124Spider

Well, an IROC-Z has like 350bhp, and it's RWD, so it'll fishtail pretty easily if mis-driven (and, by definition, if he's fishtailing on the public roads, he's mis-driving his car, and has no right to the conceit that he's a good driver). The track is much more fun, anyway, and infinitely safer. And legal. And did I mention fun? :D

Or, for a fraction of the cost, do autocross. Sane speeds (rarely exceeding 60mph), but exciting and teaches car control like no other method.

I was a kid once, and I have a decent memory. I have no doubt that my kids have flogged the car we let them drive, but flogging a 75bhp wagon is not quite as dangerous as flogging a powerful car.

My only points are (i) it's dangerous to flog a powerful car on the public road; (ii) when it's a young person, especially a young male, the only question is when he or she decides to see "what this thing'll do," not if he decides to try it out, and (iii) the right place for that is on the track, with proper instruction, or in an autocross.

broke_2_hondas

i am 18 and ii am a vey good driver that is why i am been ask to race in the short truck track racing series. and no it does not have 350 stock it has 298 it was a 305 tpi but i has custom ram,exhust, custom job to the runners,headers and sift kit. and yeah he can drive. he show me how and he does autocross. than k u come again

Ericok

My Lexus RX300 AWD with Torsen rear differential fishtails in the snow. I drive like an old lady. What am I doing wrong? NOTE: At one time in history, ALL cars were rear wheel drive - apparently no one under 25 drove them and, luckily, there was no snow around. My point being: You CAN operate a rear wheel drive car in the snow - its been done. But just to cover yourself, tell your parents that global warming is taking care of that snow problem. In the meantime, you're gonna have to budget for some snow tires and lay off the gas. Regarding the IROC-Z in snow, I may be a little off on this, but I think that car has 90% of its weight on the front wheels yet has RWD.

124Spider

If he's throwing his rear end when not trying, either (i) there's something seriously wrong with the car, or (ii) there something seriously wrong with the driver. A driver can have great skill, but if he doesn't have the sense to use the skill in the appropriate place, he's not a good driver.

broke_2_hondas

man i live in toledo we have tons of ice/ snow so maybe that is the problem becuase i can't drive my civic inthe snow. but it is turbo

124Spider

The poster didn't say it fishtails in the snow, he said it fishtails "all the time."

With proper technique, and proper tires, you can largely avoid fishtailing in the snow, regardless of the type of car. I've driven in huge amounts of snow in light, RWD cars, without any trouble, jut by being reasonably careful.

124Spider

Ever hear the saying, "It's a poor workman who blames his tools?" Are you actually engaging the turbo when there's snow on the road?

broke_2_hondas

yes that is true about the weight. but he had a really fat kid in the back<just kidding but no really it would not hook up maybe it was ice right there but i know he was going no where and he is a very good driver.

broke_2_hondas

maybe. no i am not like i said ICE ilive in toledo we get ice/snow mixed not just snow and not just ice mixed. :p

StewC625

I am really trying to understand just what language you're speaking here. It's easy ... really. Capitalization, punctuation. Subject, verb, predicate.

"Short truck track racing series"? So you're driving tracks on short trucks? I'm trying to visualize that.

Also, a sift kit? So, when he's baking a cake in his '86 IROC-Z (a world-beater of a car if there ever was one ... whoo!), he can properly sift the flour?

oh my ...

StewC625

And God knows Turbo Civics are all that and then some. Bet you've got a real cool wing on it too, right?

Let me guess ... is this your car?

DARKMAZ8

let me guess, you have a turbo civic with an open diff, no abs and summer tires. I actually think it's safer to drive a rwd car with snow tires then fwd with all seasons in the snow/ice. At least the rwd is somewhat predictable.

Chrisbert

Get something cheaper and invest your $10K for a couple of years. Then you can invest the +$10K into a house. You'll never regret it.

BTW, does anyone know what broke_2_hondas is talking about?

StewC625

Hey but he broke two Hondas - both times by over-boosting them. He posted in the lounge too. His profile shows he's driving a $3000 car with $15,000 worth of performance parts in it, so he's clearly a financial wizard as well as a linguist.

Quite the tool.

124Spider

Does it matter? Every car forum needs as many 18 year olds as possible, who overdrive whatever they have (and it's even better when that isn't the forum car), to give us the benefit of their wisdom and experience (especially when that extensive wisdom and experience has nothing to do with the forum car).

OneWingedAngel

In my opinion, it's not all about the car but the driver. I believe that you can be driving a 35 hp moped and still serioulsy injure yourself let alone driving a 238 hp car. I believe that the car shouldn't be such a problem as long as you drive it with care and get used to it more. Driving isn't really just for the sake of sitting in the driver seat and driving around. When you drive your car, you get used to it and it just kind of becomes a part of you. You know how it reacts, how it will perform, and when it needs to be taken care of. If you're parents believe that this is going to be a difficult car for you to drive, go for it. I think the harder the car is to drive, the better driver you'll become. I had to drive a mini-van with blown shocks and no power steering. It was hell in the winter but when I got my car, it was so much easier to adapt. I think it would be better if you started with the 8 now than getting it later. If you get an "easy" car to drive now, yeah, you'll be safe and easy but what happens when you get the 8 in the future. You're so used to your "easy" car that when you try driving a more difficult car to handle, you'll have trouble driving it. It's like starting over again because you have to get used to the car and know it's highs, lows, weaknesses, strengths, and reactions. You should get the 8. You're parents offered right? So I think it doesn't really matter what kind of car it is. The STi fishtails even though its AWD because of the racing tires and the torque, so does that still mean the RX8 is a really dangerous car. It all depends on the driver and how they drive. If you know you're car is to the limit where it is going to lose control, if you're used to it, you won't let it go past that limit. Anyway. That's my opinion.

OneWingedAngel

interesting thing about RWD vs FWD and AWD.. You should show this to your parents.

http://www.corollaperformance.com/TechInfo/RWD.html

Krankor

And now for the moment you all have been waiting for: I throw in my two cents!

Front wheel vs. rear wheel drive is a grossly inflated issue. Back in the day, EVERY car was rear wheel drive and people weren't dying in droves. I learned to drive on rear wheel, first two cars I ever drove were rear wheel, starting with my family's old '75 Gran Torino station wagon. Somewhere along the line I was switched over to front wheel drive, and in truth I never really noticed a difference, apart from not having to hassle with snow tires. Now with my 8, I'll get snow tires again. Certainly a worthwhile trade-off, in my opinion.

About the only place I really think it makes a difference is if you're trying to go up a hill in the snow. I do remember having difficulties with that in my old Mustang.

I haven't driven my 8 in the snow yet, but really I'm more concerned about the light weight of the rotary engine than I am about the rear wheel drive.

Krankor
05 Shinka 6MT

broke_2_hondas

ok yes my is a civic and no it has no wing and yes i blow to up. but i do have very good tires on it. and i thought the block gruard would stop it form being overboosted. yes my typing sucks but i don't care. o and the 99 cost 9g sorry not 3 the first costs 3k got it good

Asmoran

Cost: $9,000
Value to another ricer: $4,000
True worth: $1,500
Blowing up two of them because you don't know what you're doing: Priceless


And you might wanna learn to type. The worse you type the more people ignore you. Obviously you want people to see your opinion or you wouldn't have posted, but when you type like a two-year-old no one is going to pay you the least bit of attention.

spieder

I still don't think an 8 is a good idea in the snow when your 18 and learning to drive. It's tough to explain until you've driven for a while. Most people I know who live where it snows and have sports cars drive a second car during the winter. Obviously, it is worth a great deal to your parents piece of mind about your safety. They care about you and don't want to see you off a cliff or upside down in a ditch.

If you can't live without an 8, then compromise. Start by asking your father to drive it and see what he thinks. Then consider a used one for about 10k less than they are new. I picked up a 2004, 5k miles, appearance package, GT, accent package, NAV w/tire monitoring for 25k. I still have 2.5 years and 45k on my warranty.

Then use the money you save to buy a second all wheel drive car for the seasonal driving.

I just can't express how dangerous a light weight, high hp, rear wheel drive, POSI traction car is in the snow. Well it's not really the snow that will get you. What's gonna get you is when you go around a corner, hit some black ice, fish-tail into the next lane and get broad sided by a 4k pound vehicle.

StewC625

Oh, sorry. So short sighted of me to accuse you of blowing up a $3000 Civic when you actually blew up a $9000 one that you've paid $19,000 for.

A 1999 Civic that you've invested $19,000 in that has a blown engine but four good tires.

Wow, that's way cool. You must be so proud.

I'm figuring the tires are worth, generously, $500. Guessing the car has 75,000 miles on it and is in probably somewhere between fair and good shape, so that makes it worth about $6,600 before deducting about $2000 for the blown engine, which to replace, not withstanding the $10,000 in parts that he's put towards it, is about $2,500 based on what I saw at www.orientengine.com.

Sure makes great financial sense to me. At least it "runs" 12 1/2 second 1/4 miles. At what speed did you run your 1/4? Just curious.

broke_2_hondas

can't someone give me some cedit. i have sohc civic that ran 12.57 i mean it is hard enough to get a si in hat range.

StewC625

I'm sure it's a proud achievement that people will consider with high regard when you're interviewing for a job in your future career.

oreo

Ok THIS THREAD IS WAAAAAAAY OF TOPIC...
MODS PLEASE

The kid should get his RX8. hell he is putting 10k out of his own pocket. Also You (the kid) should take into consideration the mainenance, gas, winter tires (yes you need them), inshurance, ect. And you should pay for those expences. I t will make you apreciate more what you have.

In terms of safety. The most important part of it will be you not the car. The Rx8 has the highest crash, rollover, and stability/control standards so that should keep you safe as long as you dont do anything stupid in your car.

a little off subject. Yes I am alittle jelous. when I was a kid my parents just co signed for my 1st car but all the $$$ came out of MY pocket. I still miss that car. It was a red 87 rX7 I fell in love with rotaries from that time. It seems that now a days parents are giving expensive cars to their kids just for turning 18. My how times have changed, or mabe I was just born on the wrong side of the tracks.

Just Enjoy Your car (Hope you convince your folks) and take good care of it.