Winter Tips

The MR2 is a rear wheel drive sports car, and so it’s natual environment is not snow. However with a bit of care and common sense it’s perfectly reasonable to drive it in bad snowy weather. Drive carefully, be smooth on the throttle, and don’t be tempted to accelerate too fast – imagine grandma without her glasses on. Every other driver on the road thinks they can stop instantly in snow; you know you can’t, so leave extra space between you and the car in front for those emergency maneuvers.

Make sure you have good tires on all four wheels. Yes, the MR2 is rear-wheel drive, but there’s little point in having sticky rear wheels if you can’t point the car in the right direction. You need grip on all four wheels for braking too. Winter tires are obviously the most appropriate, but many All Season tires perform remarkably well. If you live somehwere with really nasty weather you could try snow chains. (You may also be able to use studded tires in some states. You can in NY, and PA during certain dates.)
You need slightly less air in your tires in snow, to provide better grip. Down to around 30lb/psi.
If you have adjustable shocks, then put them all the way down, to the softest ride.
The ParkingBrake is likely to freeze. So don’t use it. Keep your car in gear when parked to stop it rolling around. (1st up hill, reverse downhill.)
Most of the weight in the MR2 is in the rear of the car. Many people put something heavy in the trunk to provide a little extra traction. Anything heavy will work: kitty litter (also useful when you get stuck – see below), sand bag, 10 cases of beer…
If you have a large empty parking lot, try driving around it in the snow to get a feel for how the car responds.
If you do get stuck in the snow, the kitty litter you used to weigh the front of the car down is ideal. Put it in front of all four tires.
You might consider investing in a cheap set of rims and putting snow tires on them. That way you can switch between winter and normal tires with relative ease, and no trip to the garage to get tires changed.

klohiq — 25 December 2006 – What direction you’re facing doesn’t matter, what you want is the shortest gear ratio possible to make it hardest for the kenetic energy to move the tranny/engine. All you have to do is think about how quickly the car accelerates and tops out in each gear. The easier the car accelerates in those gears, the harder it is for the car to roll while parked. Most reference manuals that come with the car will tell you reverse because it is the shortest gear, but first or second is fine too. I tend to leave the car in the last gear I used to park it, usually first or reverse, but due to my 6-speed trannys close ratios I sometimes leave it in second. Even top gear (5th or 6th) is probably more than adequate to keep the car from rolling in most situations, though if you value your car there is little reason to bet on it. One other thing is that chains are only okay to use at slow speeds, I believe below 30mph so most people will have no use for them. The advancements in studless snow tires can’t be ignored.