86 toyota AWD 5spd tercel WAGON SR5 that thing is a monster in snow its just unstoppable

 

I drove my car in the early winter last year, through the mountains of the Catskills (New York) during an ungodly blizzard in early November. I was driving on bald tires, as well. It was the worst driving experience of my life. Not only was I sliding off the road when I was trying to go uphill(mountain?), but the car would slide down hills(mountains?). It got so bad that 30 miles from my college I pulled over and asked someone in a Jeep who was passing by to give me a ride to my school, on the way to where they were going. They declined. This was also at around 10:30 at night.

The usual trip of 2-2.5 hours from Westchester, NY to Delhi, NY took me closer to five. And I didn't hit the storm until I got off the highway...approx. 50 mi from school.

Maybe better tires would have helped, but I'm not sure if it would have helped too much in like 14" of snow.

 

After 2yrs of driving in the winter, it doesnt happen anymore.

 

Agreed... the difference between experienced and not is the difference between how I drive my subaru in the winter, and how my friend ben barely gets down the same roads when I let him drive it (with me in the car ONLY).

 

NO!!! don't drive these nice cars in the winter, you'll ruin it. the salt will get in the smallest of places and rot you car. unless you think of the wonderful creations as just another car , you shouldn't own one. think about it

 

Haha, yeah, though experience only gets you so far... In the FC, it can be done, but it's just not a very wise decision, they're too unpredictable and too likely to fishtail, regardless of how experienced you are or how gentle you take it, it'll find a way to spin!

 

I say find a CRX like I did for like $700 bucks, winter cars pwn! Like Sonik has stated, its just not worth it to drive in the winter.

That and you'll wreck it ;(.

 

I drove my FB through 6 winters, 4 in germany and 2 in illinois, no problems at all. I also drove my Mazdaspeed Protege in winter with RE040's rated for summer only and got through 2 winters, no prob. You just need some driving skill and learn to stay 4-5 car lengths behind people.

 

Illinois winters also aren't all that bad... But regardless, this issue of 'just need some driving skill' is a measuring contest best left aside, no ammount of skill is going to save the fact that the FC just isn't a good winter car, they're just too light and unpredictable, the things follow ruts and bounce around so much off of any tiny bit of slush that they're really unsafe. Now if you only get 3 or 4 storms a year that actually have maybe 3" or more, then yeah, it would be OK, but if you're anywhere that has a steady flow of snow and just about every day of the week there's over 3" sitting on the streets, the FC is NOT the car for you.

 

In my personal experience, I have to disagree. I have never had any of the issues described when driving my FC/SA in the winter. I've found both cars to be competant, easy to control and well balanced even without snow tires. Though snow tires are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. As I mentioned, for years I drove RX-7s in the winter, and around here that means a lot more then 3" of snow. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I wish some of the other Canadians would chime in here...

 

That's like saying just because I drove my GSX750R through a winter (and in snow), that it's an ok snow vehicle, sure it'd spin the tires like nothing, but I was skilled enough to never set it down, doesn't change that it wasn't a very safe thing to do, considering at any moment the thing would chase it's tail (just like my rx7 has done on more than one occasion at <25mph on highways, with absolutely no chance of recovery)

 

Yeah... knowing a lot of snowmobilers, and dirt track racers (micro sprints to EDMs)... I know a lot of people who have taken a lot of cars out in the snow. Aaron... when you drove around in the winter... could you drive the speed limit, or did you have to crawl a lot? I imagine that the pavement that's under the snow here in PA has a bit to do with how much it sucks to drive on the snow on top, but...

 

SonicRaT: I don't think it's the same analogy at all. A bike makes a much poorer winter vehicle then a car for obvious reasons. But im my experience, an RX-7 is no more a problem then any other vehicle in the winter.

kontakt: I never had a problem following the speed limit, nor did I need to crawl around. I did get the car stuck a few times, and there were scary moments, but more more then any other car that I have driven.

In general, I think a lot of people seem to be forgetting that we have on average of about 4-5 months of winter here, and there are plenty of Canadians who drive their RX-7s around all year without incident. It will always remain my opinion that the most important factor when driving ANY vehicle in the winter is driver skill.

 

I rode my V-Max up from Iowa in February. Would I do it again? No. But I didn't have any problems.

I too drove my 86 base in the winter.

 

No longer than my winters... Infact, I also get 50%(well, more like 60%+, but who's countin? ) more snow than you as well. And I'll gaurantee that a FWD (civic, camrey, geo metro, etc), will handle snow an assload better than a 2nd gen. Then there's always AWD....

(And what's with everybody thinking Canadians are the only one with a decent snowfall?)

 

He's not asking if he should buy a winter car.

 

Canadian chiming in!

I will NOT be driving my 7 this winter. I just got it this summer, painted it, worked on it some, and, while I trust myself completely, I won't drive it in the winter. Main reason being, is that I've got a lifted Jeep TJ with 31" snow/mud tires on it, that got me through anything last winter. I'm sure it could be winter driven just fine, by a competant driver, but I'm not going to take that chance. Besides, I have some plans for this winter for it. I'm going to remove the entire intake and port it. With me, that could be a LONG project.

-Rick

 

Doesn't mean we can't talk him into it!

 

 

got to love SOCAL no snow just nice cold air.

 

My Insight is worse in the snow then my RX-7. Seriously. I get it stuck a lot more often. Though it's not a bad winter car at all, it's not as good as the RX-7. I have also had the unpleasant experience of driving a Ford Focus for an extended period in the winter. Terrible winter car. Unbalanced, getting stuck constantly, etc...

I guess we just have different experiences.

Just easy since Canada seems to be known for snow.

 

It seems as I suspected, that it is coming down to definitons of words like "good" and "any." An RX7 is more of a problem in the winter than a snow-cat... so don't say than "any vehicle." I have yet to get my Subaru, or Tahoe stuck (granted I haven't driven the subaru into a 3' wall of snow... but I did with the Tahoe), and there aren't "scary moments" that I don't intentionally cause. This was not the case with my Lincoln Mark 8... it was more as you describe the 7. It was not a good winter car, but nothing less than a foot of snow could keep me from driving it (only car).


Edit: Also Aaron... how flat is your area. There are hills around here that you could practically slide down on a dry day.

 

I can't even get my car up the road in a 4" snowfall, let alone try to go anywhere. Hop in my moms metro and I'm on my way! That was after a brand new set of winter tires, and no ammount of additional weight would get that thing to move, hell at the one time I was lugging half a 409 chevy engine around in my hatch just to try to get some weight over the ***, that was the only thing that even got that car through the winter, during a blizzard/etc, I was stranded for at least two or three days until the roads cleared, because even if the plows went by they'd just flatten the snow on the road, and it still meant no traction. However, I've driven a caprice, taurus, camrey, civic, intrepid, TSi, metro, caravan, and nameless other vehicles, all of which have dealt with snow 100% better than the 7 (no unexpected out of control moments, no random ***-end chasing itself), of course it still required the slow accelerating/etc, but it was much more predictable (and correctable), the only vehicles that compare to the FC I've been in is a old grocery getter wagon, a mustang, and a 2wd chevy s10

 

Sonic.... u say that a TSi is 100% better than the 7. I dorve my 7 last winter(1st since i've been driving) really wasn't too bad other than some idiots on the road. only really got ugly once around a sharp curve, got it sideways but corrected it. But this winter i either want to get a '73-'87 Chevy or GMC 4x4 truck, or a Eclipse AWD, or Talon TSi (AWD) Both are pretty much same so doesn't matter.

Any ways back to my question for you (sonic) are the TSi and the Eclipse GSX (Awd) reliable and would you know how many miles the engine will last on average. I've seen some cheap ones (Under 2000) for sale and may consider.

 

Well, the problem is most people abuse the **** out of them. The timing belt should be changed pretty often (if it hasn't been done by 100k miles, it's a time-bomb!) Other than that they hold up pretty well if they're not beat to hell. If you can, get a 92, the 90's hard terrible rear-ends. Common issues are the carrier bearings, and the turbo manifolds cracking, which occasionally will destroy the turbo as well. Where in Michigan are you at?