Winters coming around in this will be my first winter with my 88 gtu. Can the rx7 handle in the snow as a daily driver??

 

yea. get winter tires, or at the very least all-seasons with a lot of tread depth, and they'll make your life much easier/happier. I'm currently surviving with my worn Kumho ASX's, but it can get a bit hairy at times

 

you guys are crazy driving fc's around in the snow.

 

Aside from concerns about driving the car, be wary of road salt, salt literally eats cars. see if there's a car wash around you that has an undercarriage wash. Last thing anyone wants is a rusty FC...

 

lol i gotta make it to work bro through snow, sleet, hurricane, asteroid rain, apocalypse.. gotta go go go

 

get a shitty truck or something. maybe a jeep. 4wd ftw.

 

I heard that sandbags are really helpful to add weight to keep it stable.. and i have all season tires.. so hopefully i wont spin all over the place and meet death because i have no airbags.

 

this is my second winter driving the FC, and having a car wash with high-pressure underbody sprays is practically essential. The weight distribution really helps, especially when getting up hills. Even on the tires I have now and no sandbags, I was able to get up hills from a dead stop that had FWD cars and RWD pickups/vans, and a beat-to-**** Jeep Cherokee sitting on the side spinning their wheels hopelessly. Getting snows in a few weeks tho, so that should get quite a bit better soon.

Sandbags are to increase the weight over the driven wheels, so that they can press down thru the snow better and have a greater tractive force. They don't work to stabilize the car tho. maybe consider a bag of sand and a bag of salt, so if you do get stuck you can spread a bit of both in front of the wheels.

 

its no problem driving a fc in the snow, its just like driving any other rwd car in the snow, just gotta know what your doing

 

Alrite.. from reading these posts im feelin more confident about this snow season lol.. i jus hate hearing fwd, awd, and 4wd drivers always sayin "omg dont drive the rx in da snow its completely dangerous and u will die."

 

Don't listen to them, I don't see how a rx7 is so different from any other rwd car like it in the snow. I drove mine last year in the snow and ice storms and it was fine. I would be driving it right now but its at the body shop. Just get some good winter tires or all seasons and dont drive like an idiot.

 

you mean they don't start out that way???

 

but on a serious note, I live in NORTH DAKOTA trust me I could teach you a thing or two about snow lol. the last thing you would ever want to drive in the snow is a 7. lightweight=easy to get stuck, no torque = not enough ***** to get you out. plus the gearing all you gonna do is spin. not sayin it's guaranteed you're gonna wreck, I've driven the fd in the snow a few times, but it's scary. don't do it, trust me. pick up a little toyota pick up truck for the winter, should be able to get one for between 500 and a grand. just do the math (4wd + cheap) x winter= win. actually, the best winter car I have ever had, as far as getting through the snow, is a 1983 toyota tercel. fwd with a transfer case, it's a front wheel/4 wheel car, low center of gravity, even when snow is over the bumper it will push right through it. I've gotten stuck more in my trucks than I ever did in that tercel

 

I had nokians on my car....those things OWN

 

I thought that low torque would be a good thing in slippery conditions

 

+1 to all the above.

Probably true but New Jersey doesn't get storms like you do, so the point is moot.
Blizzards like you're used to would absolutely shut his state down and what's the point of being mobile if there's no place to go?

 

Get a cheap truck... there are a TON on craigslist for under $1000 cannot go wrong I'm shopping for one now.

+ your at FDU... everything is within walking distance... including the train.

There are also great deals on winter tires now... If you have to drive the FC get some tires and you'll be fine.

 

Can you drive your FC in the snow? Sure.
Will winter tires help? Of course.
Is the FC relatively light, would sandbags help, will you have to be gentle on the your driving inputs? Yes ^3.

Would you be better off taking public transit or driving a winter beater car/truck with 4x4 and keeping your FC off the road and taking care of little issues or things that need attention so that it's even better in the spring when it comes out? Definitely! Been there, done that. (Pardon the run-on sentence.)

 

Here in PA is a pain in the ***,you need to watch out for black ice,snow and sleet,it sucks really bad even with snow tires

 

Umm... I live in ND too but my 7 hasn't had any problems with the snow
Course if the snow is over your bumper prolly shouldn't be going anywhere either

Btw how often should you wash the 7 if you state salts roads out of curiosity ?

 

the best answer for driving in the snow with a rx7.
-get thinner tires
-get snow tires
-add more weight in the rear

I drove through 4 winters and I can tell you that snow tires helps ALOT!

Also, if your car is low.....I feel bad for the exhaust lol. So try raising it up somehow. Try to undercoat the bottom and especially the wheel well area since thats where the salt will going to be concentrated at. If you do undercoat the car, you can wash the car at the start of warm weather since the undercoat is protecting the area already.
Unless you are parinoid and have a lift, you can pressure wash the bottom of the car after every snow storm.

 

Haha It's a blast if you live somewhere without alot of cars going back and forth. Gotta be safe.

Like everyone says, some good tires, and some good sense you should be fine.

 

Just remembered a little story...

My friend had a TII in fairly decent condition with Hakkapeliitta snow tires. It was great fun rallying around small, empty streets after a snowstorm. The end came when it understeered on a patch of black ice and went against a 15" curb, but we weren't screwing around that time.

 

I drove a 1st gen through some of the deepest snow there was.

My trick was skinny tires and a 50pound sand bag behind each SEAT, not in the hatch.

If you get ALOT of snow you may want to get some inexpensive steel wheels from tirerack with dedicated snow tires, this way you have good tires and your not messing up your other rims. Just dont run real wide tires, run something like 205's.

If you have good rims and you go a little sideways on some ice and kiss a curb you will kick yourself.

 

You can do it, but its a PITA to "winterize" the car and then switch it all back. Not to mention it still would be a complete PITA to drive in the snow or winter. It would also rust like hell with all the salt and crap.

Get an old Honda/Toyota.