sleeperx8

I'm fairly certain I'm going to Indiana University, Bloomington for law school this August. I was wondering if anybody in IN could give me some tips as to what to look out for when I'm driving out there. I've never driven in snow, so I know I'll need winter tires if I choose to drive during the winter, but should I also be concerned about ground clearance? My stats are below, feel free to give any advice (car or non-car).

Autobahn front bumper (no front license plate) and side skirts
tein s-techs (should I revert to stock springs? or just get eibachs?)
Tokico D-spec shocks
exhaust (forgot the company that distributed my exhaust, it's failry loud tho... just not civic ricer loud)
rear tinted windows (dark, 20%)

Rx8_rotory_Noobie

Im originally from indiana bro, ur prolly not going to like what you see as far as cars go, no one is really into car meets or anything. As far as winter goes....hope you arent planning on driving your rx8, i woul plan on getting a second vehicle, 4x4 blazer or something. You should be good on ground clearance. Indiana is a great state, and i love it. Its quite...prolly too quiet for a CA guy. Just wanted to give you a heads up.

Huey52

iTrader: (2)

The Indianapolis area is huge into muscle and retro vehicles tho'.

Dedicated snow tires are a must. Clearance (low front bumper) will of course be an issue with newly fallen snow, but modern plowing provides a clear ride within a day or so.

Rx8_rotory_Noobie

That is true, i shoulda mentioned that before, indiana LOVES RETRO and MUSCLE cars......ew

J03K1LLARX8

iTrader: (1)

wow good luck wit your 8 in the snow. your body kit is way low not to mention your suspension setup makes the 8 even lower. its not going to be easy wit your 8 but good luck.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

I'm in the Chicago area. Bloomington doesn't get much snow typically. There may be one storm in the winter that will make it difficult to get around. We get more snow up he. NW Indiana is where they get snow.
It will get cold however and summer tires don't work when it gets below freezing. Some people will disagree with this advice, but I run good all-season tires year around rather than having separate sets and switching out for the winter. I do not add weight to the car for "traction".
I just put Tokico shocks and M&R springs on the car. I expect there will be one or two days in the winter where I won't be able to drive on the roads (due to the lower car). I do live 100 yds off a major state highway however.
The IndyRX8Club is close by for meets.

Rx8_rotory_Noobie

Ooo, Gonna have to dissaggree with that one, i lived like 20 minutes from Bloomington, and at LEAST a whole month of snow in the winter.

Flashwing

Hey Sleeper!

I attended IU for my undergraduate work so I'm very familiar with the campus and Bloomington in general. Since you're going to law school you won't be living ON campus so at least you don't have to worry too much about the parking situation there.

There are some pro's and con's for you regarding your car. Unless you are prepared to pay tons of money, getting a nice apartment with any kind of parking protection is going to be hard. People at IU honestly dont' respect their own property let along anyone elses. Hit and runs are probably the most common thing cops deal with besides drunks.

Summer time at the campus is nice so if you live there year round that's a great time to do stuff. It's quiet and pretty dead.

Winter time won't be nice to the RX8 if the winters continue like they have. Bloomington gets quite a lot of snow considering where it's located. I'm from NW Indiana near lake michigan and I'm use to lake effect.

Bloomington has it's share of hills and inclines which can make getting around in bad weather tough. The WORST part is they have a city ordinance against using salt on the roads. They instead use sand/cinders. Reason being is because of the large limestone deposits in the area. Good for cars, bad for traction. It's like a sandy, snowy beach.

There is, however, a killer carwash there with an automated touchless watch that takes credit/debit. That was my savior in the winter to keep the salt/snow off the car as much as possible. It's on the 45/46 bypass by College Rd.

So, the good news.

IU has a really nice bus system that runs all week including weekends. It also swings out near some of the campus apartments. There's no parking near the law school unless you can swing a pass and even then it's almost impossible.

Easy rule, if there's a ton of open parking on campus it's cause you're not allowed to park there.

Hope that helps!

Rx8_rotory_Noobie

Everything Flashwing just said is COMPLETELY true. well put flashwing.

sleeperx8

Wow, great advice guys, especially from you Flashwing. I don't really know anybody from IN (and in general, the midwest), so it's good to hear about what to expect. I suspected that I wouldn't be able to drive during the winter, and am glad to know that it might only be confined for a month (assuming I can get snow tires). I think I'm going to sit out a year before I invest in any tires though, so I can determine if I do need to get snow tires or can get all-season tires (I have summer tires, cuz you know, CA only gets two seasons, spring and summer).

Thanks for the heads-up about the bus system, when I go look at apartments (going to try to get into a property like CS Management's Poolside) I'll make sure to find a place near a bus stop.

Haha, and hopefully the muscle and retro crowd won't hate on the Japanese import. I'm already colored and unfamiliar with the area, hopefully won't get targeted by anybody =P

Rx8_rotory_Noobie

Glad the RX8 community could be of help brother... =D

lil amne

Oh yes, and do beware of the potholes in Indiana... Some cars get lost in them. Winter is terrible. Some locations in Bloomington can be considered the "rough end of town."

The good news is there is a Mazda dealer in the city that you can take your vehicle to if need be (if you have it under warranty or whatever).

Oh, and by the way, I hope you like corn.... Cause in Indiana, you'll be seeing A LOT of it!

Rx8_rotory_Noobie

OMG so much corn!

dozer

iTrader: (3)

wow this is a gonna be quite a move, from diamond bar to indiana WOW...dude your whole lifestyles gonna change, nothing like cali weather, and the snow is gonna be a pain in the ***, i say you get a beater for the winter

Solidtrance

iTrader: (2)

From what Flashwing and others with local knowlege are saying, it seems the snow is not going to be a big problem. I DD my 8 north of Chicago, and even though my commute is frequently before the secondary roads are clear (3-4 AM) I have never gotten stuck. Not once. Infact I look forward to driving on unplowed secondary roads for a few reasons. I am usually the only one on them, so I don't have to worry about some idiot running into me. Also, I take full advantage of the DSC off function from time to time. Puts a smile on my face everytime. Anyway, just get use to driving in the snow, get a set of all seasons (what I use in the spring-fall) or better yet dedicated snow tires (what I use in the winter), and you will be all set.

Sounds like the typical college town problems of no parking and a bunch of spoiled kids with no respect anyones property are going to be much more of an issue. At least with snow you usually know when it is coming and can plan for it. I would have to agree with the previous advice and vote for getting a beater to use.

Finally I have to echo what AL said about the INDY8Club. They are well organized, put on great events, and a bunch of great guys and gals. You can search here for the Midwest Mazdafest they put on this summer, or register on their site to get more information.

Good luck, and don't let the snow scare you at all.

NotAPreppie

tires tires tires

Summer tires are a death wish in the cold and/or snow.

BlueByU

My take (having lived in Indiana - Indianapolis and having gone to IU)
* spend $2000 on a 1/2 way decent pos 4-wheel drive cherokee or sum such
since you will be in a hilly enviroment...that will get ice and snow!
* all weather tires rest of the time for the 8
* year round summers are quiet and lovely and best spent at Lake Monroe
* Fall should be stunning this year with so much rain to date
* Winters have been weird.. sometimes not hitting till right before xmas time
or into January.. you can not count on winter being over till Final 4.. there
is always some sort of last min ice storm or sum such mother nature silliness
* you have some of the best "twisty" driving roads to be found in the state
down in this area (more over to the Nashville Indiana side of things which is
just East of Bloomington by about 15 min.. MANY car clubs and motorcycle clubs
meet there over the spring/summer/fall months! You'll see miata's all the time
and The Indy RX8 Club has a great route that we have a, um, spirited drive on
on a regular basis - so yeah, deff look us up when you get settled at
indyrx8club.com
* most of all enjoy - BTon is a great town, party wise as well.. but one of the
things most will say about Indiana in general is how nice/friendly the people
are in general....

Mr. Pilot

I must say the decision to go to IU is an unfortunate one, however you have an RX-8 so all is forgiven. I go to Purdue which is relatively close to IU. I have snow tires on mine and very happy with the winter performance, never had a problem. One thing I have noticed is that they don't get as good of traction as my summer profile tires do, so watch your power around corners (unless your looking for some fun haha). Other than that just watch out for the pot holes, and I have also had an issue with storm drains in some parking lots, so defiantly something to keeps your eyes on. Just curiosity how are you planning on getting the car out here? Oh and just for emphasis I hope you like looking at corn

Flashwing

Hey I met a guy from Purdue the other day! I paid him for the pizza and said goodnight!

The snow was more or less a problem if you don't have any experience in it. It just means driving slower and being prepared for the car to come loose on the pavement. The hills do make things interesting though. I've seen plenty of people go sliding through intersections with the wheels totally locked up. There just wasn't anything they could do.

PEOPLE tend to be huge problems as people do not know how to handle cross walks and seem to think they can simply walk where ever they want to and cars have to obey.

The only problem is having your car there for your freshman year. Freshman are required to park at the stadium parking lot and you have to move your car during game days or it gets towed far far away. The parking lot IIRC isn't well patrolled and if anything happens to your car it's a sure bet no one will report it.

Honestly, I'd be scared to death to have my RX8 at IU. Nobody has any respect for the property of others. I'm sure you can pick up plenty of freshman girls with it though!