StewC625

On Friday, my -8 goes in to have the All-seasons put on. I've been waiting out Tire Rack's backorder on them, and have been driving my mom's car since late September because she's been out of the country ... she gets home tomorrow morning. Have only put about 400 miles on since late Sept. The car has the OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE040 on it.

Today, Chicago is getting a collassal case of winter whoop-*** opened on it - 3-6 inches of heavy, slick, wet snow. Well, a bit ago, I needed to switch my -8 from one side of my garage to the other to get a table out for Thanksgiving, so I thought I'd experiment a bit with snow driving and the stock tires to see just how bad they are in snow.

Well ...

THEY SUCK IN SNOW!

I backed out - there's about an inch and a half of wet snow on the street, I let out the clutch in first, the back wheels began to spin at 15-20 mph and the car was NOT MOVING forward! I thought to myself, "self, you just screwed yourself." so I goosed it and the tires "burnt" through the snow to the wet pavement, and we were off ... slipping and sliding at the barn burning rate of 7 mph.

Needless to say, I went around the block without stopping or losing momentum, pulled into the driveway, managed to get up the apron without slowing down and into the garage.

That'll cover that idea.

Putting Continental Super Contact M+S on the car on Friday at Discount Tire.

BELEIVE EVERYTHING YOU READ ABOUT WINTER HANDLING AND THE STOCK TIRES!.

jsh1120

Here's a flash for you. Consider taking a bus/train the next time it snows in Chicago. I suspect you'll find that a light RWD sports car, even with all season tires, is not a delight in the snow, especially if you "let out the clutch in first" and then "goose it" until "the tires 'burn' through the snow to the wet pavement." You might also consider putting some cement in the trunk. :D

Icemastr

The OEM tires aren't all seasons?

Mugatu

iTrader: (1)

Hell NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Icemastr

Oh yeah the RE040's are High performance summer tires.

RX Renesis

they're rated for summer performence... suppose to be very very good on dry roads and very very sucky on wet or colder weather....

Ike

Big mistake just getting all seasons IMO. The Contis are good tires but on a RWD car it's still going to get hairy.

rotten42

Ah, no!.....I've been driving my RX8 in the snow with a set of snow tires. The car works fine. It may not be as idiot proof as your typical front wheel drive car but it does have some things going for it.

1) Not too much torque
2) traction control
3) Great balance

This car is easy to drive in the snow. The only problem I can see is if we get a deep snowfall. Then clearance might be a problem. We usually only get one or maybe two deep snowfalls a year. In Clagary its ice that you have to worry about more than the snow.

I would have suggested skipping on the All season tires and get proper winter tires. Knowing the difference between the two I will never use All Season tires on any of my vehicles again...winter tires are FAR superior.

Howard

80 miles from Chicago and the snow is here too. I got new Pirelli snow tires but my car is in the shop. Good luck with the All Seasons.

goforwand

Can't comment on the 8 in the snow (now that I live in FL :D ) but when I lived in MA, I drove the FD on SNOW TIRES not all-seasons, and it wasn't that bad at all. All-seasons may not help you to get through the winter months....I'd say get snow tires!

BrilliantBlack8

I drove my 8 for the first time tonight in the snow, my first time ever driving manual car in the snow and didnt think it was bad at all even with the stock tires, then again i was used to a supercharges mustang in the snow...the only thing i was worried about on my drive home were all the branches that were falling in the streets from how heavy the snow is..They had roads blocked off by me just due to trees being down...In the western subs of chicago here!
robert

XDEEDUBBX

https://www.rx8club.com/west-rx-8-forum-34/vegas-l-45637/

i feel the same..i have pics..check it out....

Mr M

Unless they have mysteriously disappeared, there are literally dozens of threads on this board related to winter tires.
With a proper set of winter tires, and DSC, the 8 is just as enjoyable and safe in winter as summer. Check our the SEARCH function for choices of tires...

Cheers

rocketrider2

Yup, Chicago here too. I have had my winter rim/tires sitting at the Last Detail for a couple of weeks waiting for winter to get here. So this morning took the car up and had them switch it over. Man just in time from this crap hitting. Everything seems to work well. Went with the Dunlop M3's.

Lane

StewC625

Well, I decided to go with All Seasons over doing a winter wheel/tire combo for a few reasons:

1) I don't have a commute - I work from two places - either at home or on airplanes. I take cabs to the airport in crappy weather and drive when it's nice.

2) The car's a lease - I don't feel like investing $1200 for another set of wheels and tires for something I don't own. I doubt there will be much value in those wheels and tires at the end of four years.

So, I'll put the all-seasons on, I've got a couple of folks interested in buying the stock tires (like new, no measurable wear!), and yes, I know it's not a jeep. But I won't panic if I'm out in the snow.

The conti's have an 8.9 snow rating on Tire Rack.com, if I recall correctly. The RE040's rating was 0.8.

SC

FX-RX8

Thats why I live in FLORIDA.....Ft lauderdale. I have a sports car and a sports bike that I can drive and ride all year long!!!!!!
I dont have any Idea on how it is to drive on snow....only videos at work that show defensive driing on the snow....hahaha fun.

rotten42

except when those pesky hurricanes hit town.....besides, I'm sure there are a few people who can back me up when I say winter driving can be a blast. Its fun to drive around town sideways!....and I think that its much more effective to be drving with your ski bunney to the resort in an RX8 rather than saying, "I'll pick you up in my winter beater because I'm too much of a wus to drive my car in the winter". :D

StewC625

Well, honestly, there is something to be said for winter beaters. Last night I was out tooling around in my mom's '99 Honda Accord in the snow running Thanksgiving errands and thinking "ya know, for $6000 ..."

fredw1

I agree with the overwhelming consensus in this forum is that snows are better than all seasons in terms of performance, but they may not necessarily be the best choice for everyone. One has to consider how much snow you get and how often. Is it worth $1200 for new rims and tires for four or five snowfalls and where the average daytime high is above 32 all year? There will be some loss in summer performance with the all seasons, but many people may never notice the difference. It might mean taking the circular off-ramp at 45 instead of 50. Worth $1200? That's up to the driver. As long as one knows what the limits of their equipment are, then either choice should be acceptable.

rotten42

well consider this: you do get that one bad snowstorm and your summer or all season tires just aren't cutting it and you smack the car up becuase of this.....at this point $1200 doesn't seem like much to pay.

StewC625

Well once again ...

... it's a lease

... it's insured

... it's just a car

and, in Chicago, they take care of the roads outrageously well.

I won't road trip in this car in the winter, ever, and therefore, all-seasons will work just fine.

Omicron, who lives in Colorado and drives in snow a lot, went this route and said he has no problems with it. Yes, it's not as perfect of a solution as winter tires, but since I don't need to daily commute in it (and if I did, honestly, I doubt I'd have bought it ...), this works for me.

StewC625

I find that if it's too crappy to drive in the snow, then it's too crappy to make the trip. Very simply, there's no place you need to go that you need to bet your life or your car on. If I get "stuck" somewhere, I'm sure I can get myself and my car to a safe spot without bending it ... preferably a nice pub, or a friends house with a fresh bottle of vodka and a spare bed.

I'm the king of "it's crappy out, let's not go ..."

rotten42

"... it's a lease

... it's insured

... it's just a (nice) car"


that's why I drive it in the winter...some of these guys that post seem really **** about their car. I'm surprised that they even drive them because they run the risk of getting dirt on them.

Lifes too short to drive a beater all winter...especially when our winters last so long.

Nordic RX-8

I put on my Dunlop M3's this week - it has been raining with temps around 30 - 48 F for 7 out of 10 days, and now with snow predicted for the weekend. (I guess winter has arrived!)

350ceo

Park your RX8 if its snowing. Buddy of mine had his 8 out 2 fridays ago in the western Mass area. While we were at the bar about an inch and a 1/2 of snow fell. To get back to his house we had to go up a hill with an incline of only about 25 degrees. didnt even make it half way up. 3 of us were in the car adding to the weight still no hope. So out 2 of us go to push. Good thing is the car is light for pushing. So we hop back in and the final approach was an include of only about 15 degrees. We figure no problem. guess again PUSH time! Even once he got some momentum from us pushing, as soon as we let off the back immediately started to fish tail. I can't see how snow tires could help that much when the car is this bad