citycat

Drove my 330ci in the snow for 3 winters and only ever got stuck once, when we had about 9" of snow and the UPS truck ran me off the side of my street. Had winter rims and tires for it and had minimal trouble -- just had to adjust my driving accordingly. I live about 10 minutes from where I work, so I don't have a long drive, nor highway. We get about 3 storms a year for a total of 4-6 days where I'd keep the Z in the garage and bum a ride.

Ground clearance I'm concerned about with the Z. On the other hand, I compared clearance on the Z (about 4.8 inches per Nissan's stats) to the 135i (6 inches). I don't know how much practical difference 1.2 inches is going to make in comparing these two cars for snow duty. You're absolutely spot-on about exactly how these type of cars get stuck, though. Dug the bimmer out post-UPS and it sucked.

I guess what I need to hear is "Holy sh*t, no, don't even try, it's a spinning hockeypuck of death in the snow!" or "Give it a go, stupid."

I don't have the resources (financially or storage-wise) to keep a 3rd car as a beater, so whatever I get next has to be a 365-day car. I'm willing to make some sacrifices to stable a Z in the garage.

Oh, and one last entertaining side note. Stopped off at Tamaroff Nissan today and got a semi-lecture from a sales guy there about how I need to realize that a car like the Z is going to mean a big payment of 500-700 a month unless I put down a big downpayment, and he's really not going to let me drive one unless I'm seriously ready to talk those kind of numbers. I laughed, put my name on the list, and told him to call me when they get an AT in. I must be giving out a clueless-noob-with-no-money vibe or something.