2004 Mazda RX-8 Owners Manual - MyMazda

J60E_8R65-EA-03C_Edition2.book Page 9 Saturday, April 26, 2003 1:48 PMBefore Driving Your MazdaDriving TipsWinter Driving• Carry emergency gear, including tirechains, window scraper, flares, a smallshovel, jumper cables, and a small bagof sand or salt.Ask an Authorized Mazda Dealer toperform the following precautions:• Have the proper ratio of antifreeze inthe radiator.• Inspect the battery and its cables. Coldreduces battery capacity.• Use only cold-weather engine oil (page8-9).• Inspect the ignition system for damageand loose connections.• Use washer fluid made withantifreeze—but don’t use enginecoolant antifreeze for washer fluid(page 8-17).• Don’t use the parking brake in freezingweather as the parking brake mayfreeze. Instead, shift to P with anautomatic transmission and to 1 or Rwith a manual transmission. Block therear wheels.▼ Snow TiresMixing Tire Types:Using tires different in size or type isdangerous. Your vehicle’s handlingcould be greatly affected and result inan accident. Use only the same sizeand type tires (snow, radial, or nonradial)on all four wheels.Check local regulations before usingstudded tires.NOTEWARNINGCAUTIONIf your vehicle is equipped with the tirepressure monitoring system, the systemmay not function correctly when usingtires with steel wire reinforcement inthe sidewalls (page 5-26).Use snow tires on all four wheelsDon’t go faster than 120 km/h (75 mph).Inflate snow tires 30 kPa (0.3 kgf/cm 2 ,4.3 psi) more than recommended on thetire pressure label (driver’s door), butnever more than the maximum cold-tirepressure shown on the tires.Your vehicle is originally equipped withsummer tires designed for optimumtraction on wet and dry roads. If yourvehicle is to be used on snow and icecovered roads, you may find it necessaryto replace the original equipment tireswith snow tires, during the wintermonths.4-9Form No. 8R65-EA-03C