How easy is it? THis is only car. it's the first time It will has ever seen snow in it's life I'm willing to bet.

I have a GXL and I'm assuming the LSD will help me with traction, but I'm wondering how hard it is to drive in the snow? I used to live in South Carolina where shorts could be worn in the Summer. Oregon is a different story. Lots of snow is coming.

 

Yeah, you won't be going very far if you get much snow. My car doesn't move out of it's parking spot. Well, that was with all seasons on it, now I am getting Dunlop graspics. I'll let ya know how it goes.

Rob

 

I wouldnt worry about it to much... Just get a couple bags of sand in the trunk, to weigh it down, and some chains for absolute emergencies, and you should be fine. They are not that bad in the snow.

 

FC's are great in the snow watch my vid

http://www.vosko.net/media/snow.avi

 

lol
and AWD 3000GTs are not :-D

 

hahaha, man that would be fun! I'd put the top down.

 

Hey! I'm in the same boat as you...except maybe my boat is in rougher waters. I am driving my SE in Canada...LOTS of snow...and I dont' have a LSD...its gonna be my first winter too. I have loaded it down with sand bags and put on Michelin Artic Alpin's. Lets hope I make it.

Peace,
Nima

 

Hey Fuzzi, what type of rims are on the car in your avatar? Also, how big are they? Sorry this question was off the subject.

 

Its posible to drive a sports car like ours in the snow. I had a 75 280Z in Anchorage Alaska the last year and a half I lived there. HOWEVER for inexperienced drivers from the south I suggest picking up a beater car for $500 to drive till you learn how to drive in the snow. Cause odds are you will lose it and crash into something hard and unyeilding and then you will be missing your RX7 untill you can by a new one. Soccer Mom's in SUV's at stop lights are particularly dangerous.

If my Z hadnt been a $500 rusted out beater I wouldnt have driven it.



Thats my $.02

 

What could be better than a car with 50-50 weight distribution and RWD? Put some decent tires on it and when it snows find yourself a large lot and practice, practice, practice. Get the feel of how it starts, stops, what it takes to bring the rear around, how to recover when it starts to slide (let up a little, steer into the slide), etc. I drove a 65 Vette with Mickey Thompsons a whole winter in Montana. I don't think I've ever had more fun. Couldn't pass up a lot without stopping to do some donuts. You'll learn a lot about car control. Just take it easy.

 

Snow and ice are so much fun to drive in. Back when I lived in Illinois and only had the Metro I'd go to a local industrial area service road (W-I-D-E), haul *** down it, brake, cut the wheel, yank the emergency brake, and spin like crazy. :p

It worked best when there was more ice than snow though.

 

Yea, driving here in canada is a real blast. You end up going slower than most everyone cuz traction sux, but those drifts! Awsome!

 

Vosko

your vid reminds me of when I had me 300zx. The last snow I had in NC I took that bad boy out and tore it up in my drummer's big *** field. I wasted like half a tank of gas out there.

fun fun fun

 

Just a word of caution to you folks who go loading bags of salt and sand etc. into the back of a rex - if you happen to have a front end collision these items become misiles moving at the speed the car was going when you hit - no good being belted in and etc if you get beheaded by a bag of salt!

 

LethalRX7: Lol.. im not sure..that isnt actually my car in the picture..i dont have a 100 posts yet so i cant put up my custom avitar... that car looks similar to mine in colour etc.. thats why i chose it... but its just one of the ones you can get offa the forum....



in regards to the other posts.. I think that everyone should be able to drive in the snow... if you dont have complete control drifting, and breaking and starting slowly etc.. on snow, ice, and rain, how do you expect to race your car ??? you need to know percisely how it handles... p.s. drifting is bloody fun.... went out the other day in my friend hyundai, went down gravel rounds in the middle of nowhere ebraking/drifting the corners... oodles of fun...I made a video... lol but it didnt turn out any good...

 

Yeah, I've driven my 86 Trans Am in the snow for two years now in Cincy. It was a fandful, but I've never hit anything and I got my license in the middle of winter. Just be cautious, that's all. Getting a RWD car to move in the snow is a challenge, but with a low center of gravity and superb handling, once you're at speed, it's not too bad.

 

For an inexperienced driver....FWD or 4x4.

come on we dont want him wrecking his RX7 during the first winter up there.

 

Drift Drift Drift Drift !! lol j/k

 

My car is a 91NA no LSD, my first time driving in the snow was a mess....scary too. If theres some snow you'll be OK till you hit a slope...going uphill from a stand still is a pain in ***. The car will tail fish and goes to the sides, once this happen yuo better have some space!!

I wouldn't drive my car in the snow again...I LOVE HIM TOO MUCH!

 

just keep the tail wagging out and youll have a smile on your face!!

scott

 

You're right about not wanting him to wreck his car, but I disagree with your first statement. One of the biggest problems today is that very few people can drive in anything but ideal conditions. ANYTHING out of the ordinary and they're in the ditch.

I live in western Washington (where it hardly ever rains ) and twice in the past few months there have been state patrolmen who have wrecked their cars by losing control during the first rain in a few weeks. That's why I said practice, practice, practice.

 

Driving a RWD car in the snow is much easier than a FWD car, in my opinion. In a RWD car, the vehicles tasks are split amongst the two axles:

Front: Steering, Braking
Rear: Acceleration, Braking

In a FWD car, all the tasks the vehicle must perform are on one axle:

Front: Steering, Acceleration, Braking
Rear: Braking

This means that simple changes in driving affect the vehicle's physics, and thus, it's traction limit... Driving in slippery conditions, down a straight path. Everything is cool, you are relaxed, maybe some DMB or Blues Traveler or whatever playing. You approach a turn. With the same amount of power, you turn the wheel. Well, guess what. Even though your wheels weren't spinning going straight, you changed the tire's angle of attack, and now you are understeering into the gaurdrail.

 

Actually, the RX7 handles remarkably well in the snow provided that snow tires are mounted on the car. During the winter of '96, the eastern part of the US got hit pretty hard with heavy snow fall. After searching the local tire stores, I was able to have a set of Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires mounted on my car. These tires were remarkable for getting around in the snow. I remenber being able to drive to work through 6+ inches of snow with absolutely no concerns about getting stuck. These tires are also amazing on ice. On the down side, these tires are terrible on dry pavement and/or at expressway speeds since they are Q-speed rated (99 mph rating), i.e. very flexible sidewalls. I live in Northern Virginia (DC area) and will only mount these tires if the weather forcaster is calling for heavy accumulations. I this warmer climate I've only rarely used the snow tires (put about 1000 miles on them since '96), but it is reassuring to know that I have the tires when I need them.

 

Chains Chains Chains, get some chains and go tearing it up

 

im not looking forward to winter driving in winnipeg...you calgary and vancouver guys consider yourselfs lucky hehe