Driving Impressions - First Snow
 

We had our first accumulating snow today, about 3 inches of wet sloppy stuff, the kind that turns into slippery-hard slush under your feet with each step. The worst kind.

I have Dunlop Wintersport M3 tires and a base 2005 (torsen LSD, but no DSC/TCS)

I have to say, the car is wery well mannered and predictable once moving. It felt great to drive. I am not worried at all about handling and safety, but I think it would be easy to get stuck if I stop in the wrong place . . .

The one problem I had was pulling out of my street onto the main road. I have to stop on an incline. The car would not move! I actually needed to back up to where it is more level, get started and then roll through the stopsign without stopping in order to make it out. I did it slowly enough that there was plenty of room to stop if necessary.

I got the sense that the traction was so poor that I couldn't generate enough torque for the rear diff to lock. Has anyone else experienced this? I know from experience that this kind of snow is the worst it gets here, so I think I will be OK later on in the winter. Even my WRX STi (with Blizzak WS-50's!) would get wheelspin at that intersection with this kind of slushy stuff.

As a Michigan resident who expects to eventually own an RX-8, this was good to read.

I'm not as brave as you, though. I'll definitely get a car with DSC.

Similar experience to me but I have stock Dunlops. I only have to stop at one incline and, fortunately, if I angled a whole lot at the corner (it's a "T" intersection on a bit of a curve anyway) I didn't really have any problems if I went nice and easy with it. The first time I didn't angle much and had a little bit of wheel spin, but minimal. Of course, I sometimes get the thing there without snow because of all the pine needles and leaves and crap that seem to accumulate there. I agree that the car definitely handled great. The only thing I did worry about was having to stop and get going again.

The Torsen LSD on our 8's is only 2x multiplier. So if one of the wheels is spinning very quickly, it really won't send that much more power to the other wheel.

I think the best result is when you're just past the other wheel breaking traction, and then keep riding that edge.

What width are your tires? I have 215/55/17.

FWIW, I noticed my Dunlop M3s didn't quite get the snow traction that I was expecting. I don't know whether it's the snow tires or the car or the tires being too wide. Something like Blizzak WS-50's or Dunlop Graspic DS-1s would probably get more bite in that snow, but would be worse on dry.

Be very very afraid of getting caught on any type of ice on those stock Dunlops. It's a summer tire! Don't drive on snow or ice on it in the winter.

Car and Driver did a comparison between snow, all-season and summer tires right here and they couldn't accelerate past 11mph on the summer tires.

Agreed. And it's not just a summer tire but a high-performance tire. An absolute no-no. Blizzak is a good choice. There are others but that's the one I'm familiar with.

Driving on stock Brigestone Potenzas.
 

Just purchased a 2006 RX8 back in August. Love the car, now that it's geting colder in South Jersey, I can feel a difference in traction on either cold pavement or wet surfaces. For the winter I have my baby garaged and will not come out unless it's dry and no snow or salt. I use my wife's RAV with AWD. If you have the stock tires and you'll be driving in the snow, I would look to get snow or good all around tires. Check out Tire Rack.

Keep a bag of 50lb salt or sand in the trunk (or 2 -25lbs, 1 near each tire area) ..This will help 100%....

If you live in an area where it snows more than once or twice a year you need to get snow tires or at least all-seasons! (Unless you plan on just parking your car on those days) Keep in mind that summer tires suck not only when it snows, but when it's regularly below 40 or 30 degrees F.

If you haven't read the Car & Driver review yet, here's the critical part:

i think DSC halters driving in the snow for the more experienced rough weather driver. you need to keep momentum up and to that you need to keep the tires spinning just a little faster than normal in snow. Its quite controllable and easy with our small low end torque. but with the dsc engaged the tires slow down to just a few miles per hour if no traction is present. I find it easier to drive my stick no traction control mustang in the snow than the rx8 with the dsc engaged.

Thanks for the responses. That was good info about the rear diff. It definitely felt like I had one wheel spinning. I have never driven a car with RWD and DSC, but last winter I was using an Accord V6 auto with traction control. I hated feeling like the engine was cutting out when traction was bad. I consider myself a very good winter driver, which was the main reason I was comfortable getting this car. I prefer having my oen control about how the power is being applied. I thought the rear diff would help me more than it did. The clutch is just a bit too touchy for a good gentle slip. I am sure I'll get it worked out over the next few months. :)

I grew up in Maine and my first car was the 1976 Vega listed above. That thing was a RWD open diff TANK with studded snow tires!

Stay away from the bags of salt. It will corrode the interior of your trunk. Use the sand or bird seed.

I don't usually get snow and freezing rain in my immediate location, which is why I hadn't really looked into getting winter tires or anything at this point, although I was considering all-season tires for my replacement when I need new tires, preferrably something with really good rain traction. We usually only get one good winter storm per year and we had snow and freezing rain all in the same week, two months before our usual winter storm we get in January. It also happened to occur at the time my mom was out of town with her AWD Tribute, so I couldn't borrow it or have her take me to work. I was kinda stuck having to drive in it to get to work.

Oh, and my friend puts bags of scented kitty litter in her trunk. She says it makes the car smell nice. LOL!

Low....
 

Once you get a 17" snow tire setup, the only thing that will slow you down is getting "high-centered" on deep snow - it's awful here, damn stuff is about a foot deep!

S

Good point.. I do however, use the pellet type salt for water softners. The bags are sturdy and the pellets are large..

Physics would disagree with you on that. You get best traction when the tires aren't slipping. Static friction > Kinetic friction.

You're also confusing DSC with TCS. DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) keeps you from sliding out of control when oversteer kicks in when you turn too fast for conditions. TCS (Traction Control System) keeps your tires from spinning too fast on slippery roads, primarily when accelerating from a stop. These are independent systems.

For video evidence, check out this Top Gear testing of ABS, DSC, and TCS systems on a Jaguar X-Type. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG3cOEW53ag If you want to skip all the yadda yadda and just get to the testing, jump to about the 4-minute mark.

agreed, i ment the tcs. just personal preference though, i find it easy with a rwd to have no systems hindering the input i give, probably from the experience from driving in snowy conditions here in the northeast.

But Captain Smith… what about all these reports of icebergs???

Would like to hear from anyone using studded snow tires on the RX-8

Discovered their virtues when I lived on a very steep hill in Tennessee. Many killer icestorms there - weather tires with studs really worked and they seemed to prolong tread life!

You have the right snow tires. On my car, they made a 100% difference over the stock summer tires, which are totally unsuitable for winter.

saxon

Growing up in Ohio, there was hardly ever a snowstorm wher my tracks weren't imprinted on the pavement for hours at a time. Later living in NC I learned that snow was nothing compared to ice storms in an area where rare a road ever traveled in a straight line (or was flat) for more then 300 feet. Lots of fun!!!!!!

In a few recent cold snaps in Dallas I've had the pleasure of driving with DSC in the ice - both in the RX8 and the CX7 AWD. Simply marvelous.

Dallas has a lot of long elevated freeways. Like a mile long bridge. On one the sand allowed a "dry line" for the right tires and sheer ice for the left. A typcal moron in a pickup truck decided to swap lanes just in front of me just before clouting the barrier - sort of glancing off it. Needless to say the pucker factor was pretty high for several cars around him - we were traveling about 30-35 MPH, probably too fast for conditions, welcome to America. I had to swerve to dodge the sliding truck - and avoid a Lexus SUV - who appeared to have DSC as well. WOW, what an experience. It was like the pedal controls were MORE then just autmoatic at that point, they were magic. ABS is one thing, but the braking effects from the DSC kept the CX7 from loosing stability during a very tricky lane change manuver. The Mini-van behind me wasn't so lucky having swung the rear around as she swerved and clouted the now sideways pickup truck.

I've noticed the same thing in the RX8 just not under such hair raising conditions.

If I were just wanting to slide around in the snow, the DSC would be switched off. But for everyday driving in traffic under slick conditions DSC will stay.