Hey all. I got my rx8 just over two months ago, and I'm absolutely in love with it...

Unfortunately, I live in Boston, and during the winter we sometimes get a good deal of snow up here. In order to prepare for the winter, I'm buying a set of Dunlop M3 snow tires, and will be mounting them on my OEM rims. Where I live, snow tires are a necessity on a rear-wheel-drive car...

But, here's the catch: this is my first winter driving my car. Last winter, my first winter driving ever, I drove my brother's S4 with some nasty snowtires, so that wasn't an issue. But for my first winter with this car, I have one major question:

What else can I do to make driving in the snow safer? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. My dad throws two 75-pound sandbags in the trunk of his M5... Think I should do that with my '8? Also, how should I modify my shifting techniques? Anything other "secrets" on winter driving?

I have no previous experience with this, and would really love to hear any tips on what I can do to help driving in the snow... Thanks!

 

go slow. period. be easy on the gas. if you let off the gas, push the clutch in.

 

Do not drive in the snow/ice unless you have winter tires on your RX-8. Every year tons of people have close calls when they try to "chance" it. I have aftermarket wheels and tires but I will be getting some winter wheels and tires real soon.

 

The traction control is a double edged sword. It can help in certain situations, but if you are starting (or slowly traversing) on a slight incline and it kicks in, it can screw you.

 

Take it easy.

Remember that momentum can be your friend (keep it up approaching uphill stretches) or your enemy (turns, downhill). Getting up slick hills is the one place where FWD has a big advantage over RWD. No difference in traction, but when a FWD car spins its wheels you keep going straight. RWD loses traction and you go sideways. Gentle on the gas!!

Keep a small shovel and a bag of kitty litter in your trunk, in case you get stuck in a parking space.

Run one gear higher than you would on a dry road, e.g., shift into third where you'd usually be in second.

Experience counts for a lot. It takes a season or two of winter driving to get enough a feel for driving on the slick stuff. Until you gain that, don't feel like you have to go as fast as everyone else: the people whizzing past are either seasoned snow drivers or idiots. But definitely keep your speed up as you approach hills.

Ken

 

Hey a fellow boston area driver whats up man!!

I'm going to do what I did last year with the Chevy W/T I had, which is at the first decent snow if on a weekend take it to the local open parkinglot and just let it loose. I learned how the truck behaved quickly that way. Learned how to properly get that truck to go straight after going sideways and to slow her down. It paid off last year when we had a HUGE storm and our town decided to wait till well after it stopped to start plowing. My truck several times wanted to go sideways but since I knew what it would start to feel like I knew enough to correct my gas and steering. Next weekend I'm going on a group run with fellow 8 owners a few of whom drive them year round so I'm going to ask them if they put weight in the rear and if so how much. On the truck I didnt put any weight since the cap was heavy enough.

Check out our regional forums also man there are a few of us in the New England area

 

Another Boston RX-8 driver! Awesome! Welcome.

This will be my 4th winter in the 8 and i've never had a close call even once. I have the same setup you will (dunlop wintersport m3s 225/45/18 on OEM rims). My only advice is slow down in all facets of your driving until you get used to the winter tires. The dunlop M3s are the best handling dedicated snow tire I've driven on, but they are much different than you OEM Bridgestones. The cornering will be a little worse and when you get up to around 70ish mph, the car can feel "flightier" than with the normal tires. The tires i have are only speed rated to 93mph I believe.

Another 2 tips, rotate them often (I do it every oil change). This has given me great tire life (as i said, this will be the 4th winter on the same set of M3s). Lastly, wait as late as you can to put them on the car. Snow tires wear much faster when driving on dry pavement. I usually wait until around late Nov to put mine on.

 

You've had some good advice here. I've driven in snow for over 40 years with both rear and front wheel drive and never had an accident or any serious spinouts. That may be mostly luck, but a bit of experience also. One of the best pieces of advice you got here is to go out to a big parking after a good snow and just play with it. Not to purposely spin out, but to learn the limits of your car. See what happens when you try to change lanes fast vs. slow. Learn how your car reacts to different steering wheel and gas inputs. I drove for mamy years in Cleveland with a '71 Mach I 351 Cleveland Hurst 4sp (I still have it) and never got stuck.

On the hightwy, the best advice I can give is to do everything very slowly. Change lanes like you are on ice. (you probably are!) Sudden steering inputs are a call for disaster.

If you get the proper experience with a rear wheel drive car you will do just fine!

Zoom, Zoom!

 

Winter tires are a must and chains when its snowing... try not to drive in the snow especially if your area salt/sand the roads. driving in the snow will ause salt to STICK to your panels and underbody like glue. you cannot hose off most of the salt (but do it anyways) because they stick to the tiniest cracks and thats where rust developes. wash your car ASAP after it snows (DO NTO GOT O AUTOMATIC CAR WASHES... its like beating your car with rough old towels soaked in sand and salt). change your fuilds and ofcourse use antifreeze thats safe for aluminum.

 

Get snow tires. That should be all you need. Adding weight to the trunk throws off the weight balance. I did this once to a car and I couldn't even turn. I had to take the ballast back out.

 

Last 2 winters with Dunlop Winter Sport M3. No problems. Just take it easy and don't make any sudden moves and you'll be fine. And yes, parking lot practice is definitely the way to go.

 

Move to El Paso. The lack of snow and ice makes winter driving just as good as any other time of the year.

 

Hmmm, Dad has an M5, brother has an S4, you have an RX-8 in your second year of winter driving...

Do you have any sisters?

 

- snow tires
- easy on gas, brakes, steering wheel
- keep the rpms low
- avoiding getting on the gas mid corner
- carry a nice heavy bag of sand in the trunk and a shovel for traction and the "oh **** i'm stuck" moments


... my record so far is getting thru an 8" deep unplowed road

 

First of all, thanks everyone for the tips. I'm learning a lot and am definitely gonna re-read this thread as the first snow comes around... But there's still more to learn, so here's some responses and questions...

hahaha, i knew i'd get some **** for this - yes, i happen to be very lucky to have a wealthy family which allows me to get an expensive car, like this one, so long as i promise to not get anything less than A-'s on my report cards for the rest of high school and go to an ivy league college. i guess my parents dont mind buying me a car as incentive for doing well in school and going to a good college, as well as the fact that i paid for some of it and because it makes life so much more convenient for all of us... if you still have a bad opinion, at least note that i posted this thread about safety and how to drive more carefully in the winter - not about burnouts, street racing, vandalising, or lighting **** on fire - so hopefully that shows that im at least a reasonably responsible kid. I don't want to come off as one of those spoiled kids who gets an RX8 a year before they can even drive, and starts asking the forums about "the best radar detector so i can speed a lot" like someone else did... but to answer your question, no, im sorry... no sisters.

and
there's a contradiction... anyone else have experience with weighting the rear of their car? is this a good or a bad idea? i can see how it obviously throws off the weight balance, but it also seems like it would help more than hurt.... anyone?

hate to say it, but boston is the best city in the world... a little bit of snow and cold cant shake my love for bean-town.... and im sure some other bostonians would agree on that one


Alright, few more questions:

1. What about tire pressure? Should I just inflate them to the recommended pressure for my tires, the dunlop M3's? Or should I keep it on the high side? the low side? i have no idea...

2. To me, it seems like getting into gears could cause you to lose traction and start sliding... i mean, sometimes i have some rough shifts or let the clutch out too quickly if im in a awkward pair of shoes, and it seems like that jerk could easily cause the the car to lose traction.... should i pay special attention to being slow and gentle on the clutch?

any tips are much appreciated...

 

Some people put weight in, some don't. I do, but only 75 pounds. Two 75lb bags would be too much. I couldn't really tell that the bag was in there. So it didnt affect handling or anything, it was just nice to have a bag of sand in case i got stuck.

 

The RX-8's relatively low torque is a good thing when it comes to Winter driving. High torque cars will tend to spin wheels and as already said you need to maintain momentum.

As already cited, keep speeds down, especially on curves. You can lose traction in a 4wd drive SUV, with snow tires, with too much speed and/or torque.

Inflate as recommended, and don't over inflate. Snow tires are a bit softer to flex more easily in the cold to maintain footprint, and over inflation would tend to cancel out this advantage. Under inflation is never a good thing.

Don't be too concerned about rwd vehicles and Winter snows. After all, when I was a young driver it was rwd only, on poorly plowed roads, and somehow we made it through. Common sense and you'll be fine.

 

The Owner's Manual recommends adding an extra 4.3 psi. But I think they suggest this not because winter tires need more air, but because temperatures can quickly drop 40º or more, and most people fail to add extra air to compensate. (As you know, tires will lose 1 pound of air for every ten degree drop in temperature.)

So… if it's 50ºF when you add air to your new Dunlop M3's, you'd want 'em to read about 36.5 psi. That way, when the temp drops to 5ºF, they'll still be at the proper 32 PSI setting.

 

If your M3s are on separate rims, carry a full-size spare (i.e. one of the wheels you took off). Nothing worse than fiddling with the fix-a-flat kit when its minus 20 outside.

Kitty litter in the trunk can be useful but only if its in a sealed bag. Any moist air getting in there will cause it to solidify, leaving you with a nice lump of hardened stone which is useless if you get stuck.

 

Keep tire pressure at 32 when it's cold, too. Like someone else said, when the temps dip re-check your pressure and put in a few more psi to get up to 32. Don't put in more air, that just makes your tires harder, and you don't want that. The M3's and other snow tires are designed to stay flexible at low temps.

As for shifting, yes you want to shift smoothly, but don't lose any sleep over it. If you're not driving too fast for conditions, a bad shift will just make you lose traction for a second... and blush.

 

This have been argued since the beginning of time it seems...

Anyway, in my opinion 75lbs of sand is not going to throw off the weight distribution by any amount that i will care about, but will give you a bit more traction and at least a way to get out of a bad situation...

plus, i'll say that weight distribution doesn't mean anything to me unless I can get the car moving in the first place

 

Hasn't been said yet so I'll add it. You should carry a set of emergency supplies in the car. How much and what will depend on where you drive. If you are just driving in the city then maybe just a pair of boots (if you normally wear shoes), a pair of extra gloves, a toque, maybe a blanket, and some extra windshield washer fluid. If you drive out of the city then add in a candle or two, maybe a chemical heat pack, some blankets, a bit of food and water, etc.

Yeah, I live in California but I spent many, many years driving in Toronto and surroundings.

 

I have had my 8 for almost 2 years now and I live in Rhode Island.

I have Toyo Proxes 4 all season tires and drive the car everyday.

I was able to drive in the snow but I went slow(35) and it was fine. I didn't want to pay for snow tires and rims. Also didn't want to keep switching back and forth between snow tires and summer tires on OEM rims.

Over the tires have done the job in the snow.... I have been caught in a couple of storms where there was 6" plus, and was able to drive.. But not very sure footed since being rwd.

The extra weight in the back helps a little as long as you have like 200lbs on the rear wheels.

 

When approaching a tight turn, it is best to turn the DSC to off and mash the throttle.

 

^lol