I saw that happen a couple of times during the 3 years I lived in Hillsboro.

Funniest parts of the 'Snow Show':
1) The mad rush of all the parents to pick up their kids at school instead of letting them take the bus home like they would every other day - Result: uber traffic jam in the worst driving conditions at an unexpected time of day.
2) The tendancies of numerous morons to abandon their cars in the middle of traffic lanes because it slipped a little or they couldn't get going for a second or two. Really - who decides to just get out and walk and not try to get the car off the road somehow?

I remember watching such a show out my window on the Sequent (sp? it's been years) campus and listening to radio reports of all the major arteries in Hillsboro and Beaverton being clogged by abandoned vehicles. The snow stopped by 4:30 and the roads were pretty clear by the time I left ~6:30. By then most of the abandoned cars had been towed or retrieved.

However, I thought the ice-storms were dangerous enough to warrant caution. Heh heh, the caution of calling into work, staying in my warm house drinking hot coffee and watching TV.

What do you do for tires around Portland? Aquatreds mostly? Do any of you 12-monthers bother with snow tires?

 

Good call RXAnna and picture is worth more than 1,000 words to the illiterate.

When I lived in Hillsboro there were two kinds of cars. Cars that went up to Mt. Hood (or through some 'chains required mountain pass) and car that did not. People that drive where angels fear to tread need protection. Chains vs. all-seasons vs. snow tires is a personal choice.

Ignore the savages, enjoy the board.

 

Dude, ease off on the anger and go read the tires. Your sig says "Bone Stock" so I'd bet $5 you still have your summer performance tires on your RX-8. Snow is a no-no, that simple fact is discussed every week on the forum. If you're not parking your RX-8 for the winter you should swap to winters or all-seasons or only be angry at yourself.

You wife's 325i probably has all-season tires, plus more weight, plus less torque. Don't envy her car - envy her tires. In fact, don't even envy her tires, just get some for your RX-8.

One more note on winter performance - I have a 60-foot unpaved driveway with about a 15 to 20 degree down-slope to the street. Monday morning I found the snow had melted and then refroze so my driveway was literally a solid sheet of ice. I use Blizzak LM-22s on 17" rims, but they're not magic. As I eased down the driveway I could feel the wheels slip, but the car was stable. It wasn't a random, out-of-control, spinning slide - the car just got a little crooked and held there and I was able to slide into the street (which was sanded and salted) and proceed to work with no worries.

I never had much trouble in Portland or Seattle, but I've put all kinds of cars into ditches here in upstate NY (including a Subaru wearing snow tires). I really have to credit the balance of the RX-8 for making it about as good as it can be to control even when you're slipping.

Now I just need to learn to drift so I can take her to Watkin's Glen in the spring.