Winter Driving in SW Ontario?

My winter vehcile has given up the ghost and I am considering driving
my 2000 Miata in the winter now. I would obviously put snow tires on
it but can anyone comment on how it handles in the snow and ice?
Would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Carol wrote:
> My winter vehcile has given up the ghost and I am considering
> driving
> my 2000 Miata in the winter now. I would obviously put snow tires
> on
> it but can anyone comment on how it handles in the snow and ice?
> Would be much appreciated.
>
> Thanks
>

Well, I'm not as far north as you are (I'm in eastern Pennsylvania)
but both of my Miatas have stayed on the road all winter. Nora from
Canada, who used to post here, also used hers year-round. IIRC, she
had a battery tender. Four good snow tires and a lot of common sense
are what's needed. For instance, my car stays in the garage when
there's ice, but has only been stopped once by snow - and that was a
storm that dropped over a foot of that nasty white stuff.

Iva & Vixen
2004 Classic Red
No more winkin' Miata

In article >,
Carol > wrote:

> My winter vehcile has given up the ghost and I am considering driving
> my 2000 Miata in the winter now. I would obviously put snow tires on
> it but can anyone comment on how it handles in the snow and ice?

With winter tires, the only limiting factor is ground clearance. If you
don't have a hard top, be careful clearing snow from the roof--the vinyl
gets brittle in cold weather.

--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
'94C

> With winter tires, the only limiting factor is ground clearance.

I'm still using the stock tires (AFAIK). They aren't good in the snow, so I
avoid driving when we get fresh stuff. The main thing I've noticed is that
the Miata reacts very quickly... if the rear end swings out it does so FAST,
more so than other (bigger) cars, so I feel I have to be ready for it.
That's sometimes a little nerve-wracking. But I'm due for tires anyway... do
I remember someone here saying Goodyear all-weather Eagles did ok in snow?

miker

On 2008-01-11, Carol > wrote:

SW Ontario? You're practically a southerner.

> My winter vehcile has given up the ghost and I am considering
> driving my 2000 Miata in the winter now. I would obviously
> put snow tires on it but can anyone comment on how it handles
> in the snow and ice?

With four snow tires, a Miata handles very nicely in snow --
far better than most cars do, IMO. Up here in Minnesota I
drive past a lot of SUVs in ditches every winter.

An LSD helps for getting going, but will cause the back end to
be a bit loose on very shap turns as the two rear wheels fight
each other (e.g. u-turns). I do sometimes wish I had ABS in
the wintertime.

Just don't try to drive in snow too deep: no matter how good
the tires are, they've got to have weight on them to work.

As somebody else warned, vinyl tops and plastic rear windows
get brittle when cold, so treat them gently.

--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! I hope I bought the
at right relish ... zzzzzzzzz
visi.com ...

Carol > wrote:

> My winter vehcile has given up the ghost and I am considering
> driving my 2000 Miata in the winter now. I would obviously put
> snow tires on it but can anyone comment on how it handles in the
> snow and ice?

Could someone please explain "snow" and "ice"? These are unfamiliar
terms to those of us living in Phoenix... <GD&R>




--
XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project:
http://improve-usenet.org

In article >,
Carol > wrote:

> My winter vehcile has given up the ghost and I am considering driving
> my 2000 Miata in the winter now. I would obviously put snow tires on
> it but can anyone comment on how it handles in the snow and ice?
> Would be much appreciated.
>
> Thanks

I used my Miata as my daily driver when I lived in Edmmonton and I use
it here in Vancouver which includes driving up to the local mountains to
ski along with trips to Whistler and Kelowna.

I won't say that it's the best handling car on snow and ice I've ever
driven -- something with four-wheel drive takes that title -- but it's
not bad. Yes, it's rear-wheel drive, but the weight distribution puts
nearly 50% of the weight on the rears, so they don't spin at the
slightest touch of the throttle.

The only thing that it absolutely can't handle is deep snow. There's
just not enough ground clearance when the snow is deep.

--
Alan Baker
Vancouver, British Columbia
"If you raise the ceiling four feet, move the fireplace from that wall
to that wall, you'll still only get the full stereophonic effect if you
sit in the bottom of that cupboard."

Thank you all so much for your comments. It is appreciated. Yes, I
do have a hard top -- bought it when I bought the car so it could be
safely stored outside in the winter!! Little did I know that it would
be a "requirement" now that I will have to drive it.

Thanks again!


And I goofed, I'm actually in SE Ontario.... but snow and ice are
snow and ice.


Carol




On Fri, 11 Jan 2008 07:50:01 -0500, Carol >
wrote:

>My winter vehcile has given up the ghost and I am considering driving
>my 2000 Miata in the winter now. I would obviously put snow tires on
>it but can anyone comment on how it handles in the snow and ice?
>Would be much appreciated.
>
>Thanks
>

On Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:50:37 -0500, Carol wrote:

> And I goofed, I'm actually in SE Ontario.... but snow and ice are snow
> and ice.

Well, Carol, that is a *strange* mistake. I am not saying that other
people do not make mistakes. In fact, Wednesday I was explaining to
my class about how my vectors were oriented according to the right hand
rule, thumb/index finger/middle finger. But then it turned out that they
were not. Of course, I immediately explained to my students that these
notes were designed to be viewed in the mirror, (silly that they did not
understand that right away.)

It was only a couple of minutes later that I started wondering if I
applied the right hand rule with, say, the right hand. Anyway, the point
is that *even I* would never get mixed up between east and west. East is
at your right hand when facing north; everyone knows that!

Leon
--
Leon Bess Bozo .)

Hey, I believe him, this rule got him from FL to Canada and back IIRC. Of
course, it did seem there were allot of (unintended?) detours along the way!

Chris
99BBB

>
> It was only a couple of minutes later that I started wondering if I
> applied the right hand rule with, say, the right hand. Anyway, the point
> is that *even I* would never get mixed up between east and west. East is
> at your right hand when facing north; everyone knows that!
>
> Leon
> --
> Leon Bess Bozo .)