I live in Seattle and have a 93 RX-7.
It HATES the snow. Last time it snowed here, I could barely get out of the driveway, and it was only 1 inch, and my driveway is flat.

On the one hand, the snow here is about 32 degrees, and very wet slush-slippery, while over there the snow tends to be dry and provides more traction.

So anyway...

Would it be too impractical to keep my RX-7 when I move to Boulder, or will I be able to drive it around 90% of the year without too much problem?

How many of you garage up your 7s during the winter months? Which months are "the winter months" ?

Should I just get a good set of winter tires and call it good during the winter?

Thanks, friends!

Colorado Ignorant,
Me.

 

The CO weather is rapidily unpredictable and I'd say hardly anyone stores there cars during the winter months. The reason is, you'll get a foot of snow one day and two days later it's bright and sunny out.

Rx7 is not impractical here, you just have to have a beater to drive when it does snow. You may not be able to drive the car 90% of the time, but a good 75% of the of year you can.

 

we have more sunny days here than any other city in the country. while it can be sunny and have snow at the same time, we generally have pretty good weather as far as driveability goes, and boulder is pretty good at rapid snow removal, too. if you're worried, get an old 4x4 ranger or s10 or something for when it really snows, but i wouldn't sacrifice your seven ownership.

 

Even in winter we see 50-60 degree, sunny and clear days. It does snow here, yes, but it's usually all melted off within 24-48 hours anyway, and our DOT is phenomenal as far as keeping the roads plowed. Just FYI, the CDOT uses MgCl in copious quantities, so if you care about your paintjob, wash it just as soon as the snow/ water is gone.

I used to drive my lowered FC through 3" of snow without problem, and I didn't even have all-season or snow tires on. Going uphill is a little tricky, but it is doable. You just have to pay more attention and drive a little slower. All the same, I'd recommend getting a winter beater. A Subaru Impreza, 4x4 small pickup, etc... even my FWD Ford Probe works very well in the snow--haven't been stuck once!

Don't sacrifice your RX-7 to live here; it's always sports-car season around here. Your turbos will love the cold winter air anyway.

 

I keep my FD garaged at all times. Just bring out out on the nice days and Denver has alot of them. Even during the winter the temp can get to the 50's. I would suggest buying a second car for the bad days.

 

I would suggest having a daily beater if you want to have an RX7. I have driven my FC's in winters with little problems in the past, but most of the time it's not you hitting something you have to worry about. It's all the other dipshits that don't know how to drive that you have to worry about slamming into your car. If someone ever hit my FD due to stupidity, it would be on.

 

I suggest keeping it. The weather has been gorgeous. I just took out the 7 for the first time today and cruised around town.

 

Well, I'm not too worried, I suppose. My wife drives the Durango around, it'll just be inconvenient if we'll have to drive each other to work or something - I haven't figured that part out yet. I don't know where we'll live - don't know where we'll work...

Thanks for the help. I know there are tons of good windy rocky mountain roads, and lots of good sun, but then there's that whole study/homework thing that will take up my time...

I need a good excuse to keep it around while it loses value and I pay insurance, and while I go to school and make jack squat for 6 years. It may sound like it, but I don't really want to get rid of my 7, however financially wise it would be.

 

HaHaHa... except for the whole wife part, that sounds pretty much exactly like my boat. Broke from the RX-7, broke from school, lack of time due to work/studying; there is a way to do it. When I figure it out I'll let you know. The RX-7 is one financial mistake that I'm more than willing to undertake.

 

LoL
You can still hang out with us when you get here event if you don't have a seven. Hell, I'm the mod of this section and I had to get rid of mine.

Of course, I'm planning on getting another one. Maybe a 3rd gen....hehehe

 

That IS my situation. Do remember, the public transit system here is awesome. When I don't use the 7, it's bus or bike...or the wife's Subaru.

 

you can probably count the days out of a year on which you'll have to carpool with your wife on one hand.

 

Frankly, after living in Boulder my entire life, I would have to say it's not too far-fetched to have a 7 here. In the 5 or so months I owned mine before coming to Japan, I didn't have a single day where the weather stopped me from driving her. Just get some nice all-weather tires, and a few sandbags, and you're set.

Most of my snow driving in the 7 was delivering newspapers, at 3am, before the plows have come out, and as long as you take a few days, go to an empty parking lot in the snow, and practice controlling a snow drift, it's pretty safe as far as control goes... The 7 is an amazingly predictable car in the snow, so once you can control it, it's pretty easy to keep on the road.

The only thing that keeps me off the roads in the snow at this point, is fear of the other drivers in the area, because most of them drive larger SUVs and such, and believe that 4-wheel drive will completely negate the fact that there is snow on the roads.

 

Hey there, I will try to give you some good insight, hopefully it will enable you to make a good decision. I was about 23 in 1998 when I first got a 93 RX-7, back in PA. At that time it was my daily driver 100% of the time and I loved it! Got rid of it when I "thought" I wanted something else, but ended up buying another one later on. Over the years I have a much more nostalgic appreciation for the car and since have the other that I use only in ideal conditions. I drove that first one through everything and you know what, it passed with flying colors. I bought a set of snow tires for it and althought it is RWD with lots of power, it was actually very manageable in the snow. These were the Bridgestone Blizzaks that provided such good tread. I actually still have the tires back in PA on my stock rims. They sucked performance wise on normal roads but were good in the snow. If you have a garage and are able to switch out the wheels when needed, I would say you would have not problems. It is actually a very mild place to live and snow does not really last too long around here. I still use my RX-7 all year round (once every few weeks) to an extent so can't give you any good advice on winterizing, but around Colorado, even in winter, it stays pretty nice out. I also have a jeep and a GTI, the GTI being the daily and the jeep for off road / really bad wintery conditions. My advice would be, if you have the extra $$ would be nice to get a good daily driver or a cheap jeep that you can still have fun with, depends also on where you work. I live in Golden, work in Longmont (45 miles each way) so any other car besides the GTI is not really ideal for that kind of commute, but for around town or within 20 miles daily, the RX-7 may not make a bad daily in CO. There are also other things like chips/dings etc. CO being very dry, the roads get these nice rocks that like to chip up the front end and crack the windsheilds.

Good luck! CO kicks ***, you will appreciate the amount of sun we get here compared to Seattle! I would not sell the RX-7, you may end up regretting it!

 

I drive my FC year-round. I have high performance all season tires on my car (dunlop sp sports). I do just fine. But, I have a torque-less s5 n/a.
The snow only concerns me about four days a year, seriously. You just have to learn to be precise with the throttle.

 

jbrx7tt, thanks for the input. I think I'll end up living in Longmont, assuming the commute to CU isn't too bad (looks good on the map anyway). Wife's grandma lives there in Westminster, so I might start out there for a couple of months until I get a good feel for the area and find where we might want to buy a place.

The summers in Seattle are awesome (contrary to popular belief that is rains a lot). The only downside to Colorado that I see is that it is so brown. I'm gonna miss the green from the Emerald city, my home. It rains more in Florida than it does at my house.

But, I'm WAY excited about moving to CO! I'll probably look for an extra set of rims like you suggest and get some blizzaks. That sounds like the way to go to me.

Thanks all for the help. Hopefully I'll show up in 4 months with my 7 and say hi!

 

It is actually pretty green here. So I dont think that you should worry about that

 

I've been there. It's a different kind of green, my friend.

 

At least the sky is really blue here...

 

It is a different kind of green.
It is brown during the winter.
This is not a rain-state. It is a arid semi-desert state. With mountains and evergreen forests.

Even more than the sunny days you will appreciate the numerous, neverending twisty roads.

The sunsets are phenomenal here. Orange firy skies + majestic blue & purple mountains; it's hard to not love.

 

i agree. and you didnt specify what kind of green its still green

 

are you attending school here or getting a job here? either way, welcome to CU. it's about 20 minutes or so to longmont, but i've never driven during rush hour. living in boulder itself isn't all that bad, the real estate gets less outrageous (significantly so? it depends on your perspective) as you move farther from campus.

 

Uh, both? I've been admitted as a doctoral candidate, and will be a TA working half-time.

 

oh yeah? what department?

 

Ecen