Lateapexer

So it snowed. I have snow tires on the car, but it is a little traction challenged. They may be too wide at 225/45/18 but they're what I have. Should I add some weight to the trunk? an do I leave DSC on?


PS Anyone else in Kingston On

LiveWire

iTrader: (1)

Depends on a lot of things honestly. Im no expert, but 225 should not be too wide (I have 225/45/18s on right now for winter duties). When my perellis started sucking in the snow they had 6/32s life left. Upon research, I found that winter tread lasts from 11/32s to 6/32s. The remaining tread is only all season compound. First things first, how much tread life do you have?

Weight in the back might help, I suspect it will only help you move a little and wont solve the entire issue. Definitely leave traction control on. While it may be a hindrance in the summer, it is a blessing in the winter. Anything above 4 inches is going to be hard to drive in any car without awd and good ride height.

Worst case you could stud the tires or chain them. Tho that seems extreme to me. I have been through 2 1/2 winters (the car a total of 5 going on 6) with just winter tires. Do you live in a lot of hills? I never have trouble with traction downhill, so if you are having trouble braking then tires are your likely culprit.

Stay safe!

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

I had 245s on the rear and 235s on the front for 3 winters, Nokian snows.

Likely, the problem is as LiveWire notes and you are past the winter compound. Alternatively, the issue may be simply how you are driving it. Even the best snow tires can be overwhelmed by the 8's low torque if you try.

Also, don't forget that even among snow tires, there are different tires that are better at different things. The Nokians were the best i had in snow pack, deep snow, and slush, but didn't handle ice very well. The Michelin Ice X were the best on ice and ice glazed snow pack, but moderately poor on snow fluff. Enough to get by, but not great. My current Blizzaks are good at deep snow and snow pack, moderate on ice, and terrible on wet pavement (that happens from salt-melt).

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

If you do add weight to the back, make sure you put it as close to above the wheel/strut as possible.
And the best way to learn how to handle the car in snow is to either take a driving course, or else find an empty parking lot and CAREFULLY do some doughnuts, drifting etc. Learn the capabilities of your car, and have safe fun doing it

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Sounds fine. Is this your first RWD?
When you say traction challenged, are we talking about takeoffs or in turns or braking or..?

I don't think it needs weight in the rear, but try it out. And yes, definitely keep DSC on unless you're trying to climb a steep hill or something.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Keep in mind that weight in the trunk is trying to increase the pounds per square inch on the tire's contact patch. Dropping from a 225 width tire to a 215 width tire is roughly equivalent to adding 66lbs of weight to the trunk, only the 66lbs of weight only ads weight to the rear of the car, so no extra braking help and more weight to stop. Reducing the tire contact patch instead adds that pressure to all 4 tires evenly, helping with all driving dynamics, as well as not adding more mass to have to stop.

Another side point: Compared to a theoretical 3,400lb 60/40 weight split muscle car, we have more weight on the rear tires (1,360lbs vs 1,500lbs). We even have more rear weight than most AWD cars.

Lateapexer

Thank you all. Lots of experience with rear wheel drive but non recently so that may be the concern. The car brakes and turns well, but seems to hunt for traction when starting in snow. Not very perturbed just curious about other experiences.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

I always tapped off TCS/DSC when starting in the snow, even with snow tires on. The TCS is a bit too invasive when it detects spin at such low torque values, and it is more likely to kill all power than it is to just reduce it to a usable range. Once I was moving i'd re-engage it.

Lateapexer

I think that may have been what was going on. I'll try that next time. I agree with you about the tire width, I was thinking 205 might be more responsive. They are Michelin X Ice by the way.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, the issue is mostly just in the engine's attributes. The 8 has a hard time getting moving from a stop even on dry pavement (not hard hard, just harder than other cars), and even with winter tires you will find that the clutch has more grip than the tires, so there is an incredibly narrow margin to aim for before the clutch just happily grabs and spins the tires. With TCS, that is immediately followed by a throttle cut, and hopefully a fast enough clutch reaction to save it from stalling.

If we had a much softer lower friction clutch, it would probably be easier.

Tapping off TCS lets the tires go ahead and rotate, and as long as you don't over-do it, you can just let the snow tires do their work and get the car moving until the wheels can match road speed. And yeah, the Ice X tires are part of the problem there. Better than all seasons, but they are near the bottom of the pile for grip on packed or fluffed snow.

Lateapexer

Interesting, not an issue I had with my FB Rx7.

tonik

Last winter which was the 4th season of my winter tire, I put 2 bag of salt in the trunk

and i can tell that the grip improved..less fish tailing...

Try it..if u don't like it then u can still use the salt n your driveway.

EgeKar

I have driven on snow with my sport tires on since im waiting for my blizzaks and launching the car was incredibly hard but tcs helped alot since i had no grip on any surface except wet asphalt but when you launching the car just try to be delicate and after having some movement let tcs to work thats what i did but you have to be really careful with clutch and gas and im from Kingston On

EgeKar

Mod Edit: If you know it's off topic, then don't post here. Post somewhere where it IS on topic, even if you create your own thread in the New Member subforum to do it. The warranty is a big topic, and has many threads about it, so a quick google search will turn up several threads available to post on-topic in.
-RIWWP

BlueFrenzy

I run 215 on my car since the 2004. Definitely the 8 has a bit of challenge starting from a stop in the snow. I occassionally tap off the DSC button when starting. But definitely keep it on as it can save your butt!

CanadianBacon

I recently decided to unpark my car and put winter tires on. Heard alot about blizzaks. And xice 3. What about some Dunlop or Nokia Hakk 7/8. Open to any suggestions, thanks.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

I don't know that someone here has tried all those tires, but that's what web reviews are for

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Actually, I posted a review on 3 of those 4 recently in this subforum, as I've driven on them in winter... lets see if i can find the thread...

Oops, the new member subforum, not here. But here you go: https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...-tires-256573/

yurcivicsux

buy an AWD for winter

Lateapexer

Changed my mind. Car is great in snow and crap, once I relaxed and drove it like RWD and not wrong wheel drive. Some CEL issues because the solenoid to open the air intake shutters doesn't like it at anything below -20. If I thought that these last two winters were going to be the new norm in SE Ontario I would look for a more aggressive snow tire.

EgeKar

Only problem i have is when outside temp is below -20 and car sits outside for whole night my neutral switch freezes and that leads to jumping idle if you dont sit in the the car and push the clutch pedal which means you are going to freeze inside the car for good 15 mins and 2nd sometimes my engine starts like a tractor engine and and after 5 10 secs goes back to normal but this happened 2 times only and it was extremely cold at those days for driving i was at snowcross event and i didnt had any problems