Hello, I currently own a Mazda 3 but have an opportunity to get into an 04 RX 8. However this car will have to be used as a daily driver and winter driving concerns me a bit. Are there any of you out there that currently drive your RX 8 all year round and how do they get around in the snow? What have you done to get better winter traction? Thanks for your time!

 

I just picked one up and I'm in WA. So far it's handle some icy roads ok but it hasn't gotten that cold hear yet.

 

The RX8 is not a great car for driving in icy/snowy conditions. As is the case with any car with RWD. A lot of it has to do with the driver's experience in these conditions with RWD also. If you have occassional ice and snow, you will be fine. If it is for weeks/months on end, stay with the 3.

 

Ysr04, what other cars have you driven regularly in winter conditions?

These cars aren'tany worse than any other RWD car, traction-wise. What makes them a little tougher than other RWD's is their 'low polar moment' -- there's very little weight hung out at the front and rear of the car, so there isn't much resistance to spinning.That's the downside to having a car that changes directions very quickly and easily. If you're a white-knuckler when it's slippery on the roads, I wouldn't recommend it -- the back end goes from 'in control' to 'coming around to visit the front end' in a hurry.

But if you're used to low traction conditions with a RWD car, there's no reason to avoid the RX-8.

 

it's ok with winter tires on.

 

This is in addition to my earlier response. There's another issue worth mentioning:

I drive my '04 all year 'round here in Louisville/southern Indiana. Traction isn't great in the snow, but it's fun for 'rally driving'. lol

It depends on whether you get more or less snow than we do. I think this is about the limit here. We had one snowfall this year (a pretty good storm), where I shouldn't have gone out. There was only about 6 inches of snow on the ground, but it had melted a bit during the day and re-froze in the evening. There were many places on the road where there were 6-inch tall hardened snow packs.

This isn't a big deal for a lot of cars, but the RX-8 radiator is down low and tilted forward about 45 degrees, along with the AC condenser. Both are fragile, and both are tucked behind a relatively fragile plastic shroud. The hardened ice pack could have easily messed up the shroud and torn into the condenser and radiator, but I think I got lucky.

But this affected maybe 2 days this year, and none last year. You can probably get away with using this car all year a little further north, even.