thevictor390
Teen Wankeler
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This is turning out surprisingly close, I expected a vast majority for the M3.
RX8 vs M3
- Thread starter LeVeL
- Start date
MadCat360
Forum Addict
People love to Wankel.
^ I hope you use lube.
I really like the RX-8, but I had to go with the BMW for daily use. To me the RX-8 is what you get when you already have a practical daily driver. My dad bought it when the stable was already full of Volvo and Toyota and the Mazda gets put under a cover on a battery tender for the winter.
I really like the RX-8, but I had to go with the BMW for daily use. To me the RX-8 is what you get when you already have a practical daily driver. My dad bought it when the stable was already full of Volvo and Toyota and the Mazda gets put under a cover on a battery tender for the winter.
thevictor390
Teen Wankeler
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Pffff, it works just fine as a daily driver. I would know 
^ Not with the weather we have here.
Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic car and I love driving it. It performs well in town, on the highway or mountain roads. Clarkson was right when he said that the engine sounds like it runs on double-cream and it's comfortable even for a Sasquatch of a man like me. It has a usable boot and a vestigial back-seat, but enough to say it's a small-engine four-door, four-seat car for insurance reasons.
Around here, however, the weather does make the car difficult for about half the year.
Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic car and I love driving it. It performs well in town, on the highway or mountain roads. Clarkson was right when he said that the engine sounds like it runs on double-cream and it's comfortable even for a Sasquatch of a man like me. It has a usable boot and a vestigial back-seat, but enough to say it's a small-engine four-door, four-seat car for insurance reasons.
Around here, however, the weather does make the car difficult for about half the year.
The back end gets loose even in the wet. The tires the RX-8 takes don't like water, snow and slush give it the steering properties of a saucer sled. It's very light weight with wide tires, that means shit traction in snow, slush and water.
"Very light weight" is relative. The lightest vehicle I've owned is a Honda Civic.
We didn't switch out the tires for winter for two reasons: 1- we have other cars to drive in the winter & 2- we get free tires for life from the dealer as long as we get the car serviced there, which is fine with us since I would not trust most mechanics to service that car.
Also, even with snow tires, there is no fucking way to get that car up to our house during or after a storm. Hell, you can't even get it out of the driveway because it's too low. Even our Land Cruiser will plow through the snow with the undercarriage after a decent storm. The road to the house is very steep, even snowplows have a hard time getting up the hill in the winter, and they weigh something like 40 tons and power all three axles. During storms we sit in the front room and watch cars try to get up and down the hill - it's better than anything on TV.
We didn't switch out the tires for winter for two reasons: 1- we have other cars to drive in the winter & 2- we get free tires for life from the dealer as long as we get the car serviced there, which is fine with us since I would not trust most mechanics to service that car.
Also, even with snow tires, there is no fucking way to get that car up to our house during or after a storm. Hell, you can't even get it out of the driveway because it's too low. Even our Land Cruiser will plow through the snow with the undercarriage after a decent storm. The road to the house is very steep, even snowplows have a hard time getting up the hill in the winter, and they weigh something like 40 tons and power all three axles. During storms we sit in the front room and watch cars try to get up and down the hill - it's better than anything on TV.
thevictor390
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The stock tires are 225, so they're decent wide but not absurdly so. We get plenty of snow around here and snow tires make a world of difference. You are correct though that enough snow and it's effectively turned into a plow, but in that situation the only thing that's gonna help you is a 4x4 SUV. +1 for the Xterra.
I drove around during and after snowstorms, up and down hills, and it was fine. They plow early and often enough around here that it never builds to more than a few inches on the road. If I had to take to fresh snow immediately after a big storm, then no, it wouldn't work at all.
I drove around during and after snowstorms, up and down hills, and it was fine. They plow early and often enough around here that it never builds to more than a few inches on the road. If I had to take to fresh snow immediately after a big storm, then no, it wouldn't work at all.
argatoga
Can't Start His Wank
For someone who drives a 3000lb FWD Honda you complain a lot about cars not being light and RWD.
man, you must live on a mountainFair enough though, I'll readily admit that an RX8 does not have the ground clearance to clear a major snow storm like a Land Cruiser would.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sou...=zAda2inRhMhBzZpVz-Ae7Q&cbp=12,55.49,,0,20.04
Follow "Skyline Drive" up hill until you hit "Eagle Way" then turn right and keep going up hill.
That first crest you see in the linked Street View has a grade that exceeds the maximum allowed on US Interstates, if I recall, it's about a 20% grade.
Yup, according to a cycling website that calculates grade in Google Maps, that one spot is a 20% grade.
argatoga
Can't Start His Wank
LeVeL
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I didn't say anything about RWD in this thread. In fact, I'm usually the one defending FWD.
Oh, and you must have missed the fact that I think the Accord is a big heavy car and I'm trying to sell it in order to get a Miata Damn, that is a mountain :lol:
Pry
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Over here people seem to be using their RX8's over the winter. We do get snow storms which turn our ordinary cars to snowploughs but they are pretty rare. On well maintained roads I can't find a hill that a RWD car with snow tires wouldn't get up especially if you don't have to stop in the middle of it.
But if you live in a place like that I admit it's pretty good idea to drive an SUV. Can't believe that the M3 would be much better than the RX8 on that front though.
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^ I can almost guarantee that it wouldn't be any better than the RX-8. When that hill gets slippery the only BMWs we see making it up the hill are X5s. I think I was the last person to get a RWD up there in a snow storm, and that's only because I had good snow tires, about 170 lb of standbags over the rear axle and spend all my adult life driving up that hill.