poomaster5

Dont think about driving it with stock tires in 6" of snow.....Up here in Spokane WA we got 6" while my whife was at work (compacted on the road). it took her an hour to get home.....the stock tires really suck in the snow. so it sits in the garage most of the time this year

poomaster5

Dont think about driving it with stock tires in 6" of snow.....Up here in Spokane WA we got 6" while my whife was at work (compacted on the road). it took her an hour to get home.....the stock tires really suck in the snow. so it sits in the garage most of the time this year

JM1FE

I couldn't find them for my g/f's 8, so I got her the Continental ContiExtreme Contact 245/40-18 all-seasons (M+S). They're second only to the PZero Nero M+S, and actually are a bit higher rated in a couple of categories IIRC (according to the comparison on tirerack.com).

I was highly impressed with them, and would recommend them to anyone. They'll be the first thing installed on an RX-8 if/when I get my own.... (damn plant fire)

PaulyG CT

The snow hit Connecticut at rush hour tonight. You'd think we never see snow here up in New England as everyone in their Hummers and Land Rovers were doing 10mph on 1" of snow on the Merritt Parkway.

Opened her up on an open section. At 50mph, had great control and traction with 17" wheels and Pirelli Sottozero snow tires. Went up some hills very surefooted.

Got the package from Tire Rack, which included the tire pressure sensor.

PaulyG
'05 GT Titanium Gray
240 miles on the odometer

rudy8

my three year old says, "do doughnuts daddy?"
i grew up driving rear drive cars and learned how to drift at fifteen. its been a long time since ive had a rear drive car and all i can say is i am having a blast again!!!!!!
this car is **** in every way!

LiveBlues

Around here, the snow comes for a few days at a time. We are likely to get anywhere from 1-3' (that is feet, not inches) a storm. I am not going to risk my 8 for most of the winter. Despite what some say, when the snow starts to fly seriously here, I am very glad that I have an '02 Durango. It is very nimble and surefooted in those conditions. I also understand the difference between compact snow and ice, and drive accordingly. Don't confuse the idiots with those just trying to get by.

On a positive note, it hasn't snowed in a couple of weeks, and we have had a little warm spell. If I can get out of the driveway and one semi-bad side street, I can take the 8 out for a spin this weekend. The highway is clear and dry.

draco067

We got 1.5-2" yesterday, and I also went out for some "fun lessons" (this is my first RWD car). I have Dunlop Winter Sport M3s mounted, and man are they great. Everything about them is predictable and controllable. Somehow I got the entire car to spin in place like a top :D but it was really interesting learning the limits of the traction/stability control and how it would work, then turning it off and repeating the same thing. Loads of fun, I must say.

Imp

Here's how snow 'fun' is done. (2004 Subaru STi in a Parking lot)

http://www.zerofivezero.com/glawk/snowfun.wmv

An RX8 can't hold a stick to AWD, snow tired Subarus when snow rolls around. :D Sure, they may be good... but... you know...

G8rboy

Awesome video... AWD does rock. I'd love to have an STi in the garage next to my '8, but my wife would not be happy with her SUV outside :D.

Roaddemon

That was AWESOME. Thanks for sharing.

StewC625

Hi Guys:

Sorry I was AWOL for 24 hours there.

I bought my Pirelli PZero Nero M+S tires from TireRack.com for $150 each. Delivered to my house (a big 90 miles from their South Bend IN warehouse/HQ) was another $25.00. Mounting and balancing at a local performance car speciality shop ran another $100. $725 out the door and on the road.

I bought them in 245/40/18 size - a "plus zero" conversion in tire/wheel parlance. These don't come in 225/45/18 size. The 245-40/18's are about an inch wider than stock, so they look AWESOME on the car, and there's no interence issues at all. Speedo calibration was changed slightly. Before the new tires, my speedo was off by about 2 mph at 80mph, now it's off by 3 mph (to the high side - it reads 83 when the car is going 80). That seems to be a "percentage" error - it reduces to 1 mph of error (per my portable GPS) when I'm down around 30 mph.

They rock! Give them a try - a great solution if you don't want to invest in extra wheels/tires for the car, or don't want to fiddle with swapping.

Stew

RX8_Buckeye

I'm with you LiveBlues--when it comes to the deeper snow, I'll take the AWD SUV over my RX-8 with snow shoes anyday. Some on this forum would have you believe that an RX-8 equipped with snow tires does better than an AWD SUV with all-seasons. I have found this to be far from the truth, especially when it comes to snowfall amounts over 4". I could barely make it to work in the RX-8 when we had about 6" of fresh snow in the morning; however, our AWD Mercury Mountaineer could handle this stuff with no problem when I experimented in an unplowed parking lot later in the day. I think a lot of people forget that there is a big difference between all-season CAR tires and all-season TRUCK/SUV tires. The truck tires have much deeper tread for handling off-road conditions including dirt, mud, gravel, snow, etc. All-season car tires don't have nearly as much traction on those surfaces.

I will say, however, that the '8 does great on loose snow of less than 4", packed snow, and ice... at least with my Blizzak WS-50 tires. Acceleration and cornering is a bit trickier in the '8 than in the SUV, because a little too much throttle will turn the car sideways. AWD really helps in these situations. In terms of cruising, lane-changing stability, and braking, the RX-8 is at the very least on par with the SUV in these conditions.

StewC625

Yeah, in more than 4" of packed snow there's no getting around the too-low ground clearance.

rifle

Don't generalize all SUV owners. I enjoy driving my 8, but when the bad stuff is out there-the RX stays in and the H2 comes out. They are both fun in there own way. :D

velred8

Yeah thats my problem i've been looking for tires for the 6-speed and it seems that no one is making'em at all except for Avon Tech on tirerack. well i'm gonna try out the Avon for now since its the only one i can find right now, but thanks for the info. i cant wait to get the 8 eight out for a spin when it gets the right shoes on. :D

G8rboy

One option to consider is to look at a slightly different size- my wintersports are 225 40 18's- they're lower profile than the OEMs, but the same width. Mine were meant for some model of Porsche 911, and I was able to get them for less than $400 because of a shipping snafu in shipping them to Florida. My speedo stock was about 2 mph fast, now it's 3-4 at 60mph.

StewC625

Another great tire is the Continental ExtremeContact - aren't those in stock?

I've heard good things about those AVONs ... AVON is the brand of tyre (it is english after all), that you find on a Rolls Royce and a Bentley (at least before Bentley was a VeeDub).

StewC625

Took the RX-8 last night in this monster snow storm we're getting - I can see how you can get high-centered with this car - I didn't but heard lots of underbody noise in the deep stuff.

Also, taught my sons the fine art of doughnut making!

Domer

I have been pleasently shocked by how sure footed the 8 has been performing in today's Chicago snow storm. I was very concerned I would be regretting my July car purchase come January. On the contrary, performance has been great with DSC on and a set of Dunlop Wintersport M3s on black 17" rims. As far as the TPMS, someone suggested in another thread a small piece of electrical tape over the light. No problem.

G8rboy

Quite a storm we had... We got a little over a foot up here in the burbs once the lake-effect stuff stopped a little bit ago. I got caught in the beginning of it coming home from dinner last night, and ran some errands today. Man people drive slow as **** when there's some snow- I wish they would stop salting the roads and make it mandatory for people to have proper tires. Even the mail lady was getting stuck and spinning today before the plow had a chance to come back... I couldn't believe how crappy her tires were.

Matt RX8

Yes, that was one big storm we had. Glad to hear the 8 works well in the snow.

Johnnyma45

We got about 9 inches here in MI and it's still coming down. I was inching my way futile-y down the street when I realized, wait...why don't I go backwards instead. So I drove for about two miles in reverse, with no issues at all. It's amazing what a switch to "front wheel drive/rear steering" does in the snow...

hagar852

I just purchased Toyo Proxes 4 225/45r18. They are all season tires..

I found the Pirelli's but they aren't the right size and the tire shop doens't want to install them on the factory rims. So I went with the Toyo's. Good thing is if they don't work as well as I want I can return them.

Does anyone else have experience or know anything about these tires?