Winter is almost over. Did you drive your 8? If so how was it?

How was it compared to your last car?

Just wondering

 

I have driven 2 cars this winter, my 8 and a Volvo V70 T5, both with winter tires. The 8 is much better to control, the sliding is predictable and consistent.

My driveway has a steep incline and can ice over very quickly. The 8 was able to go up the drive with no problems but the Volvo would struggle from time to time.

Overall, the 8 has been great over the winter. Roll on the time when I can put the stock tires back on and away we go !!!!

 

Do you have the DSC and traction?

Thats still my concern also.....if i need it. My budget will be tight if i get a GT.

 

See my signature.
I missed her for these last few months, but I think it was worth it... between the messed alignment from sliding into a snowbank and the cracked windshield from crap from the road thrown up by other cars, my winter beater paid for it's self.

I'll never drive a car I care about in the winter again.

 

Mine is still in the garage. Last Friday it was 18 Celcius here, poured rain like hell, most of the snow gone and I was tempted to take her out yesterday. Today another blizzard and below zero temperatures. It looks like I'll have to wait another month

 

i'm in Montreal, been using her on and off all winter but only on days when there was no snow on the roads and the temps were no lower then -10C. ( i'm on stock tires. ) I've used her everyday for the last 2 weeks now as it's been dry and warm here.

 

I drove my 8 all winter on winter wheels/tires. It was great, I actually looked forward to the fresh snow days so I could turn off the DSC and slide around! There were plenty of times where I was very happy to have the DSC to mind things, though, especially when my wife was driving it.

Aside from the DSC and TC, the other options in the GT package (HID lights, heated seats, leather, power seat, etc.) add up to extremely good value for the money. If your budget is tight, though, please remember that you HAVE TO buy winter tires if you intend to drive it in winter. Be sure to budget for those also.

Regards,
Gordon

 

All winter. We tend to only drive 2-3x per week max and we don't head out of it is stormy. Have winter tires and wheels and the car has been very good and "yes" the dsc and traction are highly recommended from me for winter driving. Definitely not as good as my front wheel Protege5 or any all wheel drive car. Heated underground parking and washed every week . . . good as new.

 

Unlike Gord96BRG, I haven't added the second set of wheels and tires - I decided to only drive the 8 when conditions were perfect, so I've only put on about 1400km this winter.

On the other hand, the Miata has 4 Hakka's, and the top has been down every month since I bought it.

I expect the 8 will see a lot more winter use next year.

Cheers

 

I have to say I've been very pleased with the way this car handles in winter. I bought the FRD 6 rims with Toyo Garit winter tires and have driven the car every day this winter. My driving is mostly downtown Toronto so the volume of traffic generally keeps the roads fairly clear. When I did take it out of the core the handling was very predictable and the DSC / Traction control worked very well when I got too aggressive on slippery conditions. My last car was a Grand Am GT (FWD) and I actually like the handling on the RX8 better in winter conditions. I think this is due to the light weight of the car and the traction aids when things get slippy.

 

I probably bought the same package as Sharky - FRD 6 rims with Toyo Garit HT 215/55-17 winter tires from Talon Tire here in Montreal. I caught an earlier thread, and jumped on the group-buy bandwagon and price!- a bit over 1600 (including taxes PST/GST ) for tires and rims. John provided perfect service (on time and as promised).

I just received my TGrey 8 GT this week, and the roads have been relatively dry. My first night out, it was cold enough to have some black ice and frozen puddles which I was lucky/unlucky enough to be braking over. Handled perfectly with those tires and ABS. I was really surprised, because I was going relatively fast, stopping for a stop sign (nobody around) and I had a short, straight line stop.

My 2 cents:

Enjoy your car, take care of it. It's not your grandmother's couch - take the plastic off. Buy some winter tires. You'll worry less.


Baze

 

I just took out my 8 yesterday ...... it was stored for the winter, but now i have no choice but to take it out early. I won't drive it with snow on the ground because i still have my summer tires.

Other then that ,,, yesterday was a blast

 

I took my GT 8 MT6 all winter long here in Montreal and I can tell you that some days I was stress like hell.

But, I really enjoy it, drive far for other cars and weekdays after work, I would just remove the dirt from her with my simoniz system (that's great thing to have).

I gave myself two more weeks to get/install my summer tires.

Got to love your 8!

Simon.