I'm thinking about picking a 1st gen up over the summer to use as a daily driver so my FD doesn't get the miles piled up. My question is how they do in the snow. I'm in Colorado so it snows occasionally but it generally only sticks around for a day or so. Give me some feedback here.

Thanks

 

Dunno cuz I live in the south, but the rain sure takes alot of my grip away
...But that's probably caused by my heavy foot

 

I live in Minnesota. Its always cold and snowy here. My car is actually better in the snow than my VW Jetta was. And doing power slides around corners is fun.


Matt

 

Get a good set of tires and a good underbody coating.

I drive my -SE up here in the Great White North

 

Poor little thing, find a warm garage for it and buy yourself a fiesta for the winter

damn salt...
too much of the stuff up here.

 

Hello, my old 81 did just fine in the snow down here in co. springs. With the help of 2 blizzacks on the *** end!. I actually like the feel of a rwd in the snow better than my honda!.

 

I drove 60mph on packed snow today and loved it. The tall Blizzaks don't look cool, but they work.

See attached.

 

3rd winter with my 84 no posi just a good set of snows all around. Need them up front for cornering and stopping. Only got stuck 1 time last year because there was so much it raised the car off the ground. But sometimes I start in 2nd if its deep and you got to baby that gas pedal just to the limit of just starting to spin. By the way I am from Vermont amd we are getting hammered now.

 

Snow is nothing more than an excuse to go slide around the neiborhood


Even with m/s tires my car is predictable and stable. Just don't trick your self into thinking it's a WRC Impreza. or you will be in a ditch

 

My 1st gen has termal cancer due to minnesota salt. IT took one winter to get it started, now it would take 3000 minum to get the body back to what it should be. If you choose to drive in the snow, wash under the body and wheel well often to avoid what happened to me

 

A Krown Rust Treatment every year, a nice coating of Motomaster Ruberized underbody coating, and regular carwashes. Rust is not a problem

 

Down South = No Snow = No Salt = No Rust

 

Ditto man. I can predict and/or correct oversteer better than understeer.

In my 7, I usually wanted oversteer to help me get around corners. Was much fun.

 

I drive mine in the snow.... lots better than my 1987 toyota mini pickup.

I do, however, have too make sure I don't let clutch out too quick when shifting into second on tight packed snow. But then again all the studs on my "studded snow tires" have fallen out.

P.S. If you live in a little pissant town with packed snow then patches of soft dirt you might wanna carry a little foldable shovel, mine came in usefull when My front tire hit really soft sand and slid me into a ditch. Not much of a problem, 15 minutes and 2 really cold hands later I was on my way (it was my first time dirivng the 7 in snow if that's a good excuse.)

 

Hehe, you should see all the gear I keep in my car. My Oskar Snowbrush, Oskar colapsable shovel, small bag od kitty litter, spare belts, first aid kit, toolkit, oil, MMO, sparkplugs, premixed coolant, jumper cables, heavy work-gloves. big-assed maglite (like the cops use), matches, candle, emergency blanket, air pump, and a can of emergency tire foam. And I'm thinking of getting one of those battery packs and/or a solar panel.

AND I've crammed the WHOLE thing into the space behind and under the seats, and in the space between the tailights.

 

Thanks for all the info guys. The winters out here are really not that bad. It will get cold and snow and then it can be 60 degrees the next day, so the snow doesn't stick around long and they don't use much salt either.

 

not a good idea look where mine is sitting right now,theres a reason im not driving it.

 

That may be the saddest picture I have ever seen, please by a car cover before I cry. I think I hear that car rusting.

Guru

 

That doesn't look too bad. I made it through the 6" of snow on my subdivision streets without a problem. Ice this morning, though.

 

My bro got his GSL-SE in Fort Collins in December. It got to the point where he didn't know how it drove on wet roads because there never were any . It was either snow, ice, dry road, or the occasional slush. Infact, he once got stuck in 1 inch of slush on a level parking lot. But he could easily drive through freshly fallen snow, no problem. I may get an RX-7 just for its snow drivng abilities. "Hey, it's not just a sports car. It's also a snow plow."

 

My Theory is, Is you can drive an FD in the rain you should have no problem driving a first gen in the snow!

 

Yeah, my '79-85 frankenstien is pulling snow-plow duty right now too. I just drove it 1200 miles round-trip for my honeymoon last week to Estes Park, Co, and I live here in NE where we've got about 8-10" of snow right now. With a cheap set of Firestone WinterFire snow tires, it's doing great, even without the LSD. I'll be tearing that axle out of the GSL parts car as soon as the snow clears.... then maybe it'll be time to call Paul Yaw.

Armen

 

I drive mine in the snow and it is actually very easy to drive. Also, like someone else said, I too have a Jetta and my Rx-7 feels like it has more traction. Keep in mind that I put the skinniest cheapest tires on for the winter. (did you guys know that 155's fit on the stock rims! ($25 a tire) If I would have bought better skinny tires it would probably even be better. However, the skinny tires do not help the look of the car.

 

Actually I'm slowly building up the list of crap I keep in my car =]
Many Many Schoolbooks/papers
Backpack
spare tire/jack/etc.
emergency blanket
water
oil (soon too be switched too MMO as soon as I can find a nice bottle for it)
Extra belts
Emergency candle
foldable shovel
sunroof cover (even though I have NEVER taken it off)
tool kit
CD case
Snowbrush
many gloves
2 beanies
lotsa pen lights
couple lighters and an emergency cigarette
Raver style road flares
first aid kit
armorall
window cleaner
detailing brush
misc rags (for when gas leaks or birds poo or something)
the bright yellow shift **** that likes too ratlle I got with the car
My lucky aliens figurine

I'm also hoping too add:
air pump + fixaflat
sparkplugs and possibly extra wire (after I do the DLDFIS thingy)
premixed coolant (mine leaks occasionally)
jumper cables
and my gas mask for kicks

All of the stuff (except books/backpack) fit neatly behind the seats in the storage compartment or the tire section. Damn those sreas behind the seats have a lott of room.

 

we just had a HUGE snow/ice storm here (as i'm sure a lot of you did too), once again i had no problem at all getting around in the 7. but you really have to get SNOW tires , not all-season. My wifes civic is great in the snow too, but i don't like the way it feels if it starts slipping, i can control the RX-7 a whole lot easier it just feels more natural to me.

get the car oil sprayed every year and no problems. after 6 or so canadian winters the only real rust on my car is a stone chip i didn't get to in time. The only other damage is the paint coming off the metal sunroof. i blame that on having to go through the touchless car wash in the winter. but that's why i have a 'glass' sunroof too for the summer.