Brad

Andrew wrote:
>
> I am going to be purchasing a sports car in the next month and I just
> wanted to get some feedback on the board from past owners or
> test-drivers of sports car on what they've found to be good or bad
> with various cars.
>
> I'm looking into the usual suspects:
> Toyota Celica
> Mitsubishi Eclipse
> Acura RSA
> Hyundai Tiburon

None are even close to being a sports car, but of the choices, I'd
probably easily put the Acura at the top. Quality is very nice. The
Hyundai is surprisingly good, though. The Eclipse is a better-looking
Grand Am, unfortunately. The 240hp Nissan Altima might fit in there as
well, and it'd probably be the fastest of the bunch. As long as you
don't mind putting a different set of rear tires on twice a year, I'd
seriously look at RWD cars. 15-second FWD cars are nice enough for what
they are, but they're still all slow. ...and FWD. Snow tires on a
RWD is better than all-seasons on a FWD.

Stephen Bigelow

"Brad" <deusxmachina@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3F01453A.1968FAA6@hotmail.com...

> Snow tires on a
> RWD is better than all-seasons on a FWD.

And snows on a FWD?

DragonRider

On Tue, 01 Jul 2003 13:09:32 GMT, "Stephen Bigelow"
<sbigelowXLS@rogers.com> wrote:

>
>"Brad" <deusxmachina@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:3F01453A.1968FAA6@hotmail.com...
>
>> Snow tires on a
>> RWD is better than all-seasons on a FWD.
>
>And snows on a FWD?

Having had both FWD and RWD in the snowbelt I'll stick with snows on
my RWD Miata over Snows on any FWD. Why? Not only is it a hell of a
lot more fun but I tend to get places where the FWD's just simply give
up.

Stephen Bigelow

"jj" <jj@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:MdoMa.691$ju6.6110@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net...
>
> "DragonRider" <DragonRider1@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:2463gvo265ibasvh8p1tt2tud2u03l5eqm@4ax.com...
> > On Tue, 01 Jul 2003 13:09:32 GMT, "Stephen Bigelow"
> > <sbigelowXLS@rogers.com> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >"Brad" <deusxmachina@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > >news:3F01453A.1968FAA6@hotmail.com...
> > >
> > >> Snow tires on a
> > >> RWD is better than all-seasons on a FWD.
> > >
> > >And snows on a FWD?
> >
> > Having had both FWD and RWD in the snowbelt I'll stick with snows on
> > my RWD Miata over Snows on any FWD. Why? Not only is it a hell of a
> > lot more fun but I tend to get places where the FWD's just simply give
> > up.
>
> Every RWD car I owned was dire for snow traction FWD is better when you
> actually want to go somewhere, instead of just doin doughnuts......
>
> Of course your Miata is probably so light you just fly over snow drifts
;-)
>
> The only RWD I like is mid or rear engined,.....now thats fun!

Now you're talking.
Best car I've ever owned in the snow for traction was my '74 X1/9.

Brad

Stephen Bigelow wrote:
>
> "Brad" <deusxmachina@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:3F01453A.1968FAA6@hotmail.com...
>
> > Snow tires on a
> > RWD is better than all-seasons on a FWD.
>
> And snows on a FWD?

I made that statement since many people run one tire during the year,
and on a FWD you can get away with that, but for a RWD, they just have
to face the facts that dedicated snow tires and dedicated summer tires
are the way to go. No matter what tires are on a FWD, FWD itself is
always a compromise.

It's a little different putting snows on both. Since FWD has the engine
weight over the wheels, it tends to get going easier than a RWD. But
once you're at speed, the RWD handling starts to show. I've hit those
"snow ruts" in the middle of the road, and they make the steering wheel
twitch in your hands a bit, while a RWD over those same snow ruts pretty
much just goes straight because the drive wheels aren't the steer
wheels.

In the past, I thought FWD was the thing for winter. And we get a lot
of winter where I am. And then I put real snow tires on my RWD, and I'd
never go back to FWD if I can help it. Really, for mild snow, none of
this matters too much and you can drive pretty much anything you want.
But driving in serious stuff really shows the differences. Of course,
4WD or AWD is the _real_ way to go in winter.

Stephen Bigelow

<cross posts trimmed.

"Brad" <deusxmachina@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3F03D547.A0FEF3C0@hotmail.com...
>
> > And snows on a FWD?
>
> I made that statement since many people run one tire during the year,
> and on a FWD you can get away with that, but for a RWD, they just have
> to face the facts that dedicated snow tires and dedicated summer tires
> are the way to go.

Uh-huh. Sounds like FWD is superior in low traction situations.

No matter what tires are on a FWD, FWD itself is
> always a compromise.

Uh-huh.

> It's a little different putting snows on both. Since FWD has the engine
> weight over the wheels, it tends to get going easier than a RWD.

That sounds like a _good_ thing.

But
> once you're at speed, the RWD handling starts to show. I've hit those
> "snow ruts" in the middle of the road, and they make the steering wheel
> twitch in your hands a bit, while a RWD over those same snow ruts pretty
> much just goes straight because the drive wheels aren't the steer
> wheels.
>
> In the past, I thought FWD was the thing for winter. And we get a lot
> of winter where I am.

Me too.
Ottawa, Ontario.

And then I put real snow tires on my RWD, and I'd
> never go back to FWD if I can help it. Really, for mild snow, none of
> this matters too much and you can drive pretty much anything you want.
> But driving in serious stuff really shows the differences. Of course,
> 4WD or AWD is the _real_ way to go in winter.

All year, as far as I'm concerned.

simpleton

brad, do you think you can get another one of those cross-posting wars going
with the porsche guys like last year?
that was a ton of fun! i can't wait until the eclipse is back together, i'm
going to hurt them
"Brad" <deusxmachina@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3F03D547.A0FEF3C0@hotmail.com...
> Stephen Bigelow wrote:
> >
> > "Brad" <deusxmachina@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:3F01453A.1968FAA6@hotmail.com...
> >
> > > Snow tires on a
> > > RWD is better than all-seasons on a FWD.
> >
> > And snows on a FWD?
>
> I made that statement since many people run one tire during the year,
> and on a FWD you can get away with that, but for a RWD, they just have
> to face the facts that dedicated snow tires and dedicated summer tires
> are the way to go. No matter what tires are on a FWD, FWD itself is
> always a compromise.
>
> It's a little different putting snows on both. Since FWD has the engine
> weight over the wheels, it tends to get going easier than a RWD. But
> once you're at speed, the RWD handling starts to show. I've hit those
> "snow ruts" in the middle of the road, and they make the steering wheel
> twitch in your hands a bit, while a RWD over those same snow ruts pretty
> much just goes straight because the drive wheels aren't the steer
> wheels.
>
> In the past, I thought FWD was the thing for winter. And we get a lot
> of winter where I am. And then I put real snow tires on my RWD, and I'd
> never go back to FWD if I can help it. Really, for mild snow, none of
> this matters too much and you can drive pretty much anything you want.
> But driving in serious stuff really shows the differences. Of course,
> 4WD or AWD is the _real_ way to go in winter.

Brad

simpleton wrote:
>
> brad, do you think you can get another one of those cross-posting wars going
> with the porsche guys like last year?
> that was a ton of fun! i can't wait until the eclipse is back together, i'm
> going to hurt them

lol. It was all mainly due to one moron who couldn't believe a
stock-internal DSM could handle 450+hp and 20+psi, etc. Well, that guy,
and Devils944 is an idiot, too, but he doesn't post much anymore. Most
of the rest of the Porsche ng's are good guys.