I just put 6 60lb bags of tube sand in my girl's Base RSX 5-spd. I basically just lined the hatch area with the bags, and then put her little rubber lining thing over the sand bags.

But after that, I drove it, and it feels very loose on ice. She complained about fishtailing and stuff when there were just 120lbs of sand.

Well, she drove my Accord last night and said she felt much, much more secure in it through ice than in the RSX.

I did some brief comparisons on weight distribution of my Accord vs. her RSX, and it seems I have about 250 - 300 more lbs of weight in the front than she does. Both cars are FWD, right? So should I concentrate more on applying weight to the front of the car near the axles to give the moving wheels more traction? Would I do this with more sandbags? Where?

 

Too much sand the front wheel drive doesn't need it. We've been driving FWD cars since 1982 and have never put sand in the rear. With 360 pounds in the rear you've shifted the balance of the car to the rear. I only put 300# in the rear of my 4WD pickup by the tailgate. But it's rear wheel drive when I don't have it in 4WD.

2002 RSXtypeS in case you are wondering what I drive besides my Dakota.

 

yeah theres really no need for sand bags in fwd car. i dont have anything back there and the worst thats happened to me is i spin my wheels. no biggie.

 

My LS had no trouble in snow at all, but the LSD seems to help a lot in the snow. I could be wrong, but it seems like it does.

 

Drop the pressure in your tires by about 5-10 lbs when it snows orice is on the ground.Other than that,leave it alone and learn to drive in bad weather.Its not that hard.

 

Sand bags in the trunk :rofl: I should imagine she's fishtailing like hell!

All you need on a light FWD car (which is almost ideal in snow...ideal is AWD and light) is snow tires, which really are optional unless you have a crappy driver on your hands. All seasonals are usually good enough. I have Blizzak MZ-02's, they're VERY capable snow tires. They are pretty comfortable too.

 

oops.h:
so the all-knowing boyfriend suggestion didn't work, huh? oh well, those 360lbs worth of sandbags only cost $20. the lowest price snowtire i've seen was $74!

Would it help her to get only two snow tires for the front. or would that be a waste.

FYI, she had a Ford Taurus SHO before the RSX, so the feather weight RSX IS a big change for her.

 

Contrary to common knowledge, lighter cars handle better in the snow. Getting just 2 snow tires does not work very well. That would be a waste IMO.

It all depends on driver skill. If she's a horrible driver, get some snow tires. But the stock all seasonals should do a fine job. Shit, i love snow tires...I have tons of fun with my Blizzaks. I maintain so much more control than I did in the stock all seasonals.

 

Driver's skills !

either tell her to learn through it or just be careful. how to learn ? put summer tires on and learn to flow on ice/snow! (Here I want to say drift, but I don't think she can jump to that just yet) then put back the stock all season, she'd know how great those sucky all season actually are. ........but on second thought...she's not gonna do that right ?

 

What am I doing? What am I doing you ask... hopping in every time it snows and doing some fun amateur rally. Hell ya! Have fun with it don't let it ruin your days, but you gotta have a beater like I do, def not with a new RSX.:thumbup: