OK, apologies to Ethel Merman!

Well, last night we got about 3" of fresh snow here and I went out and had a ball driving my RX-8 in it. I have the PZeroNero M+S all seasons and they are terrific in the snow. I can't judge against full-on snow tires, but man, this is fun - great grip and with the electronic controls all operating, no issue at all with keeping it going, stopping and under control.

But, what was more fun was taking my twin 9 year old sons "drifiting" around the neighborhood with the traction control off - driving sideways for a good half-block, doing donuts in the parking lot of the soccer fields near our house. Whee!

Also, something cool - it must have been the kind of snow plus the aerodynamics of the car, but the whole back end of the car got "flocked" with snow - very cool.

Pics attached.

I was very apprehensive about this car in snow, even with proper tires. Now I look forward to it!

Best,

Stew

Welcome to the Chicago snow drifter's club : )

Looks like you had some fun last night. Last week I was asked to leave the parking lot of the park across the street from my house while "testing" my snow tires : ). Nice cop though... didn't give me a warning- just told me I'd had enough fun :D

Quick question for you guys.

What did you do with the Tire Pressure Monitoring System when you put on your snow tires (and all-seasons)?

Did you buy new monitors ($116 each)? Disable the system? Or just slap on the snow wheels and tires and ignore the yellow light on the dash?

Quick question for you guys.

What did you do with the Tire Pressure Monitoring System when you put on your snow tires (and all-seasons)?

Did you buy new monitors ($116 each)? Disable the system? Or just slap on the snow wheels and tires and ignore the yellow light on the dash?



I just put on the snow wheels/tires and ignore the flashing yellow light. When I reinstall the summer tires I have to reset the tire pressure sensor. The manual tells how to do it. It's simple.

right on Stew - glad you've joined the snow lover club :D

I just put on the snow wheels/tires and ignore the flashing yellow light. When I reinstall the summer tires I have to reset the tire pressure sensor. The manual tells how to do it. It's simple.

Does it beep or just flash? Do you ever worry about burning out the light?

Well, the very nature of "all season" tires is that they are on there permanently. therefore, TPMS installed and operating. My Pirelli PZero Nero M+S's are a permanent installation. And they are terrific tires all around, dry, wet, and snow.

(anyone want to buy a set of 4 Potenzas with only 3700 miles on them?).

Stew

Does it beep or just flash? Do you ever worry about burning out the light?

It just flashes in a lazy steady rythem. I hardly notice it. I doubt it will burn out. I used to never wear a seat belt on my last car (Accord) and in ten years that damn seatbelt warning light never burnt out like I wished it would.

Mine flashes every two seconds, no beep.

We had 2 days of freezing rain out here and I had to travel in it. I have the Hankook W300's and they did a great job. Much better then the SUV's that were in the ditch. I think they should give an exam to all potential SUV owners:

Question: Can you go faster on ice covered roads with 4-wheel drive compared to a two wheel drive?
Customer's answer: Yes.

And at that point the interviewer shoots the prospective SUV owner in the head and assists in cleaning the gene pool by taking another dumba$$ off the road.

Sorry for the rant.

Dark8:

Won't find any dissenters in this room! I hate SUV guys.

Last night, I had my twins out at a "dad's and son's" event. Among the dads in the group, 7 of them drive SUVs and two of us drive performance cars (the other guy drives an M3). We came outside to the snow (which started while we were bowling), and about every one of them were saying "Oh man, I'm going to stay out of your way in this stuff!".

I just bit my tongue rather than say "No, it's you that I need to stay away from!"

Stew

Quick question for you guys.

What did you do with the Tire Pressure Monitoring System when you put on your snow tires (and all-seasons)?

Did you buy new monitors ($116 each)? Disable the system? Or just slap on the snow wheels and tires and ignore the yellow light on the dash?

None of the above- I bought 18" snow tires that I mount on my factory rims during the winter, and OEM's during the summer... which keeps the TPMS happy year-round.

Dark8:

Won't find any dissenters in this room! I hate SUV guys.

Last night, I had my twins out at a "dad's and son's" event. Among the dads in the group, 7 of them drive SUVs and two of us drive performance cars (the other guy drives an M3). We came outside to the snow (which started while we were bowling), and about every one of them were saying "Oh man, I'm going to stay out of your way in this stuff!".

I just bit my tongue rather than say "No, it's you that I need to stay away from!"

Stew

Yep- I rather drive my RX-8 in the snow than my 4x4, unless we're talking 6"+ on the roads... at that point I'd rather my '8 not be a snow plow :).

[QUOTE=StewC625]OK, apologies to Ethel Merman!

Well, last night we got about 3" of fresh snow here and I went out and had a ball driving my RX-8 in it. I have the PZeroNero M+S all seasons and they are terrific in the snow. I can't judge against full-on snow tires, but man, this is fun - great grip and with the electronic controls all operating, no issue at all with keeping it going, stopping and under control.

But, what was more fun was taking my twin 9 year old sons "drifiting" around the neighborhood with the traction control off - driving sideways for a good half-block, doing donuts in the parking lot of the soccer fields near our house. Whee!

Also, something cool - it must have been the kind of snow plus the aerodynamics of the car, but the whole back end of the car got "flocked" with snow - very cool.

Pics attached.

I was very apprehensive about this car in snow, even with proper tires. Now I look forward to it!

Best,





My kids get a blast out of drifting too. I always do it as I get to the back streets towards my house. I also noticed that the back of the car gets very dirty (snow covered) compared to the rest of it.

I love the "snow mustache" mine gets when driving fast in a wet falling snow- looks just like a "Got Milk" ad when I get home :D

I love the "snow mustache" mine gets when driving fast in a wet falling snow- looks just like a "Got Milk" ad when I get home :D



Hey...seeing as you live in Chicago, can you find out where that NHL meeting is taking place and go kick some sense into both sides so that I have some sports to watch on TV after football is done?

.....make sure to kick thhem frequently and hard!

Hey...seeing as you live in Chicago, can you find out where that NHL meeting is taking place and go kick some sense into both sides so that I have some sports to watch on TV after football is done?

.....make sure to kick thhem frequently and hard!

Will do... maybe a hockey stick upside their heads will make everyone play nice :D

Question: Can you go faster on ice covered roads with 4-wheel drive compared to a two wheel drive?


Yes, if the 4wd has better tires (like studded tires or Ice rated tires), and the 2wd doesn't. :p

Don't hate on SUVs. There are plenty of dumb car owners too. I agree, tho, that there should be a better testing procedure not just for SUVs... but all drivers. Although I wouldn't mind just having one just for SUVs. :)

AWD/4WD doesn't mean AWStop/4WStop.

I can walk out to our ice covered parking lot of 50 cars and find at least 10 that don't have the right tires or have bald tires on their cars (not SUVs.. but Cars).

--kC

My 8 likes the snow (with 17" Blizzaks) but ice is a bit of a sticky wicket. We had freezing rain yesterday and now snow on top of it, coupled with crappy street clearing. "Evangeline" gets where she's going but it can be a slightly hair-raising experience. Of course I could slow down, heh heh.

V is for Velocity, but not in snow!

My "tooling around" in the snow last night was limited to about 40 mph on snow-covered highways. I'm not much for speed in the snow. I'm sure the car would do fine. But at that speed, the car was totally surefooted as if on pavement (well, almost, anyway).

On my way to work today I saw:
Fart-cannon Celica in the ditch with an ouchie to the left rear:
Gray Mustang, in the ditch, with a tow truck in front of it.
Minivan, facing the wrong way, right near a concrete divider with a splat mark on it.


My RX-8 is happy.


(Of course, it's sitting in my garage with the stock tires while I drive the winter car to work.)

Mine likes playing in the snow like a happy puppy!

And at that point the interviewer shoots the prospective SUV owner in the head and assists in cleaning the gene pool by taking another dumba$$ off the road.

Sorry for the rant.

yaaayyy

Pro Darwin

I did what g8rboy did- and coincidentally, we are both Florida Gators! I bought 18" snow tires and had them mounted on my stock rims- cost approx $120- but well worth the investment! car drives like a champ in the white stuff.

I did what g8rboy did- and coincidentally, we are both Florida Gators! I bought 18" snow tires and had them mounted on my stock rims- cost approx $120- but well worth the investment! car drives like a champ in the white stuff.


Great minds think alike : )

Go Gators! Beat Tennessee!

Stew,

Just wondering where you got the Pirelli PZero Nero M+S's, I've searched a bunch of websites and asked a few local retailers for those all season tires but haven't had any luck. The only ones I've seen are made by Avon Tech (found it on tirerack.com). Tried a search for everybrand, but couldn't find any made by perelli. I dont really want to switch tires back and forth between seasons, just wanna keep it on there until it needs to be changed.

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

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

Just wondering where you got the Pirelli PZero Nero M+S's, I've searched a bunch of websites and asked a few local retailers for those all season tires but haven't had any luck.
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)

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

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 tits in every way!

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.

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.

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... ;)

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... ;)

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.

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... ;)



That was AWESOME. Thanks for sharing.

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

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'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.

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

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

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


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

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

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.

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).

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! :)

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.

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 shit 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.

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

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...

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?