RX-7 Winter Driving Story

This message was originally posted to the RX-7 mailing lists. I've reproduced it here as a testament to how well an RX-7 deals with snow.

Massachusetts got slammed by the April Fool's snowstorm from hell in 1997. We saw over 2 feet of snowfall within 24 hours.

On the evening of March 31, I was on my way home (Boston) from Connecticut (roughly Hartford area), I saw emergency vehicles, buses, trucks (semis), SUVs, taxis, tow trucks stuck in various snowbanks. The snow was falling so fast that there was no way the plows could keep up with the snowfall.

I had the misfortune to be completely caught in the middle of this mess. Guess what I was driving? That's right, my trusty 2nd generation RX-7 (base) equipped with 4 Pirelli Winter Performance tires (<5K miles on them).

It took me 5 hours (10pm - 3am) to drive 150 miles. The conditions under which I drove could only be described as 'white out.' Imagine driving along at 20-40 miles an hour, not being able to see more than 1-2 feet past the end of your hood. The snow was falling THAT HARD.

The Mass Pike was basically unplowed. I was left navigating using either 1) The force, 2) People who got in front of me (SUVs and large trucks), or 3) Guessing where the road was from the snow drifts and guard rails.

Many of the exits and entrances to the Pike were completely closed by plow drifts. If you wanted onto the Pike, it was a bit of work. And once you got on, you had a crapshoot as to whether or not the exit you wanted was open.

Once somebody got in front of me, I did my absolute best to stay behind them, as they added another pool of light and a set of brake lights which I then used to aid navigation. Unfortunately, this was not always successful, because although the RX-7 works in the snow, there's no way I wanted to push hard enough to keep up with the 4WD vehicles (with their benefits of increased ground clearance, big tires, and raised driver viewpoint.)

I don't know if you've ever had the pleasure of driving on a road which has had a few people drive on it without being plowed, but let me tell you, this type of surface is very bumpy, and develops lots of ruts.

All of this added up to the most stressful and punishing driving experience I've ever had. It's sort of ironic, though, as I ended up getting all the way into Boston and getting off the Pike without serious mishap. Unfortunately, when I approached my apartment, NONE of the roads leading to the apartment were plowed. I got stuck at least 8 times that I can remember, having to either rock free, or depend on the kindness of strangers. Although I got into town at around 2 am, navigated successfully to within .5 miles of my apartment by 2:30 am, it took me another 2 hours (!!!!) to get the car into the lot, and slam it into the snowbank that was in my parking spot. Fun (not).

And this is with snow tires. Although I love my car (and it served me well through the hellstorm), I can see the attraction of 4WD. I must say, though, that the communication afforded by the car was awesome. I knew exactly what my front tires was doing, and what sort of surface they were on. Also, the car did NOT get stuck at all...until I ran into situations where there was so much snow that the car was basically 'dragging' its undercarriage and my airdam became a snowplow.

On the other hand, there's no way I'm letting 1 day dictate what I drive the other 364 days of the year.

I also managed to dump my car into a snowbank or two on the way home on the freeway. These were cases where I lost even the limited visibility I had, or some trick of my headlights made a snowbank look like the road, etc. Despite this harsh treatment, the car suffered no external damage. The power steering belt did end up breaking, though, and I'd imagine that that the transmission took some serious abuse from rocking myself out of stuck areas.

It was somewhat surreal driving through Boston late on the night of the 31st, though. I went through any number of traffic lights, figuring "The cops can stop me if they want, but they'll have to push me free again." There were cars stranded EVERYWHERE, and ANYWHERE on the streets, facing the wrong directions, sideways, anywhere they got stuck.

It was bizarre, to say the least, but I have to say that the car came through like a champ.

P.S. Don't bother telling me I was crazy to drive through that. I already know that.

- Mark

'87 RX-7 base "Go Anywhere/Anytime vehicle."
'94 RX-7 PEG "Giant Snowmound 3/31/97-4/2/97"

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