I don't know about everyone else but I'm itching to put the performance tires on again. Only had several thousand kilometres on them before the change over. I know they can't be driven in snow but is there a certain minimum temperature below which they do not preform well?

 

I drove mine all the way to -10C without any problems but only on dry roads, never in ANY snow or cold wet pavement. I had a beater for the really bad days.

 

I got too itchy a couple of weeks ago so I took mine out. I watch the forcast every morning to see if it is calling for snow. I spun the wheels a bit on occasion if the weather was below -10.

 

If you are talking about the stock Bridgestones, I would submit that I have yet to find any conditions under which they perform well, never mind a minimum temperature.

Personally, I found that at even a couple degrees above zero the tires slipped and spun on the cold ashphalt. I have no intention of running those tires again this summer, but I can't see me even taking the car out of storage until we are getting consistent high single-digit temperature days....

 

What, you don't consider -6 a high single-digit temperature?:D

At least we are only supposed to get 2 cm of snow today.....

But check the forecast, the next four days are +4, +6, +6, +7.
And with wonderful salt clearing rain on Sat and Sun.

Then I'm sure it will plunge to -10 with heavy snow, since I'm supposed to get mine out of storage next week...

 

Planning to take it to the last Rally-Cross of the year are you?

Yeah, I'm praying for the rain. Since it appears that the insurance never came off the car all winter (*grrr*) I can take mine out of the garage and for a little run whenever enough salts comes off the road that I can live with it.

Who knows... maybe a little run on Sunday if we get rain Saturday.... won't be my daily driver again for a few more weeks I would imagine.

 

Just curious about what tire package you would recommend to replace the stock Bridgstones? I picked my car up at the end of November and had my winter rim/tire package installed - the stock Bridgestones have not seen pavement yet. I'm going to see what my dealer will give me on trade for them....I have registered for a performance driving course at Shannonville over the Easter weekend. I would like to have some useful tires to run on the track with!

Your input is appreciated.

 

Oh yeah, I'm sure the Bridgestones would be great in the mud and snow and ice! :D

Darn, that would move me to a different class. Gues I'd better not. Besides, it would but me in the same class as Ian, and I wouldn't want to get beat by a Volvo wagon....

 

Is there a rule of thumb as to when to take off the winters and put on the summers? Any harm in leaving the winters on a little longer just to be sure?

 

Maybe I'm a bit of a ***** behnd the wheel ... but I have no complaints about the OEM Bridgestones. It takes about a 7K clutch dump to get them to spin from a stop, and they have more cornering grip than I have cornering courage!

Now the Toyo Garrit's I've had on all winter - it's tough to keep those suckers from spinniing out when starting up a grade!

Can't wait to get the Bridgestones back on.


BTW - Redshift and Jasper, the 8 is a lot of fun in the snow! Left my SUV in the garage all winter and commuted in the 8 every day. FUN!

 

Your snows will have a soft compound that may wear quickly on dry pavement...I wouldn't worry about the tread wear. The stock Bridgestone's will be useless in even a light snowfall - doesn't it snow until June in Winnipeg? I'm keeping mine on until my first round of golf...never snows again after the first game:D

 

Winnipeg is actually pretty safe once you get to late April. Calgary gets spring earlier (it's been around +8 or better for the past week), but we get more late snowstorms. Last year, we had several big snowstorms in May!

Towards mid or late April, I'll probably switch back to the summer tires on the RX-8, and leave my Audi with winter tires until early May . I un-stored the Miata last weekend, and am loving the direct responsiveness of the Falken Azenis on it! I miss the Bridgestones on the 8!!

Regards,
Gordon

 

I think the tires perform best above 14 degrees. I've been using mine since march 8th ... the car seem alright. I did take the car out for a spin yesterday at 13 and I really felt a difference.

 

what are you torguing your wheels at? I just got a new torque wrench and can't wait to play with it.

 

I think the rule of thumb is: how much do you want to drive your "other" vehicle when the snow comes back

In Calgary I'm itching to put on the summers. We are hitting ~20C on monday and most of our snow is gone.

I'd have to drive a beat-up Toyota 4x4 if the snow comes back though... so I'm not sure I want to do that yet.

 

I'm going to take mine off in the first or second week of April. I remember last year we got snow at the beginning of April. I just don't want to take a chance. I can't wait!!!

 

Newbie to the forum and to the RX-8 both. I know winters almost over, but I'm curious what type of wheels and winter tires you guys are running. I've run snow tires (nokian hakka 1s) on my subaru for the last 4 years and I'm definetly not going back to no-seasons for winter, but it seems like the selection on winter tires to fit the stock 18s is rather...well limited.

 

Welcome to the forum! I hate to say it, but do a search in this forum section for 'winter tire' and you'll find a few very detailed threads from last fall where this was all discussed. Most of us purchased a separate set of 17" alloy wheels and used 215/55-17 winter tires like the Toyo Garit HT, or 225/50-17 winters like the Blizzak LM-22, Pirelli Winter210, or a few others.

I posted an analysis last fall that showed that if you kept your car more than 3 years, it was cheaper to go with the separate 17" alloy wheels and less expensive 17" winter tires than buying the more expensive 18" size (only Dunlop M3 or Bridgestone LM-22 available) and paying to have the tires swapped on the wheels twice a year.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Thanks for the response Gord. After spending so much time lurking on corner carvers I shoud know better than to ask before searching but I occasionally have my moments. Did some looking around and I'm glad to see the 8 is fairly mild mannered in the snow. I loved driving my Impreza year round with the studded snow tires, so its going to be a bit of an adjustment switching to the rear wheel drive 8 but it should prove an interesting challenge to my car control skills. I'll definetly be looking at a set of cheap 17s for the car when i get my snow tires later in the year, IMO the cost is worth the option of being able to change tires whenever I want/need to.

 

Redshift,

If you asked the broker to remove the insurance coverage and they didn't, go back and demand a refund. That happened to me once when a summer car went into storage, the insurance company gave me a credit after I pestered them enough. I eventually dumped the broker, they messed up several things . . . I always fax my insurance changes now and demand confirmation. Can you imagine if they forgot to put driving coverages back on . . . I have no trust now and want a paper trail with these guys.

 

Gord, not to be a broken record or steel this thread, but do you believe that there is a difference with the 18inch winter tires in comparison to the 17 inch. You can keep it short :-)....our last meet, a guy actually had to my shock 18 inch winter tires! I had no idea they existed.

In my own world it would be 'nice' to have 18 winter tires on stock rims, and summers on show rims. Thats my world though! :-)

Thanks in advance!