1st gen in the snow?
 

Can i posibley drive a first gen dailey in the winter. waybe with a set of blizaks and some weight? what are your thoughts.

Last winter (in Jan '06), I was able to drive my car out of a snow-laden small-gravel driveway, onto an unplowed snowy road, and onto another unplowed road. All on tires with very low tread (about 4/32 or 3/32). The car came out as if it was born in the snow. All that was else in the car was me and I don't weight that much. There have been many a story of people performing amazing feats with their 7's in the snow.

It mostly depends on how much tread you have on your tires. The newer the tire, the better. Also, having a full tank of gas helps as it gives extra weight onto your rear wheels. It also depends on how well you drive. Having a manual is much better than the slushbox automatic.

The 7 will handle just fine in snow. With good winter tires and either keep the tank full or throw a bag of cement in the hatch area. Just use common sense when driving in the snow, avoid hard braking which means plan in advance to slow down before you come to a signal or stop sign and allow your self more space inbetween you and the car in front of you.

Translation: Downshift way ahead of time and let that motor engine-brake for you to slow you down.

and wash the salt and crap off frequently, unless you want a rusty 7

Amen to that. Spend a couple bucks at the Do-It-Yourself carwash booths and take that high pressure gun to the underbelly of your car and wheel wells. It's what I did recently to ensure all that crap was off the bottom of my car.

Sure you can.. i think.. i dont have snow here, i would think so if you had snow tires and chains and know how to drive in it. Listen to all the above too, good info.

You don't even need snow tires and chains; just a good set of all-season. Altho, in your area, it'd probably be best for snow tires. Avoid chains. My tires were mismatched all-season radials (thanks to the previous owner) and low on tread (also thank the previous owner) and it handled fairly well just fine on its own on unplowed roads. Altho, it didn't make it up an incline of a road and got stuck in between both inclines. :p: (thank the previous owner for the low tread tires)

ok, well like i said, no snow here, but that was my thought. Listen to them...i'll stay out of it. God bless

Where does this fallacy come from? I had to break my wife of this idea. Downshifting in slippery conditions is like putting on the parking brake. It tends to lock the rear wheels, which tends to put the car into pirouettes. Your car will stop best under any conditions by using the middle pedal -- period.

^^^exactly when i bought my rx7 it was only driven in snow once in its life time my uncle was coming to an intersection downshifted and the rear tires locked up and he went sideways throught the intersection......he turned around went home parked it and never drove it in winter again for fear of crashing

Do you guys not rev match?

All it takes is a lot of understanding of the conditions. Brake way early. Mainly just don't do anything stupid with the car and you'll be fine.

Yes, I rev match, but the post implied it was a good idea to use the engine as a braking aid in the snow. The only time it's a good idea to use the engine as a brake is on a very long, very steep downhill descent so as not to overheat the brakes. Under any other circumstances, using the engine as a brake is bad.

I agree, but I've never locked the rear end up bad enough to go completely sideways through an intersection. Maybe a bit of a kick sideways in the snow, but nothing out of control in the least.

I've driven 2 winters in my 7 and have had zero problems. You just have to know how to drive in adverse weather conditions and to know what to happen in emergency situations. I've just had all season tires and no weight. Only problem is maybe some traction loss trying to go from a stop. But man are they so much fun to just kick out and have some fun with!

I wouldn't downshift to slow down, if you plan on downshifting also plan on the car jumping about 100 plus degrees sideways the second the clutch comes out.

heh im lucky i live in hawaii, one day it will snow here when the world decides to freeze over.
snow day!

Lol, it's not fun to have proxes in the snow.

I think the reason people advocate downshifting instead of braking in the snow is that you cannot lock up the front wheels and lose your steering control. But, I concur, it is a stupid idea. Just drive gently.

Oh, and yeah, high performance summer tires aren't great. I've had Yoko AVS Intermediate, AVS Sport and Michelin Pilot Sports, the AVS Sport were actually almost drivable, but all three of them got me stuck in my driveway on more than one occasion. Have a spare set of wheels with snow tires or a winter car if you are planning on getting more than a dusting of snow.

Of course, if you have all season radials instead of high performance ones, you'll be fine, just be careful.

Hmm, probably because I've done it before under the right circumstances and it hasn't failed me yet? If you know which RPM to do it at and depending on the road surfaces, it works just fine. As someone else said, it's called rev-matching. So, why don't you take that period and stick it where the sun don't shine? Oh yeah, and I drive large large trucks for a living and had to do that as well; also with no complications. :balls: Period.

Take your emotions out of this, and be rational. Just because you got away with something doesn't make it a good idea. We all do dumb things and get away with them because of exceptional skill or luck -- that doesn't make it a recommended practice.

The reason I care about this particular one is that the idea of using engine braking to make winter driving safer is just plain wrong. There are lots of young, impressionable drivers who read this stuff and might end up in an accident because of it.

If you have LSD and good tires they will handle like a 4 wheel drive car. No shit. I was out blazing past everyone with no problems in 6" to a foot on the roadways and two feet on the grass.

Everyone else was slipping and sliding and I was able to accelerate without spinning either way and then brake using engine-brake.

Probably the same young inexperienced drivers who think that just because they've spent an hour practicing how to drift in an empty parking lot they somehow qualify as professional rally drivers. Accidents involving these morons are not accidents but rather, eventualities.

I've been driving since the late '70s and live in Canada--- a place where snow is a factor every winter. Since the arrival of anti-lock brakes the downshifting technique has been rendered obsolete on vehicles so equipped.

But 1st gen RX7s don't have anti-lock. Down-shifting not only allows the driver to retain the ability to steer in slippery conditions, it also allows the rear wheels to continue to rotate, albiet slower. In other words, the rear wheels don't lockup unless the brakes are applied with sufficient force.

True, the rear wheels will "drag" (while still rotating at a slower speed than the car is travelling) as the car is being slowed down, and this may cause a minor degree of fish-tailing if the front wheels are sufficiently cut into a turn. But any driver who can't control this probably doesn't possess the necessary skills to be driving in icy conditions to begin with. The (potential) negative results of downshifting would pale in comparison to the much more likely results of said amateur to lock up the brakes under braking alone (no downshifting) and go skidding into on-coming traffic.

BTW, the 1st gen's near-50/50 weight distribution makes it an excellent winter driver, especially with the LSD-equipped GSLs and GSL-SEs. No sand-bags required. But why would anybody want to see a 1st gen destroyed by rust? There are way too few of them in pristine condition and salted roads are the primary reason for this, at least on the colder climes. We now park our 1st gens in the winter and drive expendable Toyota Tercels instead.

84RX_Se7en & Aviator 902S, I concur.

I've been driving since I was 10, and grew up in a country (Russia) where snow was an everyday occurence, so my snow-driving habits have been strong since. While I can understand your reasons on this topic, everyone has their own driving habits and opinions. Many people will say that downshifting is bad because you'll upset the rear of the car and spin out (those that do not know how to drive/new drivers), yet a lot of other people, including myself, will say that proper rev-matched, low RPM downshifting is more beneficial because you're using the engine to slow the wheels equally, verus the brakes where if you stepped on them, even moderately, you run the risk of those wheels sliding on the ice because they've locked up. Plus, the brakes compress all four brakes, verus rev-matched downshifting slows just the rear wheels (unless you drive an AWD car, then it slows all wheels equally) to allow proper steering, and in case you need to make a sudden acceleration change. That's why I don't use just my brakes.

I used to do just the brakes, and would end up going where I did not want to be going. This is why I prefer the manual, because I have complete control over the car.

I suppose the best way to address this to the young, impressionable drivers is to not perform such techniques until they have enough experience under their belt. And, I don't feel like making this a huge post of proper driving techniques and how to do what because that is something that only passion, drive, and many miles in various environments will net you. However, I still stand by my theory of rev-matched downshifting because it has gotten me out of situations where getting on the brakes (even gently) only would've caused an accident.

Thanks i wasent shore if it could be done i have driven camaros in the winter but there are a bit heaver. Im shore i can handal it. and yes i would defenetley clean the underbodey often.

Park it and forget about it mmmmm k. I lived in Maryland when I had my GSL SE and I got stuck so many times it wasnt funny, the car is way to low and you have to drive in 3 gear very slow or you will fish tail all day. I had so many problem just getting back into my parking space. Dont risk wrecking your baby or having so other idiot smash the little 7 up. These are just my personal thoughts, its took me forever to find my dream car and the last thing i want is for it totaled

Without chains or traction tires, they aren't the best car to drive. Being so Lightweight is one issue. I threw some chains on in the rear and it was quite pleasant to drive.
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It's almost June so why is this thread even brought back up, Post count? If one needs to worry about snow this time of year then it's time to move.

^That was the first thing I thought when I saw this thread pop up in my notifications.

my house - yesterday ... a bit abnormal for this time of year to be sure

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I'll second that, since I live in Black Diamond. (For those unfamiliar, Airdrie is 1/2- hour north or Calgary, Alberta Canada --- which is about 5 hours north of Great Falls, Montana--- and black Diamond is 45 minutes south-west of Calgary).

This was a freak late-spring snow storm, dumping anywhere from 6 to 10 inches of the heavy wet stuff overnight and Thursday morning. The temp was a couple of degrees above freezing, but of course the snow forms at altitude, where it's below freezing.

Anyhoo, today (Friday) it was warm and balmy T-shirt weather, and all of the above snow has melted.

As for RX7s being bad in snow "because they're so light weight" I beg to differ: My old (rear-wheel-drive) 1974 Toyota Celica was also very light weight and excellent in snow. This might have had more to do with the tires (skinny winter treads vs. wider 185 70R 13 "all season" tires on the 7). In snow, skinny tires are your friend.

The fact that the 7 has more power on tap in the mid to upper rev range doesn't help either, but that's easy to remedy in snow: simply keep your right foot out of the equation.

Mine does great in the snow. Studded tires are pretty nice (I took them when my dad's 81 got hit by a Yukon.....RIP you wonderful car).

I usually get quite a bit of snow, but the main streets are sanded when it gets bad.....so I go out early in the morning to practice going into and out of skids.

Surprisingly, my 85 does better than my friend's new outback! I don't understand
why..


At any rate, you'll be fine as long as you take it easy.

with a near perfect 50 :50 front : back weight ratio with a full gas tank, you cannot go wrong

185 70 r 13 tires help, tall skinny tires help too

just undercoat the under carriage before winter.

+1 for downshifting in the snow. If you do it properly you can avoid any wheel lock-up or fishtailing, and anyway oversteer is easier to compensate for than understeer (i.e. locking up the fronts with the brakes).

While it doesn't snow often where I live, when it does it's extremely dangerous to drive, because it usually ices over and becomes ungodly slick (all the hills don't help). I dove my old GSL exactly one day in the snow, and even with LSD and decent all-weathers in the back it was sliding all over the place. I decided I'd rather take the bus to school after that, especially given Seattle drivers.

my 1st gen handled sweet in the snow, better than any of my vans or proteges. Just have a good set of tires on the rear if need be put a bag of salt in it. 2ft of snow was no problem for me. My friends subaru was having trouble following me. keep gas in it, keep it washed from the salt, and let it warm up in the morning especially if its 20deg or below.

make sure you clean it every other day or it will end up like mine and the bins rusting through costing you 600 bux to get fixed and now running a Datsun 280 rear inner fender. i had mine out once in the snow i had a blast but don't drive to deep cuz u will never get out being Canadian too..the weather changes way to much i see snow i pull out the 89 Mazda mpv and put the rx in the garage...would recommend getting a winter car. keep yours in better shape anyways the interior takes a beating from all the salt trust me my floor mat turned white. i only have one floor mat that says rx-7 now

i had a blast driving in the snow with my GS, i really think a LSD makes cars much more difficult to drive in the snow/ice, but with the open diff you usually just end up spinning the drive tire instead of kicking the entire ass end out... out of all the car's ive owned including a FWD Cavalier i'd say my GS was the easiest and most fun to drive in the snow. you just have to expect it to slide around a bit and have some fun while doing it!

Actually the LSD was made for winter driving. If you don't have it, and one rear wheel spins on a patch of ice while stationary or moving very slowly, you're stuck--- because all the energy will be transferred to the spinning wheel while the one with traction remains stationary. But with LSD the other wheel will rotate, pulling you out.

+1 to downshifting!
 

Down shifting in the snow or other conditions is essential to safely driving any manual vehicle. It is the only way to maintain control of your vehicle while slowing down. Too many inexperience drivers coast their vehicle in neutral; what if traffic starts to move and you engage to low a gear, now that would be dangerous.

I think the goal should be to drive the manual just like an automatic transmission would shift; I don't think anyone slowing down in an automatic shifts to neutral every time.

As far as winter dring your '7, it has been the best handling RWD vehicle I have ever driven (pre-traction control era); and that is with good tread all season tires. The best tip I can give you is when parking in the snow make sure you move the car back and forth several feet so that the snow get packed and you will not get stuck; this is with a non-LSD rear end.

I would agree with the members that say to get a disposable Tercel, that is exactly what I did too after my 1st '7 rusted out.

Good-Luck