Ok, now I know the immediate response is that it's suicide. But if you shift really low and don't boost(which I can resist) and put some snow tires on it, can I live through the winter? I just think a couple months of cautious driving and the price of a damn good set of snow tires outweigh the cost of buying a winter car...

 

I drove mine through last winter, in worcester MA. We got 112 inches of snow last year. Needless to say, I'm buying a beater this year. If you absolutely can't afford a beater, it can be driven in the snow. I drove 7 hours home from Ithaca NY, in 7 inches of snow. So it can be done, but it is strongly discouraged.

 

If you get a good set of snow tires (or some good all weather tires), you can do it. I wouldn't recommend it, but you can do it. Just stay away from hills if you can.

 

BTW, when I bought a beater (many years ago after getting tired of trying to drive the FD during the winter), the amount my insurance went down more than paid the monthly bill on the beater.

I put my beater as the primary car and the FD as a pleasure/weekend car. You might check with your insurance company about it as it might be worth it picking up a FWD beater.

 

Wait wait, so having the beater insured year round, and the FD insured year round as a weekend car was cheaper than having just the FD insured as a primary vehicle? If so, I'm gonna be a happy man come winter.

 

Agreed. =)

 

Definitely.

I saved over $100 bucks per month on my insurance (granted this was years ago when I was single) by doing this. My beater was a 3 year loan for a little less than $100 per month so I was ahead of the game. Had I looked into it sooner, I would have done the beater 2 years eariler than tried to deal with my FD in the winter prior to that time.

Some insurance companies limit "pleasure vehicles" to 7500 miles per year (half the average yearly amount of 15,000). I'm on that now, however my FD is lucky to see 3000 miles per year at this time (plus I'm married and have house insurance with the same company so we get discounts all around). Just check with your insurance company, I'm sure they have something similar and can give you a quote over the phone of what the rate would be with your primary car as some "safe" FWD beater.

 

Sweet! Thanks again Mahjik.

 

I have, regretfully, drove my FD through 2 winters on my normal tires. It gets very scary on ice or slushy snow, but actually does suprisingly well in fresh snow. I will be buying a beater this winter as well. Also, besides saving on insurance, you can buy a beater, get it through the winter and then sell it in the spring for nearly what you have in it as long as you bought it right.

 

dont take the rex out on snow, leave it at home where it should be, u will regret it

 

I did it last winter (the worst one Philly had in many years), and it sucks putting such a nice car through all that, it can be done. I still don't have money for a beater, so it looks like I'll be doing it again this year. Just make sure to wash off all of the salt at least once or twice a week...

 

I've been caught late at the office on nice winter days that ended with a snowstorm. The car drives pretty well in the snow. Deep snow is impossible, though.

Mahjik is right, get a beater.

 

I'm in the same situation where my insurance is cheaper with my jetta and my rx-7 than just my rx-7.

I had to drive the rx-7 through a month of snow last year and it wasn't fun. The car did much better than I expected, and I still had on summer tires. My buddy has done two winters in his, but he has snow tires. He said it isn't too bad at all.

 

Done it with my A/S tires but forget steep hills from a stop or when snow rubs under it. Does great doughnuts Fun except for the salt Got a beater this year

 

If you attempt this, you might as well change your forum name to DeepInTheSnow. you will use the same amount of letters and it will be describing exactly what is going to happen to you. Dont put your lovely 7 through the abuse of winter. Especially if they put salt on the roads. Who wants rust on there rx7?

 

another thing u gotta b careful about w/ FDs in the snow (besides the hills.... and the curves... and the straightaways... lol) is that u know how in 2nd gear the car is very jerky at low speeds...depending on how much gas u give it or let off makes it jerk a lot...that's a deathtrap. that's how i lost control of my FD in the snow last year. was tryin 2 slow down, slowly decreasing the gas...and it hit that spot, it jerked every so slightly, lost traction, and did a 270.

where im at, it's absolutely impossible to find a way home that's not a deathtrap anyways. highway on and off ramps are 270 degree turns... lots of turn lanes are sharp and curvy... take it from me, who's suffered the consequences..it's just not worth it.

 

it sucks, I don't really know how much tires really play, but I did a couple of 180s and I was babying the car.

 

Best now to risk a 7 on snow. If you are a bit of a car ethuisiast (well you have a 7) then think about getting an old austin/rover mini. They can be had for almost nothing, can be done up to a good standard, are excellent in snow and offer a driving experience to rival any car ever built.

 

Driven every '7' I've owned since 1986 in the snow. My '79, then my '86, and now my '93. No problem if you're used to a rear wheel drive car. Just have to use the least amount of gas to get going. Of course a front wheel drive beater is better, but not as much fun

 

Don't try it with "Z" rated tires! I live in 6 month/winter Edmonton. A few years ago I had an apointment at a "7" specialty shop in the spring (April). It snowed the day before. That night I carefully packed down the snow in the back alley with my SUV. Next morning, backed the car out of the garage (tires sunk less than 1/4" in the packed snow), and I couldn't move it from there. Thought I had lost my touch, but two neighbours also tried and failed (I was creating a show with a group of observers). We had to push it back into the garage and give up! That was on Michilen MXX3 Pilots. Definitly NOT snow tires! I even came close to spinning the car on dry pavement the next year when I took it out for a run at -5 deg. C (until I warmed up the tires). I didn't even get into boost when it started to spin on a left turn.

 

I've been through three winters in Pittsburgh with my FD now. First one I had some old crappy Goodyear summer tires, which was just plain scary. The last two though I had some Michelin snow tires and I had no problems. I actually looked forward to every time it snowed. And in a lot of ways the 7 was an awesome car in the snow. It was so easy to just slide it around and pretend to be a rally driver without the least amount of fear going out of control. This last winter though I waited too long to change and went up to Toronto and hit a snow storm on the way. As I was getting back on the highway from a rest stop I got to 25 and then just started spinning and spinning. Turns out my S-03's were pretty much bald in back. But as long as you invest in soem good snow tires its a lot of fun in the winter.

 

dont bring your FD out in the snow 1. its dangerous if you dont know what your doing (not saying that you dont) 2. its just to DAMN sexy