I dont know if I've ever posted here before but I've been checking the forum for well over a year. The time is finally upon me where I plan to get the RX8 in the next week or two. It's been a long wait but I think its time I retired my 1990 626LX. Well, to the point...I live in NJ and today was pretty horrid when it came to puddles with this nor'easter rocking the northeast. I was forced to drive above 100-200 ft through these 1+ ft deep puddles to get to work. Now, my 626 started steaming pretty hard when I was going through it....kinda worried me since I was the only one with that problem but I survived. Now the questions...

How does the RX8 handle those kind of puddles? I'm scared to get the car now considering its low and my commute sometimes forces me to deal with pretty deep puddles and random pot holes. I know its probably not recommended to try but if your forced to...what do you do.

 

go home or find another route. 1ft+ of standing water is dangerous in any vehicle that is not designed specifically for it, let alone a low sportscar. You never know exactly how deep a puddle is at the center.

The bottom of the door in the RX8 is less than a foot above the ground, so there's a good chance you'd get water in the floorpan if the puddle is long enough and deep enough.

 

Only 6 inches of water, under the right circumstances, can cause a car to float. Call out if there is no other route. Over a foot of water is way too much to ask for to get to work, and I seriously hope your exagerating (although the weather has been terrible for the last 24 hours). By me they close down raods if they have more than a few inches of standing water. Also the weather were having is a pretty freak event also, this kind of rain doesnt strike the tri-state area very often. Get the car, and worry about these kinds of situations once they,seldomly, present themselves.

 

+1 on the go home thing. If there's really no swamp free alternative route, then work will have to survive w/o you. Those type of "puddles" are just waiting to claim a few cars.

side note, b/c it was one of those "how stupid can people be" moments. One such puddles occurs in the same place every time we get heavy rains. I saw an SUV that crapped out 1/2 way through @ about 2 in the afternoon. 5 hours later on the tv I saw a report on the flooding that included a picture of the same spot. Not only was the SUV still there, there was an old man who decided, despite the fact that a higher clearance SUV couldn't make it, he would give it a shot in his buick. He was wrong.

 

My neighbor's dog is named 'puddles'. I keep my 8 away from him too.

 

for a ref to how deep it was i took a few pics before my car started smoking..it got a bit deeper a few more yards out

 

F-that!!!!!! They'd have to fire me if they had issues with me not driving through that. Jebus man, I thought you were talking a puddle in a section of the street. Not the entire length of the street being under f-in water!

 

Wow! Yeah if the road is completely covered you should never try to drive through it because the current could float you up and off the road or it may be washed out and you can't see that it is.

Either way it spells flooded car. So get the 8 and don't drive it through the deep stuff.

 

What the OP said was true, there are areas in Jersery that Actually deeper than 1 feet of water.

Im in NY lucky I live @ somewhere up on the hill, so water is not really a problem for my area. but when I was trying to go out yesterday, there was this puddle of water, I would say almost 1 Feet deep about 50 ft long, I just move back, zoom zoom it up to 60 mph and rush thru it. The water slowed me down to about 20 but I just keep pushing it and went past it.

but I will not do it again.

 

i did that only once myself about two years ago. The steam evaporating off the oil coolers was enough to get me freaked out.

 

im gonna **** myself everytime I see a puddle with my soon to be rx8

 

As said, those puddles are treacherous unless you're in a lifted truck. That being said, my 8 runs on Pirelli PZero Neros and knifes through big (in the normal sense) puddles

 

Be ready to change transmission and diff soon...
Both have breathing valves and when under water, cool down instantly and suck water inside.
Offroaders know it and change transmission and diff fluids immediately after they return from a field trip.

 

That's an awesome name for a pet. I'm totally yoinking that as soon as the state lifts the ban on allowing me to have pets.

 

I dont really worry about those, this sucker is pretty dependable.

I think I will worry about that I pushed it too hard than that puddle of water ruinning my tranny and diff.

 

One thing I thought the OP was getting at is the question of how low the Renesis sits. Does the 8's engine sit closer to the ground than other engines, making it more suspectible to water than other cars? For some reason, I think it does sit lower. (Not suggesting I'd attempt to cross a flooded road in other cars but not the 8. I wouldn't.)

 

Wow, definately no exageration. You couldn't pay me to go through that "puddle". About what new yorker said, I know that our engine is not as tall as most others, which in turn makes it sit lower, but it doesn't start much lower than other sport cars. I hope that makes some sense.

 

For the OP

Puddle = small pool of water
Flood = large area of land underwater

just for future reference

 

DUDE. NO!

The last time i tried to cross water that deep, i lost me TWO oxen and a weeks worth of food!

 

LOL, thats a blast from the past.

 

Wow, just wow... I hated that game.

 

you wouldnt believe the line for a chance to drive across that. i was on the look out for an eclipse, 350z, rx8 or something to see how it would handle but i couldnt find any. i guess they all called out of work

 

Your the man for this one. Has anyone ever beat this game?

 

Our engine is placed 40mm lower, and 60mm more rearward than Rx7. so yes its lower and more rearward, but not by much (4cm and 6cm)

 

That wasn't a puddle that was a flood!