And yes, the Sport has neither TC nor DSC in the '09 model as well as the '10

And myself having driven only one car with those features- the Rogue, which w/ AWD doesn't even need them- I have no experience with those features

I'm all for safety features and technology, but the economics for me either have me buying a Sport, or passing alltogether, and I really really enjoy driving this car. I'll naturally assume some more risk by it's very nature, but didn't want to feel helpless in any raining situation, as I often drive long distances thruought the northeast and can limit the snow driving time, but not the rain

 

The 8 inspires confidence like no other car, and that leads to generally higher speeds by most owners, since they are more comfortable at higher speeds. This transfers over to slippery conditions as well, and the introduction of stupidity in the driving of quite a few, and this is the entirety of the "problems" that you are seeing in this regard.

Your stock summers aren't going to have the best grip in either wet or dry, Mazda compromised with price there. Definitely bottom of the summer food chain, and you can get some all seasons that are better in both, but when you trade up the tires, don't go with stock or all seasons, way better options out there.

I would also again recommend the Yokohama S Drives. My current ones are bald, (on winters for now though), and I will be replacing them with another set this March. They nearly have as much wet grip as they do dry all the way down to the wear bars, although they become hockey pucks when past the wear bars There are tires with more sheer dry grip (although these are quite high as it is), but only a couple with more wet grip, and maybe 1 or 2 that has better in both. And they are relatively cheap, with the average price around $130 each, vs $180+ for most summer sets.

Highly recommended for the summer side.

 

This is exactly what I though when I got mine. Turns out its true and you will be fine.
Good to hear.
You are obviously a man with great judgement.
Good luck on your upcoming purchase.

 

Jon you'll be fine. I live in Portland oregon and we get tons of rain.

The stock tires are not bad and i kept them until they needed replacing. I changed to GoodYear F! All seasons http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....+F1+All+Season which are just fantastic in the wet.

I went with them over the GS-D3 http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Eagle+F1+GS-D3 because they still have a good deal of traction in the cold /mild snow we get here. If you are going to have a set of dedicated winters then the GS D3 are a wet tire you cant go wrong with.

on a side note- why do we get so many "Jon"s on here? what happened to "John" there's like 10 Jons...

 

What's the problem with the eventual absence of the dsc?
I mean, how did people manage to survive when this technology was not available?
Just learn to drive without controls and the enjoy their presence if you want. I personally leave them always off, just a matter of habits

 

I've been driving an 07 Sport that doesn't have DSC/TC, even in some pretty hard rain, and have not even come close to losing control. Just drive carefully and you will be OK.

 

I have an '09 Sport model (manual) with no DSC, and I've managed to drive through Florida rain with no difficulty. My previous car, an '01 Mercedes C320 was 1,000x worse on wet roads. Just drive carefully, pay attention to the road, don't take turns at a wild speed, and things will be fine.

 

Add another to the list of people saying it's not an issue if you drive like it's raining. Only had my car for a few months and I've tried to lose the back end on some turns to get more familiar with how it handles and learn the limits. Probably only slipped it 5 or 6 times, but under heavy throttle and 90 degree turns accelerating through, only once was not strictly on purpose. Very stable and it doesn't want to kick out, but if you keep on it in first, it can but is hard to do. I'm using the stock tires that came with it, so better tires of course would make it even stickier, but like I said, hasn't been an issue. I have noticed no issues in the rain, but I also drive "normal" in the rain, and don't test the limits. Haven't noticed any close calls or feelings like it was becoming unstable ever... Would like to test it out in a wet parking lot at some point, but all in good time. From reading your posts it looked like you read a ton of out of control posts, or people experiencing a lot of issues. I haven't witnessed any stability problems that were not self induced.

 

No I don't................unless I am really diving in tight around a sharp corner(that I know very well) and starting to get on it at the apex of the corner. I can usually catch it just as it begins to come loose and the DSC doesn't light up or come on. Other times when I want it to come on, then of course it will.......but then I'm pushing pretty hard in safe conditions.............ie.....not on a public road, and just to learn the limits.
The answer to your finally question is...IMHO........you'll be fine and no issues.

It would still be good to go out in the rain somewhere safe and push it so you will begin to feel it and actually let it break fully loose a few times. Might wanna do the same with ice/snow, but it's a whole other ball game then........as you know already!

 

I haven't driven the OEM tires in the rain but the rx8 itself is very balanced and extremely fun to drive in the wet stuff. I love driving RWD cars in the rain and this car is no exception.

OP, if you already have experience driving RWD cars in the snow, this car won't be a problem.

Picture from a rainy track day a couple weeks back:
http://www.pbase.com/kster/image/120200738

 

You'll be fine.

The 8 does not just suddenly throw itself out of control just because there is water in the road. You have to be pushing the car much harder than you would push a normal car in order to lose it.

The problem is, driving an 8 makes you feel very confident in the turns. Sometimes too confident.

Where people get into trouble, I think, is when they drive their 8s like they are used to doing, and then suddenly find traction breaking loose because it rained an hour earlier. The stock tires do lose traction fairly easily on a wet road, and it's a huge difference compared to the grip that you get on a warm dry road.

Just remember to take it easy in the turns when the road might be wet.

Remember, just because it isn't raining doesn't mean the road isn't wet, I once had an issue with a freeway exit that merged onto a surface road at the edge of a drainage ditch: if I exited at my normal speed when it had been raining at all that day, I risked pitching my back end out and possibly clipping a car in the next lane.

Just try not to get too cocky in the turns, watch the conditions.

 

Guys, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to post on this thread and address this concern of mine. I needed to hear from real world drivers of the 8 and how it specifically reacts in the rain and wet conditions.

>From reading your posts it looked like you read a ton of out of control posts, or people experiencing a lot of issues. I haven't witnessed any stability problems that were not self induced. <

Indeed, this is exactely what happened. I caught one post reading threads on the maitenance and upkeep required for this car that talked about lack of DSC and big problems due to said lack... and then there are the related threads on the bottom I read, which led to searching threads... which led to the majority of the posters relating stories of break loooses, and instability, and outright crashes. For sure some seemed to be blatent driver error and or due to inexperience, but the volume of posts and replies certainly got my attention focused on this DSC feature- again, of which I knew nothing about other than I never had it in any rear wheel drive car before.

Couple that with never having a sports car before- the J30 was marketed as sporty-ish but is nothing more than a sedan and a Celica which can't count due to FWD, and I didn't know what to ecpect.

Now that I see that this car can certainly be driven in wet conditions safely, I feel so much more at ease. And again, having the feature would sure be a bonus no doubt, but the decision for me is if it is a deal breaker if it doesn't, ala Sport '09, and it seems like it should not get in the way of me having the driving fun that comes with owning an RX 8!

 

Don't worry TC and DAC is over rated.

Drive the car properly for road conditions and you won't have a problem.

Wat's da matter? You never heard of driving on newly fallen snow in a parking lot?


You can learn from that.


By the way why do you exsist? Your ancestors never had that bullshit.

 

^true what RAZZ said... just drive normal. We dont need another 8 totaled.

 

I drove my R3 in the rain that flooded Charleston. DSC/TC never was used between going around town and going on the freeway at brisk speeds... The only time it would have been an issue is if I actually tried to drive into an area flooded with 2+ feet of water...in which case DSC would not have helped... That said...I'd go for a GT/R3 if I were in the market for one...and they both come with DSC which is nice to have if you have to dodge something and end up over correcting...

Anyone at an autocross seen people spin on a slalom or offset slalom? It's probably the #1 place for Miatas and other 50/50 cars to do it.