?ber sex in the snow?

[targa_997]

Using winter tires on RWD is definitely very efficient, coupled with stability control. As long as you don't tease the devil on road, of course. As other said earlier, the torque curve is very smooth and progressive in complete opposition to a common turbo torque curve: nothing up to 3000rpm/1500rpm(diesel) then all the torque. I'd rather have a RWD RX-8 rather than a FWD Mazdaspeed 3 on snow, to illustrate the torque problem.

 

[Blind_Io]

My dad has an RX-8 as some of you know, in the winter he rents a garage and stores it. The wide flat tires make the car "float" over the snow so they never dig in for starting or stopping. The powerful engine going to rear wheels is a recipe for disaster.

I have driven two RWD cars in snow, a 1983 Mercedes 300D and a 1976 Volvo 245 DL. Both are much heavier cars than the RX-8 and have thiner tires. This allows the car to compact the snow down into a tractable surface while packing it into the tread of the wheels. The RX-8 uses low profile Potenza tires with very little tread depth compared to a typical all-season radial or snow tire.

I have driven in snow my entire driving life, and I am confident in all manner of vehicles from SUVs to shuttle buses and RWD automatic transmission cars with turbo chargers. I would NOT want to attempt the RX-8 in the snow.

Now, for the good news. I don't know what it's like where you are but in Salt Lake the roads are dry for most of the winter. During and just after a snow storm you will of course have snow on the roads, but within a day or so the crews have things cleared up and the roads are dry again. The actual amount of time the roads are snow-covered is fairly small. Still, during the winter storms can move into my area quickly and a few snow flurries can turn into a foot or more.

There is the good and the bad of it, I leave it to you to weigh the pros and cons of the decision. For most of the year the RX-8 will be the most fun you ever had with your clothes on. My dad never tires of telling me about the BMWs, Audis, Corvettes, and Porsches he can loose on Utah's roadways.

Here is his most recent story:

My dad was in the RX-8 approaching a highway ramp/slip road early one morning. This particular ramp has a very tight radius and it's marked at 20 MPH, although most people do it between 25 and 30. The road was empty except for one other car, an Audi S4 (probably a Quattro since that is all they sell in SLC). This particular Audi was tailgating very close, and with no particular reason; this, of course, annoyed my dad so he decided to show the Audi what his little Mazda could do. Entering the offramp at about 40 MPH he punched the throttle and shot around the corner and down the half-mile long slip road, as he watched in the rear view mirror, he saw the black Audi understeer well over the hard shoulder as he tried to keep up, nearly sliding down the guard rail in the process. My dad backed off and waited for the Audi to recover (he never took the RX-8 out of second gear). The Audi finally did catch up just as they were entering the Freeway, my dad punched it again and the Audi became a speck in the mirror before 4th gear. Having proved his point, my dad backed off to the speed limit because he was in no particular hurry, about a minute later the Audi came chugging past thinking that he finally caught up on the straight.

So my dad added Audi to the Porsches, Corvettes, BMWs, Acuras and other makes he has picked on, and won with his Mazda. It's an incredible car to drive and the power curve goes forever! I've driven motorcycles that won't red-line that high.

 

[klutch]

What, like, cruisers?

 

[Banii]

Just talked to a friend of mine owning a Rx-8. He said its an ok car to drive in the winter, atleast compared to other cars in its segment.

 

[Izari]

What, like, cruisers?

+1

and to Blind_IO...

i think you are forgetting...
most bmw, audi, mercedes, corvette, porsche drivers are complete n00bs
they got the car as a status symbol not as the ultimate driving machine
...
skill and car in street confrontations is totally unequal...

 

[Blind_Io]

What, like, cruisers?

Without more idea of what you are responding to I will assume it's the width of tires on the Land Cruiser. Let me explain the difference. There are two ways to get traction on snow, a thin tire that packs the snow down to the pavement to give a tractable surface or a very wide base, usually achieved by airing-down offroad tires. The tires on the Mazda are designed for dry-pavement performance and don't have the tread to stick to the road even in wet conditions. This has been from personal experience and it was mentioned on Top Gear. The Land Cruiser uses an off-road tread that bites deep into snow and mud, giving superior traction; combine this with full time 4WD and over two tons of weight pushing those tires into the snow and you have a great snow car. The Mazda is designed to be light and agile, combine the light weight with a big rubber footprint with little tread and you might as well be trying to steer a saucer sled.

Let me see if I can remember everything I drove in the snow:

1993 Toyota Land Cruiser
2001 Jeep Cherokee
1983 Mercedes 300D
1976 Volvo 245 DL
1999 Volvo S80
1998 Toyota Camry
2002 Chevy Tahoe
2002 GMC 18 person van (pain in the ass when it's empty, no weight over the wheels at all)
2002 Chevy Trailblazer
2002 GMC Van (I don't remember the model name, but it's a bit smaller than a full-size and built on a truck platform.)
1989 Nissan Maxima
1992 Pontiac Gran Prix (year aprox.)
1986 Chevrolet Celebrity wagon (ie P.O.S.)
2002 POS Saturn

I think that's all of them.

and to Blind_IO...

i think you are forgetting...
most bmw, audi, mercedes, corvette, porsche drivers are complete n00bs
they got the car as a status symbol not as the ultimate driving machine
...
skill and car in street confrontations is totally unequal...

Well, my dad has had no training in how to drive his RX-8, so I think we can call driver skill a wash. Noob or not, that Audi could not hold the corner, the Corvette was lost after two switchbacks in the Utah mountains even with a late 50's retired dentist at the wheel of the Mazda. I'm sure that these cars could out perform my dad in his Mazda if there was a racing driver behind the wheel, but the point is that with just regular Joes behind the wheel the Mazda does better, at least in our experience and in those driving environments. The Mazda had loads and loads of grip; the few times my dad entered a corner too fast and thought he was in trouble the car's traction control kicked in and sorted it out. Before anyone starts ragging on traction control, you have to be pushing damn hard for it to kick in and I'm pretty sure you can disable it. I also know it's an option so you can just buy one without the traction control if you really want to.

I'm sure my dad would be flattered to know that you think so highly of his driving skill, but I've driven the RX-8 and once you realize how far and how fast you can push it and still be within your safety envelope you just give it the berries and steer through the corners while letting the car do it's thing.

 

[Vitamin J]

I'm gonna take everything you say about the RX-8 as a grain of salt. I've seen them on the racetrack and I've seen the other cars you've mentioned there too. The RX-8 is a good car, but not that good.

 

[klutch]

What, like, cruisers?

Haha, sorry, I was referring to bikes. Cruisers usually have low redlines.

 

[Blind_Io]

I'm gonna take everything you say about the RX-8 as a grain of salt. I've seen them on the racetrack and I've seen the other cars you've mentioned there too. The RX-8 is a good car, but not that good.

Well, also consider that the RX-8 is substantially less expensive than the Corvettes, BMWs, and many other performance cars. Also, different tracks favor different setups and you are talking about some pretty serious drivers in this field. My experience with the RX-8 is as a recreational sports car, not a circuit racer, and I said as much in my post. I'm sure that in the right hands a Corvette or BMW could beat an RX-8, but for pure driving fun (especially for the price) the RX-8 is a great car. It's nimble, it's got a great motor, near-perfect weight distribution, and it's fun as hell to drive. There are more powerful cars, there are more sophisticated cars, but I think you would be hard pressed to find one that is as much fun. Even Clarkson said as much in his review of the RX-8, at one point saying it was the most fun he had in a car all year. He later said the only fault he could find was that the factory Potenza tires did not grip well in the wet. That is fixed easily enough, just get some different tires when your Potenzas wear out.

You've seen them on the race track, but have you driven one? If you are going to take your car to the track then track performance is important, especially compared to what else is on the track. But if you just want to have some non-competitive fun out on the twisty roads then why is track performance important? Why is what anyone else's capabilities behind the wheel important? The idea of a recreational sports car is that it's all about the driver; there is no competition except with one's self.

So since you have not actually driven the RX-8, I'm going to take everything you say with a grain of salt. mmmmk?

 

[Hatmouse]

That's what I'm thinking.

I wouldn't mind learning to drive in an RX-8.

Wait, are you a teenager? I could have sworn you were middle aged.

 

[jeffy777]

Wait, are you a teenager? I could have sworn you were middle aged.

Well, he did say that 2 years ago, but I thought he was older than that too.

 

[bobo_1314]

I don't have experience driving RWD sports cars in the snow, but I've driven a Volvo 740 sedan in the winter with snow of a foot deep. With snow tires, the car had a hard time just moving in a straight line, but my neighbor, who is an old man with lots of driving experience, told me to put something very heavy in the trunk to balance the weight distribution of the car. So I put four wheels (the summer tires) in the trunk, and the car worked extremely well in the snow. It was very controllable, and stopping was excellent. My neighbor explained to me that almost all RWD sedans work in the snow; that's why the majority of European cars are RWD. In dry conditions, RWD cars have a lot better handling and power distribution because the front wheels don't need to handle both steering and power. However, in the winter the rear wheels need some sort of weight in order to dig in the ground and get some traction for startups. With the engine in the front, the car's weight distribution is not 50:50; the front is heavier, which makes FWD work better in the snow. Sports cars might be a bit different because generally speaking the ride height is lower, the engine power band is different (perhaps a bit wider so the car can have maximum torque at low RPM), and the tires are wider and lower in profile. But in principle they work the same as sedans in which the rear requires more weight to have them work properly in the snow.

 

[Ultra_Kool_Dude]

Holy bump!

Well, I guess since this thread has floated to the top after two years, you can give us an update UKD: did your old man get the RX-8 or a crappy SUV?

He ended up getting an Audi TT. It's pretty solidly built, but boring.

Wait, are you a teenager? I could have sworn you were middle aged.

Middle aged? I'm a university student (21). I never bothered driving a car much, and I haven't got my full license.

My first experience on the road was my bike. After that, everything else is uber slow and dull.

 

[Top Geek]

RWD in the winter isn't that bad, just so long as you have good tires and the right car. Because rotary-engines have relatively low-torque, the RX-8 should make a decent car for winter, in my opinion. My 240SX is fine in winter, because it's a four-cylinder; and like most four-cylinders, it doesn't really develop any usable power until about 3,000 RPM.

 

[Karoug]

I live in sweden and drive a Volvo 745glt! And i'd rather drive that then my Golf vr6 during the winter! why? Cuz the volvo is a blast on ice! it's rwd and very long so it's easy to controll!!

 

[oliB]

My first experience on the road was my bike. After that, everything else is uber slow and dull.

And that's were you're wrong! Just get a a Veyron, I bet your bike doesn't do 0-60 in 2.5 seconds.

 

[Vitamin J]

words

I was talking more about your fantasticl stories about your dad out running S4s and Corvettes and BMWs and whatever else.

The RX-8 is bucket loads of fun, i've driven one. but it can't out corner a Corvette and it can't out accelerate an S4.

 

[Top Geek]

lol, holy crap, I replied and didn't realize that this thread was that old

Silly me :lol:

 

[jeffy777]

And that's were you're wrong! Just get a a Veyron, I bet your bike doesn't do 0-60 in 2.5 seconds.

Ok sure: he'll go out and buy one tomorrow. :lol: A Veyron costs how many times more than his bike???

 

[Shawn]

How old is your dad? I don't think the RX-8 looks that suitable for older men. I think if you're above 35ish you'll look pretty desperate trying to drive a car like that.

That's just my view, hope you don't take offense.