should consider winter tires anyway, even if just for the cold weather.

As far as I know, there are no all-season tires available yet for the RX-8.

Having said all that, I do have winter tires on my car - Dunlop Winter Sport M3s, with 17" Kazera KZ-V wheels (from tirerack.com). However, I did not take the car out on Saturday to try them out. Not worried about the handling of the 8 in snow, but more nervous about the idiots that don't know how to drive in it.

BTW, I bought my car from Lou Fusz. Pre-ordered in February; received car in July. Although it was a good experience, I'm sure any other dealer in town would be just as good.

jonalan

Oh, and one more thing...

wordchef, go buy an RX-8! You will absolutely love it!

mplc

I live the the Ofallon, Mo. area. I picked mine up in September and have only seen a few around the area. There is a another black one at Red Lobster in St. Peters I see all the time.

cash_money

I bought mine at Bommarito St. Peters. Since I used the Mazda S-Plan, I got it below invoice and they didn't care.

With that said, I would imagine you could get a very good deal on it.

Also, we average 12 inches of snow per year in St. Louis. We have had 4 already. Until these stock tires wear out and I can replace with all weather, I'm not worried about snow tires.

I just left my car in the garage during the 'heavy' snow, and took it out the next day when the roads were mostly cleaned (was fine). I figure if I need to take 1-2 days off a year for snow, oh well.

Also, my suggestion would be to take a day and drive to every dealership. Make a list of every car they have that has the minimum amount of options you want.

Then you can look at this list at your liesure and determine who to deal with and who has the 2nd/3rd/4th best car for you...

red_rx8_red_int

Welcome to the club Cash. I thought a lot about the winter tire issue and ended up buying cheap 17 inch rims and LM-22 Blizzaks. Before I had my winter setup there were 2 days where the forecast said snow possible. Both days I drove my wife's minivan (it didn't snow either day). So it's not just the couple of days in which it actually snows that you can't drive the 8, it's also the days where it might snow. Unless you're willing to be stuck at work. I live in O'Fallon MO and commute downtown and am not willing to be stuck downtown. Plus after driving the 8 for a couple of months now, I hate driving the minvan. For our area it's a tough decision.

Instead of visiting the dealers in person, one can use the search inventory feature on Mazda's website to locate a car with the right options, and then make the 2nd/3rd/4th list as you suggested. With the current Mazda lease $1500 offer and bargaining for $1500 off MSRP, one should be able to get a car for 3K off MSRP.

cash_money

Hey ObjeX,

You said there is a blue one that parks in G Garage at Monsanto. I've moved to G building and park near that garage.

My question...who parks in that garage? And how do you get in it?

ObjeX

You've got to have an executive club card. The spaces are assigned to senior executives. The garage is accessed by their security ID badge with an entrance near the G-Auditorium.

cash_money

I got to sneak a peek in the garage the other day. That blue RX8 is an automatic. Looked weird.

What do you do anyway? I'm in IT for Monsanto.

ObjeX

I'm a consultant - been working with Monsanto as a client since 1996. The last set of projects I ran were the 2 insourcings where we brought back NAIT in-house from IBM. Just finished up Q4'03.

At this point, I'm in between gigs - slow economy in St. Louis. Thinking about heading down to North Carolina where it's warm.:D

Crichton

Just thought I would post saying that I am a soon to be owner of a Velocity Red RX-8. Going to be picking her up this Thursday. Sure hope this freezing rain goes away. See all you owners on the road.

red_rx8_red_int

Congrats on the Velocity Red. Great color choice! I took my Red out this morning, and it was fantastic with LM-22 Blizzaks on!

jonalan

Congrats, Crichton! Whereabouts in the area are you? City, north, south, St Charles...? Hope to see you out and about.

Only one word of caution, if the weather is bad (snow, ice, etc.), leave her parked, unless you get winter tires. The stock tires are completely useless in bad winter weather.

Crichton

I'm in Maryland Hts and yea, this weather sucks, so I really hope it clears up. Got any recommendations for good tire places locally for all season tires? I know tirerack.com is kinda out of the all-seasons for the RX-8.

jonalan

I'm not familiar with the local tire shop inventories. I ordered my winters from tire rack a while back.

Crichton

Did you get both tires and rims? I'm still debating if I want to get both tires and rims or just some all seasons.

red_rx8_red_int

I went with 17 inch rims and used Plaza tire. It was about $1200 complete. I had called the NTB Chesterfield store and was told that they could get winter tires for the stock rims. I think it was the LM-22s but I could be wrong. I didn't ask about all seasons. BTW, handled great in today's slush.

jonalan

I got both - Dunlop M3s on Kazera KZ-V 17" wheels, mounted and balanced. It cost about a grand, I think (maybe $1100). Makes for a very quick and easy swap, twice a year.

Crichton

Did you get that package locally or order it online? If locally, where at because that price seems pretty good.

jonalan

tirerack.com

MichRX7

91Vert,

Are you getting the 8's together to join the STL caravan down to this year's Rotary Revolution? We are lining up some great seminar topics for the event specifically for new RX8 owners. We are also expecting Sunflower Mazda to sign-on soon as an official sponsor and bring out their new supercharged mazdaspeed RX8.

http://revolutionmktg.net/Revolution

or

https://www.rx8club.com/a-67/

ObjeX

Anybody out there have any idea when it might be a good idea to put the summer sneakers back on? When does it typically stop snowing in St. Louis?

danm

Florissant RX-8 runner here. Silver simple trim mods...

XCENTRIC

Soon to be a RX8 owner here if things go right. With that in mind, how much has everyone here been paying for their RX8? Lou Fusz emailed me back saying they were selling 30% above invoice. Seems a bit high considering people are getting deals at or less than invoice. I'd like to get an idea before I go in.

BTW, I know I should be asking this in the Dealer section, but I feel I would get a better answer from people who dealt with the same local dealers.

TIA

Crichton

I paid a tad over $31k, but I also got my accessories through them and had them install it. I went with Lou Fusz mainly for the reason that they are only 10 minutes away from my house if I ever have problems. You may check with Bommarito and see their prices. Also, I used Car Buying Tips and based my price off of that. They have a worksheet to go off of and it worked great for me.

There is no way you will have to pay 30% over invoice. I think Fusz has had their RX-8's on the lot for a while. I bought one off the lot in January and it had a build date of 7-03 is why I think that.

XCENTRIC

I called the Sales Manager today and he was in awe when I asked about the 30% markup. He talked the sales person I had been dealing with and the sales admittedly made the mistake. He meant 3% NOT 30%. Does this sound right?