Winter tires and weight
 

Alright I just bought some Bridgestone Blizzak WS60's with 17X8 MSW Type 14 Wheels from Tire Rack (thanks for the help Connor). My question is should I add weight in my trunk to help with traction or will this mess up the balance of the car?

Also will the size of the wheel affect the traction of the tires?

I know these are noob questions, but I really hated driving my 8 in winter weather with my summer tires two days ago:scared: and need as much traction as I can get. Any other tips for winter driving in IL?

I used to add weight when i drove mine in the winter and def helped....I actually used bags of Cat litter bacause if you get stuck it works great to put under the wheels for traction.....

Okay let me add to my question if you add weight how much? And if you don't add weight for winter conditions why not?

im from chi and we just got hit with 3 inches yesterday and i only had 2 20lbs plates in my trunk i didnt have time to go get more weight, im gonna go to menards/home depot and buy like 2-4 30-40lbs sandbags. =) screw as mileage

I'd only add the weight as needed if you find you're lacking traction in the snow.
Too much weight in the rear and you can actually raise the front end a bit and lose serious traction up front for turning.
A good set of snow's will give alot traction.

I have 2 40lb bags of traction sand, and the difference is definitely noticeable.

80 lbs in the trunk isn't going to cause any loss of traction to the front wheels, and it'll provide you with some much needed traction!

(8 + Winter tires + traction sand = phenomenal in the snow!)

*New Brunswick, Canada*

+1

you guys really need to think about this.

That sounds good, 80lbs max in the trunk...40 lbs isent cutting it. I hit some black ice on monday and i was skidding crazy traction control was locking and trying to adjust but it was uncontrollable, everyone else was skidding, luckily everyone that was on my road was ok but he guys on the other side heading south were crashing, 3 car crash but nothing serious just bumper dmg.

szym0n what kind of tires were you using when you were skidding on Monday?

Also I currently have 200lbs. (4-50lb. bags of salt) in the back I guess that sounds like far to much from what you guys said about the front end losing traction.

won't the rx8 spin out much easier with weight in the rear and wouldn't it be even more difficult to stop a spin if it were to happen?

Winter tires should be enough. If you need more than that, you shouldn't be on the road.

Ditto.

Sure, adding weight to the back gives you more traction to get moving, but it doesn't help you to stop any better... So you end up going faster than you ought to 'cause you're over-confident, and when you need to be able to stop, you can't...

The majority of your braking power is in the front brakes; having more weight in the rear behind the rear axle decreases the stopping ability of the brakes, and if the tires don't get enough traction all on their lonesome in the first place, then your braking ability is drastically reduced anyhow. It's not getting up and moving that'll cause your wreck...it's the getting stopped when you need to...

Seriously... If you actually need weight in the back to get traction to move, you shouldn't be on the road with that vehicle; you're not safe to be driving that vehicle in the weather conditions. Find another ride, or stay at home. And then learn how to drive better for the next bad weather event.

I live in NH and I've never added weight other then cargo and passengers. Never have had an issue.

80lbs of traction sand isn't going to life your front end...
What it will do, however, is provide you some much needed traction (getting up a slippery slope for example)

Its going to cost you 6 bucks, and has no negative side effects (just don't go overboard with the weight)

disagree and thats after doing snow drifting in my neighborhood for the last hour with dsc turned off

if you are having traction trouble in snow, you need better tires, not sandbags and if you have winter tires and you are still having problems with traction you need to learn throttle control

i have Nokian RSI's if anybody is wondering, great tire, quite surprised with their composure on ice & snow

I'm sorry, but no amount of added weight in the rear will EVER increase traction on black ice if you hit it from dry pavement at anything above 15-20mph. In fact, adding weight to the rear in such a condition will make it HARDER to keep the rear under control. Natural dynamics will want to swing the heavier end forward. In most heavy front engine RWD V8 sports cars, adding 20, 40, 80, 200lbs of weight to the rear still keeps the rear lighter than the front. This tactic of adding weight to the rear was thought of for THOSE cars. We are at 50/50 already, any excess weight to the rear WILL make the rear heavier.

(Napkin math ahead)
And any weight at all is going to make it take that much longer to stop. Adding 200lbs of weight to a 3,000lb car is an increase of 6%. If it took you 200 feet to stop before (snow/ice, etc...) it is now going to take you 212 feet to stop (6% farther)
(not exactly, there is more complex math to figure out exactly, but you get the point)

So if you would have come to a stop 3 feet back from the car ahead before, now your front bumper is trying to get 9 feet into the car ahead. It makes a difference. It really does.

The idea of adding weight is to increase the pressure between the tire contact patch and what traction surface is available. A better method is to decrease the contact patch size and leave the weight of the car alone. Net result is greater pounds per square inch without increasing the weight of the car. You don't do any "cornering" in the snow or ice that requires a massive contact patch for maximum traction like you do on dry road courses.

Keeping a small or moderate bag of sand in the back to pour down for traction is fine...just don't over-do it. And I would put the sand on the passenger side floor, keep it centered on the car at least.

Remember, you don't have a 67 vette with summer performance tires on.

This strategy was designed for those types of cars...not ours.

if you have smaller rims and taller tires it will improve traction compare to low profile
Thinner tires improve traction

When i had mustang, i had 3 bags of tube sand 60lb each - (180lb) in the trunk and it made big direrance, I put the car in to the dich the day i took weight out (no snow, just wet and cold road, coming onto the highway)

Keep your tank full and put around 80-120lb and you should be fine ... 40 lb is like taking pis in the ocean ...

Winter tires have always been enough for me
 

I live outside of Detroit and have made it through the past two winters with rims, snow tires, and no weight. I have never, even snowplowing some of the lower parts of the car, had trouble getting moving.

My tires (Yokohama ice guard 215/50R-17) are not much for lateral g's on dry pavement, but they make the car a tractor in the snow. Plus, they are a blast to drift with the traction control off. :)

we've had a bunch of snow so far this year and i haven't needed additional weight. the DSC almost takes the fun out of driving a RWD car in the winter.

ugghhh I'm still a little confused, I guess I will just go put a 40lb. bag of tarction sand in the back since the winter tires I got on finally improved my traction a hell of a lot. In fact when I looked at my old tires my back ones were almost bald...I'm just completely ashamed of that.

Traction sand... lol. What an ingenius marketing ploy.

By the way, I saw quite a few accidents earlier this week due to the snow we had. Most cars involved were fwd commuters, but there were also a few SUVs and light trucks.

I had zero issues. No weight in the trunk.

Side note: I found it funny that, while it was snowing, quite a few SUVs and full-sized trucks felt the urge to speed up when I started to pass them.

For the same price as a good set of winter tires and rims you could buy a POS beater for 3 months and keep your 8 parked.

Worked for me for 3 years, my car has been used one winter, and Ill never do it again :)

Why can't you learn how to drive slow in the snow like us old farts use to do... back in the day.


Oh thats when Dale was still driving and kids studied in college instead of cheating on tests.

then you have to pay registration, insurance on two cars, parking, etc....

plus, an $800 beater sucks. hmmm... drive a rickety old pile of crap or a new rx-8..... i'd rather drive an rx-8 year round. it's not like it's a ferrari or something. it's a mazda for gods sakes. :lol2:

I have the same tires theres no need to add any weight you get enough traction in the winter its all about how fast you can stop and weight in the trunk doesnt do anything for that. I get traction just fine on a solid sheet of ice on my blizzaks, just get some driving practice in in some parking lots too see how she handles.