Hi everyone..i currently live in beautiful sunny southern california, and was planning on purchasing my type r in late Jan. But me and my family are going to move to Indiana, and i was wondering, how many of you itr owners drive your car during the winter? and, do you think just because of harsh winter weather i should completely scrap the idea of getting a type r? Any comment would be great! Thanks.

 

Just get a good set of winter tires and get some rust proofing done(don't do the engine bay though as it looks like *** afterwards) The ITR is quite capable in the winter. I am from Canada so I should know Either that or buy a beater for the winter....

 

An alternative would be to buy a daily driver, or beater, and store your ITR during the winter months. Or, you can slap some snow tires on and have some fun


[Modified by JuJu, 8:00 PM 1/13/2003]

 

yeah..indiana isnt as harsh as canada im sure, i guess i could get an ITR, and just not get all crazy during the winter, adn get some snow tires.

 

snow tires/chains

 

it is front wheel drive car with abs.. back-up car / beater is also good to have

 

why does ur family wanna move to IN from socal?!?!?

 

My ITR handles better, stops better, and all around drives better than my 4wheel drive Jeep in the snow Now, this is assuming you're not driving like a jackass, and being careful... but it is a VERY capable winter vehicle with a good set of tires.

 

I have been doing this for almost 3yrs on my 00R . I do have a set of snows package from tirerack but its been sitting in my garage because beater does it all, not necessary for the R to go out on these cold winter days!

 

Right here....daily driven rain, snow, sleet, hail me and my ITR are in the thick of it.

Speaking of which...I bought some Kumho KW15 winter tires this year. Awesome winter tire that comes in low profile sizes (205/50/15) and handles great in the snow. Not to mention, they are very affordable like all Kumho tires.

 

wow, thanks for all the great advice, sounds like the general census is, ITR can make it through anything, great news to here, because i didnt want to not be able to get one. TO answer the other question, we are moving because of my Dad getting a new job.

 

whatever you do, make sure to have proper tires for winter conditions..

 

I personally have a beater to get me through the harsh Chicago winters, but I think the ITR is more than capable and it would would be a great choice

 

I drive mine year round in some pretty crappy weather... we get a lot of lake effect snow from where i live around Cleveland. I put on Bridgestone LM22 Blizzacks and it handles great in snow/ice, and coupled with a great ABS system and lsd its better than most vehicles. I try to spray my car off every week at least to keep it free from salt and other stuff getting all over the car.

 

Invest in one of those turtlewax club cards (If they have them in your area) I get my car washed EVERY DAY on the way to work, and sometimes on the weekend Which should put me right around $6000 in car washes if I were actually paying full price for them instead of my cool *** $400 card.

Seriously, best ******* thing ever. Never have to worry about salt

 

Or work at a dealer.....clean your car everyday top to bottom and underneath if you want to for FREE . God bless our detail dept and their fine assortment of chemicals!


[Modified by JohnnyBoy, 12:19 PM 1/14/2003]

 

I read this earlier and was curious what comments you'd get before I decided to respond well,

I totally disagree with the ITR being a GREAT or even a GOOD handling car in the snow or sleet or winter mix. And I drove on some Pilot Alpins in a whimpy winter like last year in the NE. My previous R I just left in the driveway and didn't try to move at all since we lived on a country mountain at the time and with stock RE010's it had No hope of moving till the thaw.

My current R I indeed ran with the winter tires last year and thought it Sucked! It just spun all over the place even with careful throttle application, and the LSD did NOT help much at all. I actually thought my old LS felt better in the snow than the R. The ABS was what it is and of course helped the car stop but I gotta be totally honest when I tell ya: GET A DAILY DRIVER OR A WINTER BEATER!

As well, IF you are coming from CALI where you've had No to Minimal experience with frozen winter driving, the ITR even with good snow tires will be a crappy and dangerous performer for learning. This is ESPECIALLY if you have NO Snow driving experience! And nothing against You at all.

Some may laugh but, if you're a Northerner and travel down South and see how they drive when just some sleet and ice hits (Wrecks EVERYWHERE) and how the roads totally close down and all life and business clam up with the slightest hint of frozen precipitation, you'd better understand.

Nothing against the ITR or any of you as drivers, I just disagree. And I've driven a crapload of different cars and trucks in the white stuff.

IMHO there are quite a bunch more better performers than the R. NOT to say that you have to get rid of it, Not at all... I just suggest storing it for the winter and getting either a daily driver or cheap winter beater that will handle it all better and you won't have a total coronary every time you try driving it out there.

Remember that it's Not just the weather you have to worry about, it's all the OTHER total idiots behind the wheel and on the road aiming at anything in their path as they barrel along in their SUV's at 70 plus MPH in a blizzard.

Good luck,


A.


[Modified by 1GreyTeg, 10:30 AM 1/14/2003]

 

R is good in the winter?? In the snow, the R is awful, hardly driveable. Trying driving up a slight incline when there is snow packed on the ground, or turning when the corner of the intersection was neglected by the snow plow.

I was driving 'careful' or 'appropriate for the conditions' when this happened:

 

Man, I don't know how you guys have so many problems with the R in the snow... I have all season tires on my car currently and it rocks ***. The only time I've ever had problems is driving down my long-*** country driveway with a few inches of snow on the ground... when I'm too lazy to snowblow.

Not saying anything bad about you guys who say the R sucks in the winter, but the first day I drove my R in the snow I was in awe in how well it handled. *shrug* To each their own. It seriously blows all the other vehicles I've driven in the winter out of the water.

'93 Jeep Grand Cherokee Full time AWD - Way too ******* heavy, sure, you can drive in the snow, but turning and stopping makes your knuckes turn white and your hair turn grey.

'94 Hyundai Elantra & '91 Honda CRX - Light, shitty non-LSD FWD cars with no anti-lock brakes. NO fun, downright ******* scary in the snow.

So I guess in comparison to the above 3 vehicles, the R is a ******* winter god

 

I totally agree. Of course if anyone is using the stock tires you have no chance whatsoever in snow or ice, but with snow tires the R does a great job. Its just like any other honda in bad weather. Some of you guys must not have any experience in bad weather i guess.

 

I've driven 4 winters with and without snow tires on my R and have to say, you'd be stupid not to at least invest in good all season tires for the winter months. Snow tires might be overkill (like in Cincinnati where it rarely snows), but something other than the summer only tires (Azenis, RE010, S-03, KD) must be used or you're risking an accident.

It's well worth the money to pick up an extra set of wheels and mount some good all-season or snow tires. I've got blizzaks on an extra set of OEM wheels and AFAIC I've got an SUV, because I can go through about anything with them. Really makes you much more comfortable driving in the winter.

I remember sitting on an snow covered bridge during the Christmas shopping season 3 years ago, just before my snow tires came in. The oscillations of the bridge actually caused my car to slide while sitting still. I knew I was long overdue for snow tires at that moment!!!

 

I store my R since I have a daily driver...

but there is those days where I go thru withdrawals and I wish I had snow tires on the R and be able to take it out for a drive....

 

If there is snow on the floor I leave the car in the garage and it won't come out till its 90% gone or better.

Forget about driving the R in the snow unless your willing to smack it up.

I have had some bad spin-outs with the car when I first got it and will never drive it in snow again.

 

I drive mine in the snow. I have two sets of rims, one set with winter tires and one set with summer tires. The nose of the car is pretty low, so I don't know how well it would do in extreme snow, but as long as the nose clears the snow, its fine.

 

I bought a set of 195/50/15 KW15...I was just using the 205/50/15 size as an example of the wide variety of sizes the KW15 comes in.