Hi all:

Here in NH today we got a few inches of snow with a nice ice base. All I have to say is that with these new Pirelli's the car goes great! A few time the transction control kicked in, but had no issues getting around. Speed Racer,RPIRX-8, Wasy, Spin9K how'd you guys do today?

 

I live in Haverhill, MA. My 8 did great. I have the Blizzak WS-50 on it. No problems on the ice. The traction control did kick a few times, but it was fine.

Mark

P.S. Sorry I didn't make it to the gathering last month.

 

Mark:

Sorry we missed you. You 8 seems like my exact copy except mines an auto. What other options do you have, if any?

 

No options, just the GT package. Looking to get an MP3 player though.

Mark

 

I had a chance to play in any empty snow/ice covered parking lot for about half an hour this morning. When I mashed on the throttle the wheels broke free easily even with the traction control on but I think that should be expected. Once the rear wheels are spinning it is pretty easy to get the tail to step out of line and it is just as easy to control the rate of the rotation. Add a little counter steer and the car drifts beautifully. Its motions are very predictable.

I spent most of today on the road and the car was fine when it was driven with a little bit of respect for the weather. The Pirellis definitely make this car driveable in the snow. :D

 

That all sounds great if drifting is what you want to do! But the original poster wanted to know how well-behaved the 8 is in snow, not what kinds of "tricks" will it do!

 

Maybe I phrased my response poorly so let me try this again but let me preface this by saying "playing" in the snow provides a safe and controlled way to find the limits of the car (braking, accelerating, and cornering).

If you turn off the traction control and drive around with a moderately heavy foot this car will spin and you'll end up spinning off the road. So please drive within your abilites.

On the other hand if you drive conservatively and are mindful of the road conditions this car should be very driveable in the winter. The back end is a little lively and you won't mistakenly confuse this car for being all-wheel drive.

When driven conservatively the ABS, TCS, and DSC do an admirable job of keeping the car pointed in the correct direction. When the back end does step out of line the oversteer is easy to control with throttle modulation and counter steering. In other words the car is fairly forgiving for driver error, especially for a rear-wheel drive car.

 

I understood your posting Speed Racer... I know I had "fun" today driving in :D

 

Kevin,

I was down in your area today because I had to attend a conferrence in Boston. I-93 was a mess and I got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic in Manchester. After sitting in line for over 2 hours I gave up and returned home. On the way home I was almost nailed by a Jeep Cherokee that was spinning out of control. He missed my car by a couple of feet and kissed the guard rail pretty hard. I guess that is what you get when you bomb down an icy interstate at about 80 MPH. I hope your commute to work was a little less eventful.

 

Roy:

Well I made it in with no issues. My fiancee, well that's another story. She left for work today (She works outside of Boston) at 6:30am. I called her at 7:45am to let her know I was leaving for work she she was just getting by the Mall of NH. This would normally be a 10min commute on the highway. Anyways, she calls me at 10:30am (after being on the road for over 4hrs) and her boss tells her to forget it and come home. DUH!!!

I'm hoping with the sun going down and the temp dropping won't make my drive home an eventful one. I "think" I know how to drive in these conditions, it's the people who own trucks and SUV's that think they can go 80 in this weather that scares me!!

 

No problems here, but my 8 is safely inside, all dry and clean, I only ventured out in my beater 4 wheel all-drive Eagle Summit. As always, snow is a non-event.

 

snow photos????

 

the ice was even a bitch down here in PA this morning. I didn't have any problems with my M3's on, however i did find out abundant wheelspin was quite easy to acheive :p

 

I also have the M3s. I unfortunately (well, or fortunately) missed the apocalypse that was rush hour this morning. I ventured out around 12 and there were some icy spots. I did catch the DSC light blinking a couple of times while i was driving, but i didn't feel any slip or swing of the car. My feeling is the DSC system in this car is of very high caliber. I should be taking a trip up to Killington, VT or Bethel, ME within the next 2 weekends. That will be the real test.

 

Hi All,

I live in Manchester. The building our apartment is on is at the crest of a hill. Early morning yesterday, while it was still snowing, I started out for work. The RX-8 on the downhill journey, started slipping and sliding, and eventually statred sliding sideways down hill. It was a good thing that there was a ban on cars being parked on the right side of the road.

I managed to control it, and decided I rather opt for the Corolla for the 80 mile drive I had to do. Iturned the RX-8 around, and - then - it wouldn't climb up the hill. I put it on 1st, then on 2nd - but it wouldn't budge from the one spot it sat in. I coasted it backward, parked it by the side of the street, walked up the hill - got the corolla - moved 15 miles in 2 1/2 hours, and then aborted the trip.

The RWD is quite getting used to from the Eclipse AWD that I used to drive until a month ago. It sure has got me nervous about the rest of the winter :-)

 

What tires do you have on the RX8?

 

The stock tires - Bridgestone

 

If you swap out the OEM tires for real winter tires you'll find that you can actually drive this car in the snow.

 

deepakmr:

What part of Manchester you from? I'm on the West Side off Coolidge Ave. I work on the East Side on Hanover St. by the Citizen's Plaza. Maybe we could meet up sometime and I could show you my wheels and tires I chose for my 8. Let me know.

Kevin

 

Hi Kevin,

Would love to check out your wheels. Not too sure where Coolidge Ave is though. We live on Country Club Drive - in the Washington Park Apts.

But... in the next two weeks we are shifting to the South Shore, which is where I work. The last 8 months I've been driving the 80 miles each way - really looking forward to reclaiming the 4 to 5 hours each day I spend on the road :-)

Although, I did note that you run the Miata club - and if you still welcome RX-8's like the last time around - I would surely join you.

Coming to think of it, I think I now own the Red RX-8 which had joined your outing courtesy of Talarico :-)


Deepak.

 

Deepak:

With the "supposed" snow coming this weekend, keep the 8 parked if you have no snows. As you found it, it can be real fun using the performance tires the 8 original comes with

I think you live down the road from me off of Front St. Know where Hooter's is in Manchester? Maybe we could hookup there sometime? Let me know.

Kevin

 

Uh, yeah.

I'm in the "was too lazy to get new snow tires and separate rims before" camp... and I couldn't even get my RX8 out of our cul-de-sac... and, well, took a long time getting it back into the driveway.

The rest of the roads were just wet, but ... not driving it until I get snow tires put on. No way no how.

Then I drove our old Cadillac Seville from 1983... which had no problems. Yay V8 and heavy chassis...

... and I'm in Washington-DC area Maryland.

 

I had a chance to drive my GT with stock tires in the snow and slush today. The ABS, TCS, and DSC do a terrific job of keeping the car pointing where you want it to go. But my stock tires seem more slippery than other tires I've had. So I need to allow a little greater distance to stop than I'm used to in the snow. But it's easy to adjust to that. Like most others, my main concern is that I don't get hit by others.

 

Sigh... out $1200 for new wheels/tires from tirerack.com, but at least I'll get to drive the car this winter... once the tires arrive and I put 'em on.

Ah well.

 

Well, I have to give a GLEAMING report on my snow rubber. I was out last night, at around 3am, during the height of the storm last night. I've got dunlop wintersport m3s on my 8. These tires are SWEET, worth every penny. I was passing SUVs and trucks that were off the road and sliding around. I had no slippage my entire ride (N. Attleboro, MA to the MassPike riding on I-95). I only saw the DSC come on twice during the whole drive. I am very very impressed with the 8 comboed with the snow tires. This car is a VERY capable winter driver, but you MUST put snow tires on.

I also put the snow tires on the stock rims with the OEM tire size, no issue at all. I highly recommend the dunlops, as they also have great dry road traction.