Bladecutter

Who's telling him to lie?
What he showed us in his diagram isn't what I had pictured in my mind from his original description.

Just the fact that the lady is claiming its a hit and run, shows that there's lots of funny business going on.

First thing to tell your insurance agent is if she's claiming hit and run, how does the OP have her information?

OP, this is information for the next time you get into an accident:

NEVER LEAVE THE SCENE UNTIL THE POLICE ARRIVE, AND TAKE EVERYONE'S INFORMATION. Don't do that again. Call them yourself.

So, now you're responsible for her damage and your damage.
Your insurance will take care of her vehicle, but you're SOL for your car.

Next time you spin out like that, get out of the way.

BC.

ken-x8

Reporting the accident to the police isn't weird. In a lot of states it's required. Saying that it was hit and run when it wasn't is weird. Looking at your diagram, fault might depend on how long you were sitting there. Or it might automatically be your fault for being partly in her lane.

I hope you got the hit and run thing straightened out when you visited the campus police. The rest is just money, hopefully not enough to break anyone.

Ken

jamesf

iTrader: (1)

The important part is that you and the other driver are ok. Skin before metal.

I cant even imagine how the 8 drives in the winter with all seasons though...

even with DSC and TC and X-Ice3s on all 4s I still can fishtale if I turn at an intersection too quick; If you're going to continue driving during the winter, I really recommend you grab some 17'' studless snow and ice tires and throw them on steel wheels for the winter.

ibleeg

in the first couple of posts...it went from you asking how to fix your car to it's the SUV diriver's fault for not avoiding you eventhough you put yourself in the SUV's lane

ken-x8

It wasn't Steve who massaged the story. It was some of the rest of us. He's been straight arrow through the whole thing.

Ken

steveZ

I just want to thank everyone again for caring about my incident. I talked to my insurance agent today, told her exactly what happened, and did not lie anything about it.

My agent seems to be very helpful and I have found out some interesting things.

1. There is a security camera suspended right at where this incident happened. Hence, I am sure the decision will be fair.

2. We also found out that there is a stop sign at the intersection for the SUV driver.

Anyway, I'm just trying to keep members who care updated, and I will let you guys know how does this turn out.

Steve Z

nogoer

Ive got to say it's your fault, but hey **** happens to everyone and noone is immune to accidents. That's why we call them "accidents". Thing is you crossed into oncoming traffic and anytime you go over the line regardless of who hits who, instantly you're at least half to blame if not all.

The hit and run thing is seriously odd, but the fact you have her number makes that moot. Since she works at the school i assume shes a student too and may have been told by a friend to do that to try and shift the full blame on you to avoid parental ire over insurance claims.

My only beef is why you drive an RX8 in the snow? If you can only afford one car and you live in a bad weather zone it may have been a better idea to pick a more snow friendly vehicle. Being out in a storm like that could have resulted in a much worse ending than just dented vehicles.

Every time i open up one of these accident threads i just keep saying to myself..."oh great another kid in a sports car getting out of control"

confuzdbycloudz

A Rx-8 with proper winter tires is safer than a any car with all seasons.

Nedash

The 8 handles just fine in any amount of snow if you have proper winter tires and proper common sense installed.

I don't understand why so many people here are terrified of snow.
If you are a bit careful on the gas and have some feeling for the car (meaning you know what speed you can drive and how to handle an emergency brake situation) you will have no problems at all in snow and/or ice.

If you don't have winter tires - well I don't know, there are fines here if you drive without them, so I haven't tried.

steveZ

Well, I think someone forgot how did it feel to have your first rx-8. It is not just any other sports car, especially when a new rx-8 sells at the price of a used GT-R back at home (China). The weather isn't really that bad, the street was just not plowed yet. I try not to get out at all when snowing.

I remember hearing older people saying back in the day when most cars were RWDs, driving in snow wasn't really that big of a deal. I guess practice makes it perfect.

ken-x8

I'm one of those old people. If you make it through your first snow season alive, you've got the hang of it and will be fine.

My big Year One moment came when I learned you could not go 55 mph on hard packed snow with regular tires. Kind of interesting going one way and the car is pointed about 80 degrees in another direction. Fortunately the ditch was wide and gentle.

Ken

bryce553

Kind of how I nearly went off a bridge in my 1969 ford fairlane on Christmas day two months ago. Black ice......I forgot to change out the tires before I left home.

nogoer

You're confused by more than clouds. It's this sort of nonsense that creates more problems than it solves. Almost every car with all seasons is better than an 8 with winter tires. RWD cars are the worst type of car for snow no matter what type of tires it has. An rx8 with snows is much much better than an RX8 with all seasons is more appropriate. Ill put my A4 quattro with summers on it up against your snow tire RX all day everyday.

This is a better response to me. With snows and experience an 8 can certainly be driven in snow. However if i have the option to avoid it you better believe i'm not risking messing up my sports car by taking a jaunt in the snow! That same experience that wil let you safely drive the rx in snow is the same experience screaming in your ear to not go drive it in the snow.

I'm not trying to make you feel bad, so i apologize if i came off that way. What you mention about the price really is the root of the problem. The low price makes it easy for younger inexperienced people to obtain a car that really requires more experience then some of the buyers have. Had you instead been in an AWD car you probably never would have started this thread. Not that there arent idiots in AWD cars that push too far as well.

I guess you could call me one of those older people. My first car was a 1969 camaro i got in my junior year of high school. No im not that old, this was back in 1990 or so but dam that was sooo not a winter car. The thing about these older RWD cars though is they were HEAVY and snow chains were standard mods. Those older cars too were built like rocks and this litter "accident" you had wouldnt have left more than a scratch on cars back then. The bumpers on that camaro must have weighed 50lbs each of solid steel.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Uh, plenty of people will disagree with you on that.

5 winters in New England, I was the only one with a RWD car at all, everyone else had AWD, 4WD, or FWD, and on their default all seasons. I was the only one never to have to call out from work because of being unable to make it in.

The common perception that RWD is terrible is from all the muscle cars that are front heavy, rear light, sit on summer tires, and have lots of low end torque.

The 8 has more rear weight than most of those cars, but isn't overbalanced like the Porsches, and it has very low torque, so it is far easier for the driver to keep the torque output under the threshhold needed to break the tires free. Add winter tires to that and the 8 becomes quite substantially good. I pulled a WRX out of a snow bank with my 8 once (I carry around a tow cable in winter). Seriously, true story. He was on summers.

I HATE dealing with snow and ice in FWD cars with all seasons. Limited traction and limited options. Give me RWD with snows any day. I have plenty of fun with people's reactions in my Mazdaspeed Miata in the snow too. First they laugh at me, expecting me to be fighting every inch of the way, then I easily leave them behind on a long hill climb without any issues at all.

ken-x8

And yet the majority of snow plows and salt trucks I see on the highway are rear wheel drive.

Ken

New Yorker

Including me. I'll take that bet anytime.

jamesf

iTrader: (1)

I'm pretty sure that 1 of the purposes of not having 50 lb solid steel bumpers is for safety... Cars have crush zones for a reason. They are to slow down deceleration and save your life. Supplementation to your air bag. That same 50lb bumper of solid steel and solid frame in a high-speed accident could and probably would get you killed .


I have snow tires on my 8 and it drives fine in this NY winter.

Bladecutter

I'll take that bet, and I'll even give you several options on how to go about it.

First option, next time it snows more than an inch here in Colorado, you come out, and we will both drive up and down Squaw Pass (CO-103). Lets both set our cruise controls to 20 mph. Lets see who makes it from Evergreen to Idaho Springs and back, first.

Second option, again when it snows more than an inch here in Colorado, we both take our cars to High Plains Raceway, and see who sets the fastest average lap time over 15 laps.

BC.

confuzdbycloudz

I would take your offer any day. I came from a WRX with winters. The only thing it could do better was acceleration and run through deep snow due to better ground clearance. The rx8 is one of the most fun cars ever on snow and ice. AWD doesn't help a car brake or steer its all up to the tires. Also I drive a Canadian GS model so no traction or stability control.

ShellDude

iTrader: (12)

My 8 with its winter wheel setup can climb snow covered hills better than jeep wranglers.

Hornlesscow

sorry about your car man, ive been there and the first accident always hurts the most!! i didnt leave my bed for 2 days other than to eat and go to the bathroom! but as far as the insurance goes, if you have the chance i would lie out of my teeth, providing its believable, it doesnt matter if she is a janitor, she lied to the police to not only dodge all chances of being at fault, but also could have got you locked up. that is messed up. im sorry if that sounds mean but someone tried pulling that on my buddy after he accidentally hit them while they were crossing the street and they said it was ok and just walked away. thank god my buddy called the police because they tried to hit him with a hit and run. i have no respect for people like that so do what you can to avoid any blame and try to put her in a worse situation so she learns!!

monchie

Really...prove it...

nogoer

RWWIP - im not going to debate with you, you make valid points but i may not have been as literate in getting my point across. Normal driving is normal driving and as such id rather be in my AWD car in bad weather than in my 8. Hence why it sits during the winter and i drive an AWD car. Even if it was on summers i would still feel better driving it in snow than my 8. I dont know maybe im a ***** driver in snow. Ive been stuck plenty of times in rwd and fwd cars, but never once in an awd car ive owned.

Noone can deny that telling people your safer in a winter tired rwd car than any other car is bad advice.

This made me LOL. Yeah sure they may be RWD but they have giant chains on them, huge knobby tires, weigh literally tons more than cars, and ummmm they have a PLOW on the front.

nogoer

lets go big boy

Seriously though, have you guys driven normal AWD cars in snow? The wrx is a bad example, its like the evo they're both built for performance not bad road conditions. Ive driven the rx in bad rain and realized i can't drive it normal even under those conditions. Ive done both and i own both right now and i still remain totally unconvinced the rx8 is a better option for snow then my audi or any other awd car built specifically for dealing with this sort of thing. Maybe stating summer tires on my audi was a bit over dramatic, but all seasons isn't.

RWWIP im a new englander too, have been for 38 years now. I learned many winters ago that if i want to get where i need to go and get there with the best odds then an AWD car is the way to go.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Perfect weather, hail, and tornadoes are about the only weather conditions that I'd rather be in something else other than my 8 for, good or bad. Driving rain, intense fog, smoke filled highways, mild hurricanes, blizzards, icy rain, and lightly dampening showers are some of the 'adverse' conditions I've driven my 8 through. I'd take it hands down every time.

Proper tires for the conditions plus confidence in a car that has the balance and handling to react how and where you need it without having a nose or tail heavy attribute that you are constantly fighting.... that goes quite a long way.

Note that I didn't say "your safer in a winter tired rwd car than any other car". Safety in that sense is entirely up to the crash survivability. I'd imagine that an AWD car with winter tires is better than a RWD car with winter tires. The key factor is the winter tires. AWD + summer tires is crap compared to anything on winter tires, regardless of which axle(s) are connected to the engine.


Plenty of people will debate the pros and cons, benefits and penalties, and subjective value of summer tires and track tires to the nth degree. And then just throw no-seasons on for the cold months, ignoring that having the proper tire for the track has the same rules of validity for having the proper tire for the street, including the proper tire for temperatures that are completely outside of summer tire temp range, and only marginally tolerable for no-seasons.


Having trouble with the 8 in the rain is just as valid as having trouble with it in the snow. It's all in the tires. Every single time

It's why I use S.Drives for my daily driving. They are incredible for dealing with rain, both damp surfaces and standing water, anti-hydroplaning. Stellar for that. Driving in light rain on Star Specs was significantly more nervous.

All in the tires.

All in the tires.