youpey

I live in NJ and we get all or nothing with snow, I personally am hoping for no snow. What does everyone do in the winter, do you have another car you use. Do you just not drive in the snow? I had an explorer awd, so i never had to think about this. I am concidering buying a POS for the winter and putting the 8 in a storage garage on days it is going to snow

(i like this smilie)

expo1

what we do is spend about $1,200 for a set of 17" rims with winter rated tires. I am all set waiting for the first ice. This topic has 100's of posts, just do a search for "winter tires" That option is cheaper than the POS winter car.

youpey

i was thinking of just getting winter tires, but i also dont like the idea of the salt on my car. I guess it is because it is less than 1 month old

why 17" rims, arent the stock rims 18"

expo1

The selection of winter tires in 18" is less than there are in 17" . More selction = better prices. Check out the wheels section of this board and give Tire Rack a call. I got my tires / rims for Just under a grand ( no TPMS). 215/55/17 or 225/50/17 are the tires of choice. As for the salt that's what car washes are for. This is something you should decide on soon and not put off. The OEM tires are not ment for winter driving! Bad things will happen using OEM tires on snow / ice.

irish8

Move south!! Texas is nice during the winter!! :D

Nah...seriously. Just buy a POS and garage the 8.

- Irish

truemagellen

Irish is right...if you have the money buy a piece of **** and garage the 8...salt is killer

I don't have that kind of money (don't forget Piece of ***** still require insurance) so I'm going for the winter tires...I am actually going to buy a set of 19s of my choice and get a nice new high performance summer tires for them...then take my stock 18 rims and put winter tires on those...it will cost more but it gives me a reason to buy sweet rims

youpey

another reason i dont like the idea of winter tires/summer tires is I dont have any place to put them during the off season. I live in an apartment until june, but I dont have anywhere to store them. i figure i can dump 1000 dollars for some piece of junk and drive it in the winter, and ignore all repairs it will need as long as it drives. then at the end of the winter, maybe i can enter it in a demolition derby.

Maybe i can pimp it too, spray paint flames on it. get fuzzy dice. chrome muffler extention. but i wont wash it before i spray paint it, that way when it is all bumpy and stupid

ironmedic

i wish i can garage my 8 but it gets driven half the week and then my wife and i carpool in my other car. i know how to drive on ice and in weird winter weather. as long as you are careful and pay attention to what you are doing, you will be fine. bridges and corners are killer on ice
i remember when i was in england and i took my S10 and power slided around a roundabout perfect without hitting the curb, it was funny! LOL! i never did it again cuz it was an accident at first and i just compensated so i didnt wreck.

truemagellen

this one is simple...during the winter mount the rims in your apartment on the wall...now that is sweet artwork...just clean them down really good before doing so...I plan on putting 3 rims in the garage and one mounted on the wall...but I'd put more up I currently don't have the wall space

irish8

Simple fix....

Stack the wheels on top of each other inside your apartment. Whalla....you have a damn cool looking coffee table or end table. Or on a serious note....wrap them and store them under your bed.


- Irish

ayap888

Get a good POS. I iwll garage my RX8 in winter and use my Audi allroad quattro. I'm garaging my allroad this fall and just use my RX8 - but they will switch roles in winter.

Tayninh

Same for my RX. It will not see snow or the rock gravel they put on the roads here in Colorado. Then they put this melt stuff on the roads that leaves a nasty white junk on the sides and front of any vehicle.

youpey

im thinking of looking at this truck as my pos for the winter...if this is someones truck here, it is beautiful and not a pos.

Picture it, flames spray painted using a grey primer

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...or=&cardist=25

Gord96BRG

Obviously you haven't tried to drive your 8 on ice and in wierd winter weather yet, have you? It doesn't matter how well you know how to drive in those conditions - if the tires simply have zero grip and you can't get moving, or if you do manage to move, can't turn and can't stop, does it?

Seriously - the RX-8's OEM tires are summer high performance tires, and like summer high-performance tires on ANY vehicle, they are completely useless and dangerous on anything cold and slippery. I grew up driving in the Canadian prairies, on big old RWD sleds. Yeah, I know how to drive in winter, but as I said - that makes no difference. It's all about the tires, and (to be repetitive) summer high performance tires are NOT like all-seasons or even the old bias tires etc.

Even if you are careful and pay attention to what you are doing, you will NOT be fine. There's quite a few testimonials on this site from last winter from people who tried what you suggest, and bent their RX-8s when they slid off the road. One report was of an RX-8 that lost control, slid, and in the ensuing accident a passenger was killed. Do you seriously think that bodywork repairs and personal injury is cheaper than a set of tires?

Regards,
Gordon

PS - I have an Audi allroad also. Even with AWD and OEM all-season tires, I put winter tires on it - there is a world of difference in the performance of true winter tires and all-seasons even. However, with winter tires on the RX-8, I prefer driving the RX-8 in winter. Why buy a fun car like the RX-8 and then park it for 5 or 6 months of the year? It's not a collector's item, it's a depreciating wear item. Get your enjoyment out of it - life is too short to drive boring cars. I've made the mistake several times of buying a great pair of skis, then saving them and using older skis when it's early season and conditions aren't perfect ("rock skis"). Suddenly it's 4 years later, the great skis have been skied far too little are still great but have degraded simply from age, and I've missed the best part of their usable life. Bought it? Use it and enjoy it.

truemagellen

AMEN gordie!

Jeffjett

Irish8 is right. Head south. The only time I am in the cold is snow skiing.

Good luck.