Mazda In Minnesota Weather
 

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone here lives in Minnesota and owns the RX8.... if it does well in the snow. I am current still considering this or the Mazda6.
Do you think this car is practically for just simple 30 minute drive to school, hanging out with friends and all.
I don't want to race anyone, so I don't care about speed.

If there is anyone that lives in the twin city that wants to maybe stop by my region and take me for a spin so I can experience the cars handling in snow. I can give you a $20 or a little more if you want. I cannot really give much money since I have to buy a new car you know ;)

Anyways, get back to me. I REALLY REALLY would appreciate a ride in this awesome car to make my decision much easier.

search around the forum. plenty of RECENT info regarding the 8 and snow...

The car will only be as good as its tires. Since you plan on driving the car in winter, I'd recommend a good set of winter (not all-seasons) tires. I have Nokian Hakkapelitas on mine and I've never had an issue with traction on snow or ice. Where I go is only limited by ground clearance.

get some decent snow tires for snow driving.

Check the regional forums.

Maybe even consider buying a winter beater instead. Thats my plan when I move back to colorado, I'd rather not wreck my 8 or get any rust started. Snow tires are anywhere from $600-$800(more installed, just looked up tires themselves) if you double that you could easily get a beater to drive around.

I just looked on craigslist and around here you could even find one for less than 1k which is going to be near what a pair of winter tires installed would end up costing you. Theres a 1990 toyota tercel for $900, not the prettiest thing but you wont mind running it into something if bad luck happens.

+1^ Always have a bad weather car, so the pretty car stays pretty.

I think the Mazda will perform better in a Minnesota winter than the Vikings. Haha.

That's for sure. Go Bears. :)

Just to be perfectly clear, if you get the RX-8 you must get winter tires. Must.

The 8 with winter tires is a wonderful car in the snow and ice, as long as the snow's not deeper than 4" or so. (More than that and the snow is higher than the bottom of your front bumper.) But if you drive in snow with its OEM summer tires, you're really taking a huge risk. It's horrible. Dangerous. Unacceptable. It's an accident waiting to happen.

I'm spelling it out like this because it seems many newcomers think of winter tires as merely a nice little option to enhance snow performance. No! They are mandatory. Ask anyone here; they are the difference between taking her out in snow – and leaving her in the garage.

I'd consider all-seasons in places like where I live, but Minnesota? Definitely winter tires.

Okay, I'll shut up now.

I traded in a Mazda6 for an RX-8. I use it every day in the Twin Cities and have not put on winter tires. I have also had zero problems, and this has been a HEAVY winter. With that said, winter tires definitely improve traction and overall ability. I grew up driving rear wheel drive '70's vehicles in Iowa, and have owned all type of front wheel drive and rear wheel drive cars over the past 20 years. I have used winter tires on both front and rear drive. I am a firm believer that there are two critical elements to successful winter driving. The competence of the driver and the tires applied to the road surface, in that order.

As noted, I have had zero problem with the rex with Goodyear Eagle RS-A's this winter. I am very careful to not overdrive for the conditions. Took my daughter at 6:30 a.m. to a basketball tournament on a Sunday morning following an ice storm. I made it 35 miles in just over 45 minutes with careful, steady driving on the icy freeways at 40 mph. We counted over 6 SUV's in the ditch along the way. I had no problems at all. 4 wheel drive in a large SUV is not the answer that most people think it is. I recall that during the winter of '99-'00 I commuted every weekend between my home in Iowa and the Twin Cities in a rear drive Thunderbird. It was also a very heavy snow and ice winter. I did have winter tires on the car that winter, and routinely counted numerous SUV's in the ditch while I sailed on by.

The driver and the tires, in that order. Believe me, the rear wheel drive American cars that most everyone drove in the '70's, shod with nifty bias ply tires, were anything but ideal yet we survived. An RX-8 with good all season tires, ABS and DSC is far superior to anything of that era.

The one key item noted by one of the previous posters has to do with ground clearance. The RX-8 has very little, so irrespective of the tires, you will not be able to get through really deep snow as a result of the drag on the bottom of the car. But in my neck of the Twin Cities, the streets are plowed so quickly and thoroughly that it has not been a problem at all.

^ Eagle RS-A's are probably the worse tires I've ever tried. my old Maxima had them when I bought it, horrible when wet and completely useless in snow. I then got some Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus's. awesome dry traction even 255hp cant smoke them, wet was great too, and snow was easy, I could plow thur 8 inch of snow no problem.

TireRack user review: Dunlop WinterSports on RX-8
 

"Drove to Philadelphia in a snow-ice storm for an emergency and back without any difficulty at all. The tires performed well at highway speed on the turnpike with excellent stability and handling. The Philadelphia expressway was covered in about 2 inches of snow in weather cold enough to keep the snow from melting much at all. The storm kept most people indoors that weekend. This may not sound remarkable if I had an SUV, but I was driving a rear wheel-drive Mazda RX-8 sports car! Thanks to the unique engineering design of the RX-8 giving this car an even weight distribution on the front and rear wheels and its high stability, this car handles beautifully in snow leaving its popular rivals like the Mustang, 350ZX, and others behind, locked up in the garage for winter :-)"