This question is for people in Calgary.

I recently purchased a new 2004 RX8.
I'm suppose to pick it up very soon.

Here's the problem:
I don't have winter tires yet and I'm concerned about driving it home from the dealership in this type of weather. What do you think, bad idea?

 

Congrats!

Re driving it home - it's simple, really. If there are any snow/ice covered road sections on your way home, don't do it. If you can make it home without having to travel over any snow, just take it easy and you'll be fine. It's supposed to be up to 8C on Friday or Saturday, so you might be in luck. Otherwise, hire a flatbed truck to haul your new car home!

Regards,
Gordon

 

I'm gettin mine this week too. Just drive carefully and slowly. Even with summer tires, if you're a good winter driver, you should make it home at least. If there's snow on the ground, I'm goin 10km/hr... I don't care!

 

What color did you get? And what area of the city are you in?

I'm the only 8 in the southwest, as far as I know, so it'd be nice to be able to see another one every once in a while.

 

What are you going to do for rims, or will you have 18" snow tires? They're expensive. 'Course, rims plus 17" tires are expensive too. It's a conspiracy, I tell ya.

 

Hey Fritz... what do you call the SW, my address is SW ... there's me and another in Bridlewood. So you can't claim the whole SW.

Too Big.

 

Hey Fritz, I'm the SW too, in Signal Hill. Mine's silver, with an MS kit on the way.... hopefully.

 

You're new here, aren't you? You've apparently not read all the threads where people recount their horror stories at trying to drive the OEM tires on slippery stuff. If you try going 10 km/h on snow - either you won't be able to move at all (starting out on snow), or you will slide at 10 km/h into a curb or intersection, etc. Seriously - the OEM tires have ZERO grip on snow or ice. Not just "less" or "little", but ZERO. It doesn't matter if you're a good winter driver, unless you're a magician you can not create traction where none exists.

With winter tires - the RX-8 does just fine. With the OEM tires, it's extremely treacherous.

Re winter tires - please read the winter tire threads here and in the Tires/Wheels forum section. Very extensive discussions already in place. After having a read, feel free to ask any questions!

Regards,
Gordon

 

Gordon, actually I'm not new here. I've been at this site since Feb '03. I just don't have any useful information to post! (And the fact that I didn't have the car till now.) Although I haven't driven the 8 with summer tires in snow or ice, I have driven my BMW (and my old Prelude) with summer performance tires on the first few days of snow on a number of occasions to and from work with little problems. (Given certain road conditions of course!) Its scary, but perhaps it is different for an RX-8. I'll have to try it out for myself. However, thanks for the advice. I'm looking forward to meeting all of you guys during the next meet!

 

I've changed my pickup date to be on eitheir Friday or Saturday.
I'm praying the snow will have melted enough on the roads for me to take the car home on the OEMs. I won't have winter tires by then.

If the snow is still there, I suppose I'm going to have to leave it at the dealership until the weather gets better or until I can figure out what type of winter tires I want to get.

What a difference a week makes in Calgary! (the weather that is)

As for winter tires, I plan on using those ugly 17" black steel rims with a good winter tires. I have no experience with tires, so I'm having trouble deciding what type of tire to get.

 

Admiral 8 ... bet this is going to be the longest 3-4 days in your life. Ha ha. Congrats on the new car.

Congrats SlowLude too on the new car.

 

I stand corrected!

And now I'm not so lonely ... :o

 

Signal Hill! We're almost neighbors! I'm in Garrison Woods.

 

Seems like the SW crew is growing all the time! ... I'm in Mission...
And Admiral8 ... you're right about those black steelies being ugly ... seeing them on a beauty like the 8 kinda makes me wonna cry (I'm quite sensitive). Get yourself some nice alloys asap, or better still work them into the deal for the car (guess it's a bit late for that tho). And congrats on the purchase ... I think you might quite like it ;-)
ps ... you can't go wrong with Blizzaks.

 

I agree about the alloys - I bought 17" Konig Holes from www.tiretrends.com, they're lighter than steelies, lighter than the OEM wheels (much! 6 lbs ea lighter than the stock 18" alloys, which are ~23 lbs), and infinitely better looking. For the extra few hundred, I felt the advantages were well worth it.

Re Blizzaks - well, if you mean the LM-22, then I agree, they are right in there with the other offerings. If you mean the WS-50, I disagree, they have no place on a sports car. They will ruin the driving experience, even if it's just the winter driving experience. There are much better winter tire choices for an RX-8.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Thanks for the info on the winter tires.
I'll take any advice/input I can get right now, cause I have no idea what to get...

Any opinions on these 17" winter tires (only ones available on their package deal)?

http://www.tiretrends.com/wheel2/iuc...on&tireSize=17

 

The Toyo Garit HT in 215/55-17 is what I'm running, as well as dozens of other Canucks. Narrower is better in winter (ie 215/55 is preferable to 225/50).

For some light reading , do a search in this forum section for "winter tires". You can narrow it down a bit by doing an advanced search for "winter tires" and include my forum handle if you like - there's summary threads where we've discussed exactly which tires and wheels we're using, which will be a huge help in narrowing the selection down.

Regards,
Gordon

 

<clears throat loudly>

I'm near 17th Ave / 10 St SW :D

 

Man, everyone's coming out of the woodwork now!

 

Hey... I've BEEN AROUND :D

 

Haha, actually I'm running the WS-50. Been caught in a couple of winter storms going through the Rockies and been VERY glad to have those puppies on. Ultimate winter traction is important to me. But saying that, first time I drove fast around a corner on a dry road I thought there was something wrong with the suspension or something ... you can really feel the lateral flex in the tire! Can't wait to get the summer boots mounted! Roll on Spring...