Alan McKenna, a car journalist talked with Mr. Pierre Deschamps (offcial spokesperson for Mazda) an Mr. Deschamps officially stated that Mazda does not recomend driving the RX-8 in winter.

So, for the ones that doubted my source...

Additionnal information can be found here, but it is in french, sorry guys : )

Use babel fish to translate the text from french to english (http://world.altavista.com/)

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/automobile...005,912712.php

 

Thanks for passing this along, but its rubbish. It deals with flooding for the most part. I've had my car for about 8 months now and drive it in the winter in all kinds of cold temps. Never flooded once. They couldn't sell RX-8's in canada and northern USA if the rotary engine was not able to run properly in the cold.

They should have provided more info then what they did. Weak interview.

 

Funny this is my 2nd winter season up here in the Northeast with no issues. My 8 has never flooded and with her Pirelli Snowsport tires on aftermarket wheels, she gets around great in the white stuff.

I do have to admit I hate the idea when I see her all full of crud and salt, but isn't that reason why we all bought our 8's, to be driven?

 

Quite odd considering the official testing footage on the DVD that came with one of my rotary mags of Mazda winter testing the RX-8 in Hokkaido...

 

this is bullshit...the car runs great in the winter you just NEED winter tires...that is all

 

give me a little while and ill translate that for you guys.

 

thanks

 

I agree completely with the posts saying that article is crap. It's about flooding, which was mainly an issue for people who didn't follow the manual, and has been made even less important by current ecu settings.
The real Mazda weakness it exposed was appointing an idiot for a spokesman, and letting him speak to a dim-witted writer.
Mitch

 

i could only do one paragraph, and im not sure how accurate it is. sry guys

the drivers who have purchased an exemplery sports coupe, the mazda rx8, should be interested in knowing this: do not use the rotary engine for a long time or else you will take a walk with remorse.

 

Ha, I don't think you have anything to worry about, TR1GGER. I doubt it'll get cold enough in the OC for you to even have to put a sweater on :D

 

I'm blown away at how well this car drives in the snow, much better then my protege 5 ever did.

 

I think Mazda is simply stating this because it is not designed to be a summer car. Any car with snow tires will be good in bad weather, but stating the car is not intended for winter use is accurate. It comes with summer tires for a reason, and a lot of people complain about having to buy winter tires, and the flooding. Mazda wouldn't be making this statement if a lot of people had not complained. This site is filled with bias owners, and the reality is we do not speak for everyone, so as a whole there are just as many people disapppointed in rx8 as there are people who can't find anything wrong with it. The flooding issue is not for every single RX8, but it does exist, and it's something that can happen. As I said before any car with winter tires can work in winter, but that doesn't mean that's it's intention. I do think that Mazda is contradicting itself, because they produced this car in such a mass form, and led the public to believe it was a practical sports coupe. In reality, compared to many cars, it's simply not, and when you get such a variety of people buying this car, you cannot avoid the criticism. Just my.02.

 

Deijmaster: I for one doubted your source, so for that I apologize. But I do feel that this spokesman is full of caca.

 

And that explanation still doesn't hold water. The Miata isn't a winter car, neither is a Porsche 911. But I don't see Mazda or Porsche spokesmen making statements that they are aren't designed for winter driving. How about the Mustang or a Corvette? I know the old fox body Mustangs were a serious bitch in wet weather and God forbid icy roads. No statements from Ford saying this is only a summer car. Really... what a load of ****. Even the Subaru Imprezza and Legacy weren't designed for winter specifically... if there a car that is? I doubt it.

All seasons? I would never consider trying to tackle winter on those if I lived in someplace that got significant snow. Proper snow tires is the only way to go.

As far as practicality goes, it's more practical than a Miata, 911, Mustang, Z3/4, 350Z, Prelude... the list can go on and on. You do you have a logical arguement about how those cars are all more practical then the 8?

 

Sorry, but I don't agree with that at all. There's a lot more to what makes a good winter car than just having tires, and on the '8 that includes 50-50 weight balance, DSC+TCS+ABS, low torque at low RPM's, and great handling. Throw snow tires on V8 Mustang (well, maybe on the new '05) and tell me how that makes it a good winter car?

A lot of people told me I couldn't drive a Miata in the winter, which was bullshit... and the RX8 trumps the Miata in winter capabilities.

 

You can not put a block heater into an RX8.

I lived in Edmonton for 25 years and you can not park outside at night in -40c without a block heater. Unfortunately Edmonton and a lot of other parts of Canada get that cold more often than we like.

Any car can be driven in the winter if you have winter tires and always garage a car at night. Like a 911.

Saying that the RX8 was not designed for winter is a fair statement because Mazda made a conscience decision to make a block heater impossible in the RX8 there by limiting it to 3 seasons or mild winters at best.

If you don't live in an area where there is snow on the ground for 5 months of the year then you don't understand what a Quebecer means by "winter"

I live in Toronto now and the coldest it ever gets here is -25c and I left my car outside just to test how well it would start. It started but with a nearly 10 second crank and it took over 15 mins to warm up for the rpms to drop to 1500. That's just barely in my book and my car has 6000km on a very strong battery.

If I ever moved back to a real "winter" climate like Edmonton or Quebec city then I would have to keep my precious RX8 in a garage but I would still drive it in winter with winter tires on it.

But just because I drive my RX8 in winter does not mean my car is a "winter" car. it means I'm too poor to buy a second "winter" car!

 

Just as Porsches, Jags and Vettes are not your pick of vehicles when travel in Snowy conditiions is apparent, does not mean you leave the car at home, and just as not all SUVs are alike, either are sport cars. We recently drove my sister-in laws 8, equiped with winter Perellis, four adults with skis on top, from NY to Waterville Valley, NH- in near blizzard conditions! The cars performed flawless, I think the 50/50 weight has a lot to due with it, and one does have to know how to drive in the snow/ice.
That person from Mazda who said the Mazda 8 is not for winter, either is miss-quoted, or is proabbly looking for another job now- No car company would spend the money in R&D to market a vehicle, saying that it is only for good weather.

 

Traction is not a winter issue.

Those of you who seem to think that traction is an issue you don't know what the Mazda guy means by "winter". Everyone in a Alaska knows to use winter tires in winter. That's a given. That's not an issue.

The most important winter issue is cold weather cranking. Is the block heater plugged in? Is the battery strong enough? How easy is it to boost the car? These are real issues that people is very cold climates deal with.

If you don't have block heater in all your other cars then you don't understand "winter"

The RX8 is not a "winter" car. The battery is too weak for serious cold. There is no block heater option. The heating system barely works below -10c because the compressor is so small. Mazda does not offer a factory winter tire package, Chevy does on the Corevette. Mazda saying the RX8 is not a "winter" car is legit. This car was meant to run well in summer the weak factory battery is proof of that enough!

But I will say that I love driving my RX8 winter much more than my old Miata. The Miata has 50/50 weight bias and is low hp/low torque. But was much more twitchy on uneven snowy surfaces. The RX8 with good winter tires is a lot more stable. As long as you know what you are doing you can drive anything in the winter as long as you can live with the compromises. But that doesn't make what you're driving a "winter" car.

 

And how many people live in Alaska? Sorry Canadians, but how many people live in Canada and how many 8's are sold there out of the total worldwide sales? Game set match. A small minority. AND as I stated earlier, the car was tested in hokkaido for handling and perfomance under winter conditions....it hits -16degress C.

Ok, so you can get those tires on a Vette as an option. Mustang? Miata? Porsche?

 

Lamest argument ever.

VikingDJ, please list all the cars sold in the US with summer tires - you'll find dozens of different vehicles, including Audis, BMWs, MINIs, GMs, Fords, Porsches, Toyotas, Hondas, and more. The reason they come with summer tires is to maximize summer performance. NO implications about suitability for winter usage is implied or expressed whatsoever. I can buy an Audi A6, A4, TT, with summer tires OEM - are you telling us that those cars are not intended to be used in winter? Ridiculous! All it means is that you will need to change to appropriate tires for winter use (which is exactly what the RX-8 owners manual advises as well).

My RX-8 does extremely well in winter. For Edmonton owners, you can fit an inline coolant heater or an oil pan heater to handle the -30 temperatures. Again a comparison, the Audi 2.7 twin-turbo engine used in the A6, allroad, and S4 does not have a block heater available. It makes a great winter car, anyway.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Apparently you've missed the point. This isn't a thread about how many cars are sold in Canada or anywhere else but about the RX8 being a "winter" car.

If you would read properly you will see that -16c is not cold enough to justify a block heater.

A block heater is an option in canada on a mustang and a miata. I am not sure if it is on a porsche. So the miata and mustang at least can be started in very cold climates if the block heater is used properly where the RX8 can not.

The only people who should be upset by this announcement are people who live in very cold climates. Everyone else who is not familiar with a block heater shouldn't worry. The RX8 is fine in the "cold" as long as you don't mean colder than -25c

 

I seen an add in Autoweek or Car and Driver that says, "Winter's over, Spring out with the Mazda Rx-8."

 

From the Yamaguchi RX-8 book. Caption reads:

pg 122 "Both M1 and S1 (note - RX-8 prototypes) are put through their paces on white stuff in February 2002 in the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan"

One can't not say the RX-8 was never designed and/or tested for winter driving. Winter testing of prototypes proves this is a bogus claim. (perhaps the French need to contact mother Mzda Japan to get their story straight?)

And just because it was not designed specifically for -40 degree temperatures does not count. Normal operating temperature for most any car is not -40 degrees, unless it is built for Artic or Antartica traveling. So sorry guys it's not the Mazda RX-8's fault some of you live in the furthest reaches north or south :p of the planet.

 

I even have video footage from Mazda somewhere showing a black RX8 tearing through the snow and what appears to be a bloody good job of it too!

I lived in Montreal for 20 years before moving to T.O. Not one car that I or my parents ever owned had a block heater and we never had problems. In fact, most people I knew who had block heaters had all sorts of other problems and even many no starts for whatever reason. (Technology has improved and I'm sure block heaters of today and engine adaptability is better than it was 20 years ago).

Ya, weak heat production below -10C = True. Small engine/limited heat

Weak battery = Save money/weight. I've never had a problem even once

No block heater offered = Go get one installed at Canadian Tire. No big deal.

If Mazda said this car is not to be driven in the winter, they would make you sign a waiver releasing them from any responsibility if you drove the car in less than 0 degrees or something like that . They would be laughed at by every other manufacturer in the world and would be suspect on all their products. They might as well close thier doors now!

Mis-quote for sure or the Mazda guy lost his job for sure, and rightful so, unfortunately.