winter driving

[blackfireball5]

Originally Posted by Stu baru

Exactly. Well...Winter tires anyway come Thanksgiving weekend. I live in the lake-effect snow belt East of Cleveland and am really interested to see how this goes; my BRZ is the first RWD car I've had since my '68 Pontiac Tempest back in HS, and the first non-AWD car I've had since my '77 Honda Accord back in college. While I know it will potentially have issues, a healthy dose of caution and patience should see me through without issue. Plus there's always the wife's Forester XT if the plows are slow to act.

Do you have a Blue BRZ? I think i may have seen you driving down Cedar road a week or so ago.

Edit: Scratch that, i see its a SWP. Nevermind, must have been some other lucky person!

Where on the East side are you at? I live near Cedar and Lee. Small world. lol.

[Hawaiian]

Originally Posted by WRXGuy1

Then you factor in additional insurance, registration, inspection, maintenance, and the repairs that are bound to need to be done on a $1200 beater car.

Well, let's take a look at that.

If you list your beater as your primary use car, in some cases insurance will actually go down on a multi car policy. In most cases the increase is negligible.

Registration is the big cost, at about $80 a year where I am.

I'm unsure about inspection, I guess you mean smog etc, but that's free here.

as far as maintenance and repairs, I can do the majority of the small to mid level stuff, I would only need to worry about engine/trans rebuilds since that stuff is beyond me.

In all, It's a slight cost up front, but rounds out over time. What happens when you in your winter tired frs has some granny in her 2 ton caddy slide to a stop into your car? You have deductible that comes out of your pocket, then depreciation from your vehicle being in a wreck. The extra wear and tear of road salt getting into the underbelly of your car, not to mention other cars peppering the front end of your vehicle with the stuff as they drive ahead/along side you.

Meanwhile I'll be cruizing along in my pos solstice without a care in the world.

[Stu baru]

Originally Posted by blackfireball5

Do you have a Blue BRZ? I think i may have seen you driving down Cedar road a week or so ago.

Edit: Scratch that, i see its a SWP. Nevermind, must have been some other lucky person!

Where on the East side are you at? I live near Cedar and Lee. Small world. lol.

We're out in the hinterland, but I know your neighborhood well (Dewey's!).

[elbachatero1]

Definitely getting a set of snow tires for mine. 3 years ago I had an 08 Infiniti G37S with summer tires and I hated myself all winter lol... Barely could drive and got so frustrated one night that I got stuck on turning a corner on a local street while it was snowing that I wanted to just leave the car there. I promised that I wouldnt get a RWD car again but after seeing videos of RWD cars with snow tires handle in the snow, I think I'll be fine.

[rice_classic]

I had a pretty lucid dream last night where it snowed and I was driving the FRS and it did great in the snow, I remember how impressed I was with how the TC helped the car along.

That was in a dream though and later on in that dream an ex girlfriend stole the body panels off my imaginary super car while I was in a grocery store... so yeah, there's that.

wait, what were we talking about again?

[brufleth]

Originally Posted by Hawaiian

Well, let's take a look at that.

If you list your beater as your primary use car, in some cases insurance will actually go down on a multi car policy. In most cases the increase is negligible.

Registration is the big cost, at about $80 a year where I am.

I'm unsure about inspection, I guess you mean smog etc, but that's free here.

as far as maintenance and repairs, I can do the majority of the small to mid level stuff, I would only need to worry about engine/trans rebuilds since that stuff is beyond me.

In all, It's a slight cost up front, but rounds out over time. What happens when you in your winter tired frs has some granny in her 2 ton caddy slide to a stop into your car? You have deductible that comes out of your pocket, then depreciation from your vehicle being in a wreck. The extra wear and tear of road salt getting into the underbelly of your car, not to mention other cars peppering the front end of your vehicle with the stuff as they drive ahead/along side you.

Meanwhile I'll be cruizing along in my pos solstice without a care in the world.

If someone hits you in MA you don't pay anything. The insurance of the person who hits you (can't register a car here without insurance) pays 100%.

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by Stu baru

Exactly. Well...Winter tires anyway come Thanksgiving weekend. I live in the lake-effect snow belt East of Cleveland and am really interested to see how this goes; my BRZ is the first RWD car I've had since my '68 Pontiac Tempest back in HS, and the first non-AWD car I've had since my '77 Honda Accord back in college. While I know it will potentially have issues, a healthy dose of caution and patience should see me through without issue. Plus there's always the wife's Forester XT if the plows are slow to act.

Originally Posted by blackfireball5

Do you have a Blue BRZ? I think i may have seen you driving down Cedar road a week or so ago.

Edit: Scratch that, i see its a SWP. Nevermind, must have been some other lucky person!

Where on the East side are you at? I live near Cedar and Lee. Small world. lol.

Originally Posted by Stu baru

We're out in the hinterland, but I know your neighborhood well (Dewey's!).

Going to be getting my FR-S in the next month or so, I have yet to see any in the region, I'm in a well-known exurb southeast of Cleveland, named after a famous Greek philosopher (no, not Euclid, that's east). How's that for trivia?

I plan on driving mine in the winter as well. Snow tires and stock height are a must. My dad has an RX-8 that he has driven through 3-4 winters now, and its amazing how much of a difference snow tires make.

As far as how to drive, just drive it as if you were a grandmother, slow, carefully, and don't stomp on the gas or brakes. And give yourself plenty of room.

[Nevermore]

The last winter we had here was pretty pathetic, it hardly even snowed. I don't think I'll be getting snow tires for my FR-S when I get it. My dad also made a good point that my brother's little tocoma is RWD and has the cheapest tires he can buy on it and he's never had an issue with it in the winter.

[blackfireball5]

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

Going to be getting my FR-S in the next month or so, I have yet to see any in the region, I'm in a well-known exurb southeast of Cleveland, named after a famous Greek philosopher (no, not Euclid, that's east). How's that for trivia?

I'm finding this harder than i originally thought. lol. What letter does it start with? :P

Originally Posted by Stu baru

We're out in the hinterland, but I know your neighborhood well (Dewey's!).

Best pizza around.



I'm glad I'm starting to see more BRZ/FRS guys in the Cleveland area. maybe if i can get my own we can all get together for a cruise or something. maybe meet up at some car shows in the area.

[Hawaiian]

Originally Posted by brufleth

If someone hits you in MA you don't pay anything. The insurance of the person who hits you (can't register a car here without insurance) pays 100%.

Your car still loses quite a bit of resale value on it's first accident even if you don't need to pay a thing.

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by blackfireball5

I'm finding this harder than i originally thought. lol. What letter does it start with? :P

Best pizza around.

I'm glad I'm starting to see more BRZ/FRS guys in the Cleveland area. maybe if i can get my own we can all get together for a cruise or something. maybe meet up at some car shows in the area.

Begins with an S.

Originally Posted by Nevermore

The last winter we had here was pretty pathetic, it hardly even snowed. I don't think I'll be getting snow tires for my FR-S when I get it. My dad also made a good point that my brother's little tocoma is RWD and has the cheapest tires he can buy on it and he's never had an issue with it in the winter.

Agreed, the winter up here was pretty non-existant as well. However, better safe than sorry. If its anything I have learned from my 31 years of winters on this planet, its that one winter does NOT indicate what the next will be like. I understand snow tires are an investment, but the FR-S is much lighter than the Tacoma, last I checked. The tires on a Tacoma are also meant for different purposes than the FR-S's. Summer tires are also geared towards spring/summer/fall temperatures, but not winter. Colder tires = less grip, and if you already have a summer tire that is meant for warmer temperatures, its just an accident waiting to happen in my book.

I'm not going to tell you what to do, but please take my advice and buy winter tires for this car, if not for your sake, for the car's.

[dyim]

Snow tires on steelies. Cheaper than a fender bender.

Being smooth on all driving inputs ie throttle, brake, steering. Unless you feel like a hooligan and wants to power slide or do donuts...