Originally Posted by Mergnthwirker

I drive my Z year-round in the Northeast U.S. Having the Limited Slip (sport pkg) and dedicated snow tires makes it possible. A Pathfinder will have better traction, but may not stop or handle any better, especially if using all-season tires. I see a lot of upside-down SUV's when I drive to Vermont ski areas in the winter.

Dedicated snows are the key to true winter happiness with the Z. I would never try to drive the Z in snow without real snow tires. Blizzaks seem to work very well, in the *narrowest* size you can get to fit. Narrow is MUCH better than wide in the snow. So a set of 18" base wheels (see other posts here for examples) are a good idea too, cuz you can get narrower tires on 'em.

There are several types of snows you might consider. The performance snows tend to have much better dry road performance, but for true confidence, you should optimize winter/ice traction, so avoid the performance ones if possible. Blizzak non-performance rubber has dual-tread compound using a multicell technology which really works well on ice (but wears like butter on dry pavement). Unfortunately, I haven't found any of these multicell compounds in the sizes we need. Neither the LM-25 nore LM-60's have it. The alternative is micro-siping, where the manufacturer cuts little slices into the tread all over. The theory is that this exposes lots of little edges of rubber which improve adhesion on ice. I had several sets of Michelin Alpin Ice tires which use this technology, and they are clearly better than standard snows for ice/snow-covered roads. They squirm more on dry pavement, however, and I think stopping distances are longer, so like everything else, it is a trade-off. Nokkian and Gislaved have some expensive tires using this technology as well. Remember that the only thing holding you on the road (regardless of AWD/FWD or RWD) is that little patch of rubber on each corner.

There have been some other threads on this topic. It boils down to using common sense. The Z has about 4-1/2" of ground clearance, and snow can build up in the wheel-wells. It is useful to remove the wheel spats if you do a lot of driving in loose snow. Around here we get maybe 7-8 true snow days with deep snow. These are good days to wait until the roads are plowed before venturing out. Otherwise, just be careful out there.

Hope this helps!

HJM