Ok, I have my RX8. LOVE IT!!! But...., I live in Minnesota. I won't be driving the 8 much this winter. By the way, I can back up all the claims about how HORRIBLE this car is on snow. We got at most an inch and I could barely get down our street. No, the 8 will be staying in my garage, accept on weekends when the streets are clear.(Edit - This may have been a little harsh. I've heard with the proper tires, the 8 will do fine in snow. I don't plan on buying a second set of tires)

My wife an I are looking to replace our 98 Malibu for our 'practical' vehicle. I'm leaning towards a small 4 wheel drive SUV. Any suggestions? I read on Edmunds.com that the Kia Sorento is actually the best bang for your buck and very reliable(which suprised me). I was also thinking about the Ford Escape. I think Toyota has some options. Honda Pilot? After all the crap we've gone through with our Malibu, I will most likely be staying away from GM products for awhile so Blazers are out.

Originally posted by IwantONE2
Ok, I have my RX8. LOVE IT!!! But...., I live in Minnesota. I won't be driving the 8 much this winter. By the way, I can back up all the claims about how HORRIBLE this car is on snow. We got at most an inch and I could barely get down our street. No, the 8 will be staying in my garage, accept on weekends when the streets are clear.(Edit - This may have been a little harsh. I've heard with the proper tires, the 8 will do fine in snow. I don't plan on buying a second set of tires)

My wife an I are looking to replace our 98 Malibu for our 'practical' vehicle. I'm leaning towards a small 4 wheel drive SUV. Any suggestions? I read on Edmunds.com that the Kia Sorento is actually the best bang for your buck and very reliable(which suprised me). I was also thinking about the Ford Escape. I think Toyota has some options. Honda Pilot? After all the crap we've gone through with our Malibu, I will most likely be staying away from GM products for awhile so Blazers are out.

What about a small Subaru??

Originally posted by IwantONE2
By the way, I can back up all the claims about how HORRIBLE this car is on snow. We got at most an inch and I could barely get down our street. No, the 8 will be staying in my garage, accept on weekends when the streets are clear.(Edit - This may have been a little harsh. I've heard with the proper tires, the 8 will do fine in snow. I don't plan on buying a second set of tires)


I'm going to jump on this type of statement EVERY time it's made! The RX-8 is NOT horrible on show - the stock summer performance tires are horrible on snow. With proper winter tires, the RX-8 is GREAT on snow. Please don't blame the car, it's all too easy for a car to get a reputation from misleading statements like this. If you put ANY vehicle (even the Sorrento or Escape you're considering) on similar high performance summer tires, you'll find it behaves the same way on snow - horribly. It's just the tires.

Regards,
Gordon

Originally posted by RX8-TX
What about a small Subaru??

Ah yes. I almost forgot about the all wheel drive Subaru's!!

I'll have to take another look at them too. Before buying the 8, I had been looking hard at the WRX. I was pretty disappointed after test driving it though. Great get up and go, but the interior was completely lacking in any refinement whatsoever. My wife also hated the way the exterior looked. I didn't mind that so much.

I haven't looked at the rest of the Subaru line up, but couldn't hurt. Thanks for the tip.

Originally posted by IwantONE2
Ah yes. I almost forgot about the all wheel drive Subaru's!!

I'll have to take another look at them too. Before buying the 8, I had been looking hard at the WRX. I was pretty disappointed after test driving it though. Great get up and go, but the interior was completely lacking in any refinement whatsoever. My wife also hated the way the exterior looked. I didn't mind that so much.

I haven't looked at the rest of the Subaru line up, but couldn't hurt. Thanks for the tip.

Check out the Forester, its interior is pretty plain. But again, if you want a car that will be 'safe' in bad weather conditions, and will probably not give too many headaches...give it a try. I have a guy that just got rid of one, and stepped up to an Audi All-Road (or whatever it is..) But he was pretty happy about the Subi. Not that we have THAT much bad wather (here in TX) but I was able to see him driving literally on ICE without problems.

Originally posted by Gord96BRG
I'm going to jump on this type of statement EVERY time it's made! The RX-8 is NOT horrible on show - the stock summer performance tires are horrible on snow. With proper winter tires, the RX-8 is GREAT on snow. Please don't blame the car, it's all too easy for a car to get a reputation from misleading statements like this. If you put ANY vehicle (even the Sorrento or Escape you're considering) on similar high performance summer tires, you'll find it behaves the same way on snow - horribly. It's just the tires.

Regards,
Gordon

Gord, regardless of how good the 8 behaves on snow, I wouldn't dare trying. I like the car too much to tempt fate on me. I much rather drive a beater during bad weather, and don't risk the 8. However, that's me.

i am in the same boat, my dad and I are looking at either a forester or a toyota highlander. highlander is a nice car for its price. drives nice.

Originally posted by Gord96BRG
I'm going to jump on this type of statement EVERY time it's made! The RX-8 is NOT horrible on show - the stock summer performance tires are horrible on snow. With proper winter tires, the RX-8 is GREAT on snow. Please don't blame the car, it's all too easy for a car to get a reputation from misleading statements like this. If you put ANY vehicle (even the Sorrento or Escape you're considering) on similar high performance summer tires, you'll find it behaves the same way on snow - horribly. It's just the tires.

Regards,
Gordon

I totally agree. Like I said in my edit, the car will do better with the proper tires. I just wanted to back up the fact that you SHOULD NOT TRY DRIVING THIS CAR IN SNOW WITH THE STOCK TIRES. I've seen several posts where people were skeptical on how bad it would be. I was a little skeptical myself until i tried it last weekend. Those tires are completely unuseable even with a small amount of snow on the ground. Many people won't feel like buying a second set of tires and swapping them every change of season. I just figured they should know that if they want to drive the 8 year round, they should be prepared to have to do just that.

Subaru Forester 2.5XT

0 to 60mph: 5.3 s

http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=6854&page_number=1

Supercharger and RX8-TX beat me to it, take a serious look at the Forester XT, the only drawback to it is it might make your RX-8 feel slow :p Subaru rates them at 215hp but dynos so far suggest more like 240hp. They handle really well for an SUV, and aren't all that pretty, but talk about a sleeper and they are great in the snow, at least the slower ones were :p

Ike

Originally posted by Supercharger
Subaru Forester 2.5XT

0 to 60mph: 5.3 s

http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=6854&page_number=1

WOW!!!

I will definately be checking this car out. Not sure how I'll get the hood scoop past my wife, but I'll try :)

My wife is going to want an automatic. The article says something about the automatic's engine being tuned differently. Do you think its performance will still be that good. Obviously it won't get a 5.3 0-60, but do you think it will still be sub 6?

I still find the 5.3 amazing. Isn't that faster thean the non STI WRX? Basically for about the same price as the base WRX, you get more room, much improved interior, and better power/acceleration. Obviously you give up handling, but thats what my 8 is for :).

Originally posted by IwantONE2
My wife is going to want an automatic. The article says something about the automatic's engine being tuned differently. Do you think its performance will still be that good. Obviously it won't get a 5.3 0-60, but do you think it will still be sub 6?

I still find the 5.3 amazing. Isn't that faster thean the non STI WRX? Basically for about the same price as the base WRX, you get more room, much improved interior, and better power/acceleration. Obviously you give up handling, but thats what my 8 is for :).


It's a little faster and a little more expensive, the auto should still be pretty quick since it has a pretty good amount of torque and drives more like a N/A car compared to the WRX.

How about another RX-8 ... with snow tires? You DO have spring, summer & fall where you live, don't you? Get thru the winter by using moderation in driving technique & you will win in the long run. That is unless you're well off enough to change your cars when the weather changes.

Originally posted by Racer X-8
How about another RX-8 ... with snow tires? You DO have spring, summer & fall where you live, don't you? Get thru the winter by using moderation in driving technique & you will win in the long run. That is unless you're well off enough to change your cars when the weather changes.

Well, I'm sure the RX-8 handles ok with snow tires, I live in a small town about 20 miles from civilization. If there's a lot of snow, I'd like to have something thats reliable and can get me through. While the 8 with proper tires will drive fine on packed snow and plowed streets, I doubt its going to be getting you through any snow drifts, or even out of my drive way after a blizzard, for that matter. I figure, if we're going to have 2 vehicles, the second one may as well be a good winter vehicle. Preferably one that can also haul more stuff and passengers comfortably.

The reason I'm not putting snow tires on my current 8, is that it isn't really worth it as long as we have a second car that can handle the snow. My wife and I both take a free commuter bus to our jobs in Rochester, so we rarely HAVE to drive, and if we do, we can drive to work togeather.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE MY 8. I just figured, why not have the best of both worlds. I hot sports car and a reliable utility vehicle. Pretty much covers all our bases.

Originally posted by IwantONE2
Well, I'm sure the RX-8 handles ok with snow tires, I live in a small town about 20 miles from civilization. If there's a lot of snow, I'd like to have something thats reliable and can get me through. While the 8 with proper tires will drive fine on packed snow and plowed streets, I doubt its going to be getting you through any snow drifts, or even out of my drive way after a blizzard, for that matter. I figure, if we're going to have 2 vehicles, the second one may as well be a good winter vehicle. Preferably one that can also haul more stuff and passengers comfortably.

The reason I'm not putting snow tires on my current 8, is that it isn't really worth it as long as we have a second car that can handle the snow. My wife and I both take a free commuter bus to our jobs in Rochester, so we rarely HAVE to drive, and if we do, we can drive to work togeather.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE MY 8. I just figured, why not have the best of both worlds. I hot sports car and a reliable utility vehicle. Pretty much covers all our bases.


Makes sense to me... And if you can afford it why not keep the RX-8 away from road salt and the type of weather in general that is going to wear things out faster.

My winter beater..

ok

I've got a Chevy S-10 4WD truck, but I'd defintiely recommend any of the Subarus, especially the Forester XT. Lower center of gravity, and the full-time AWD system is bulletproof.

The 8 is great in snow. Us Albertans have been driving in it since October.

Bad tires = bad experience. Period. Cf: Canadian forum.

I drove a 4x4 in the winter and RX-7 in the summer for about 10 years. Luckily they were both "classics", so the insurance wasn't too bad. I have to say: it's always nice to have a 4x4 at your disposal for various tasks. But it's more for extreme duty: like 20cm snowstorms or hauling. In both cases it's better to have a beater 4x4.

I can understand people wanting to keep their 8 in the garage over the winter for salt/rocks/whatever/ reason. But there is no handling excuse to do it unless one refused to change the OEM tires.

Originally posted by Literatii
The 8 is great in snow. Us Albertans have been driving in it since October.

Bad tires = bad experience. Period. Cf: Canadian forum.

I drove a 4x4 in the winter and RX-7 in the summer for about 10 years. Luckily they were both "classics", so the insurance wasn't too bad. I have to say: it's always nice to have a 4x4 at your disposal for various tasks. But it's more for extreme duty: like 20cm snowstorms or hauling. In both cases it's better to have a beater 4x4.

I can understand people wanting to keep their 8 in the garage over the winter for salt/rocks/whatever/ reason. But there is no handling excuse to do it unless one refused to change the OEM tires.

I think having a AWD small SUV that can run 13s bone stock and handle like a dream in the snow is a pretty good excuse :D

Originally posted by IkeWRX
I think having a AWD small SUV that can run 13s bone stock and handle like a dream in the snow is a pretty good excuse :D

Yes, but please put good tires on it... :)

I'm sick of SUV's spinning out in front of me because they don't understand the "where the rubber hits the road" theory.

Originally posted by SublimaZe
My winter beater.. That's an '04 350Z? Nice! I haven't seen one of those around here yet. :D

Anyway, around here, there are lots of used vehicles that'll get you thru the snow & haul stuff. Take 2-4 grand & buy one of those maybe. I would think about taking that route & save the 20-40 grand for things that you really want. Like maybe a nice FD? A 350Z or G30? A mini? An STI or EVO? Nah, scratch that last one...and whatever you do, don't buy Subaru! Ike likes them. :p

My winter track beater...

Ooooh, yeah! Me likes!

That's an '04 350Z? Nice! I haven't seen one of those around here yet. :D

New body kit, you know how us Z drivers are ;)

in response to the first post, the Kia Sorento is an excelent choice.

Supercharger: Nice car. that isn't pink, is it? ;)

Originally posted by s1mike22
Supercharger: Nice car. that isn't pink, is it? ;)

:eek: of course not!! just weird light from a sunset after (or sunrise before) the track day...

Supercharger The Mysterious, seeming slowly more and more a real person......

Just FYI, Hyundai bought Kia a few years ago. From what I understand Hyundai did a great job of improving their reliability in the '90s, and now that they own Kia I guess that's carrying over.

The Sorento's a great deal, but the reviews I read commented that performance was only average but somehow it still gets only 15-18 mpg.