If my wife drives my Z, likely since I'll be getting the 7AT so she can drive it too, I'd have to factor in the cost of a couple replacement rims every year. New York City curbs and New York potholes are not kind to good rims.

(My stepson is one of the most careful drivers in the world, but lives in Queens. His $3K worth of chrome rims were almost completely square by the time he stopped trying to bang them out each week, and went back to OEMs.)

Ouch..lol.

In my opinion if you do not have a car with LSD your whole car is limping. Not the whole time, only when it matters.
When I was test driving a Z, a mustang cobra happened to come in front of me. Because I was testing the car appropriately, the driver in mustang assumed I wanted to race so he floored it. He started getting some serious fishtailing, Z on the other hand after being floored made a slight noice from the tires (with VDC on) and in matter of seconds cobra was just sitting in my way.
Yes LSD is not necessary 90% of the time to me but it doesn't bother me that its there during those 90% of the time. I don't even care that it's there. But the 10% that you don't have it will bother you if you have any sense of driving.

Yes ... life is a series of compromises. I wouldn't be getting the 7AT, otherwise. But once you get on the far side of 50, you think of little things like "What if I'm not here to drive the Z? Who would?" So ...

For me this is as a highway cruiser primarily, and would even downgrade the standard 18" Yokohama Advans to All-Seasons. (UHPAS, not Grand Touring treads, at least :-) And I expect to have to replace OEM rims, depending on who drives the car and where.

In the 70s, I lived up in the snow belt (Rochester NY) and had really crappy cars -- a 68 Chevelle, a 70 Mustang, a 73 Nova, a 78 Grand LeMans -- to learn to drive with. The Mustang needed 400 pounds of weight in the trunk just to be able to move on the snow and ice. Bias-ply tires were a considerable improvement over "4-ply nylon", but some years we didn't even have that. (And since the rubber didn't last too long, you could count on using your spare with some frequency -- regardless of the season.)

I don't want a car that does TOO much for me, or makes it easy/tempting to drive in a way my reflexes may not be up to any more. The Sports package is like taking an extra dessert on the buffet line -- it seems "free", but there are hidden costs you WILL pay.

Sorry for killing off this thread, folks! (Nothing like an old fart rambling ... think: Grampa on the Simpsons. :)

To make it short -- my pearl & persimmon 7AT will be picked up next week. I've scanned the tirerack.com listings and it looks like those stock Yokohama tires, treadwear rating 180, might only last through the summer if I'm careful. Then I'll go with the only UHPAS that tirerack currently carries for these 18" rims, the Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season with treadwear 420.

If you scan tirerack prices for replacement rubber on the sport package, the 19" rims take treads about an inch wider, front and rear. ONLY "summer treads" are available. The RE050 Pole Positions that come w/ Sport are the best available tire for the Sport rim, but they'll run you about $300. per tire.

Please note: tirerack doesn't stock every tire from every manufacturer, and by the time you're ready to replace, you may have more and better choices. I'm happy that with All Seasons on non-Sport trim, I should still be able to visit New England into late November.

I just have one question. What is this "all season tire" you speak of? LOL suckers move to the desert.1 tire type and rain 10 days a year. Come on why have to drive in that terrible white stuff. In regards to the package it really depends on your intentions, not everyone on here is going to the track weekly. I choose to get it because I think the performance and styling were well worth the additional $. I probably wont see a track ever but there are a ton of empty open roads to play on out here.

I started a recent thread over in the Tech Area / Wheels & Tires, about my upcoming set of tires. With 8K on the car, some wear is apparent but I'm sure I'll need a set to replace the Yoko Advans by end of summer.

One terrific reply I got was from a person in Philadelphia who faced the same circumstances but got his all-seasons 20mm wider in front, 30mm in the rear. The highest-rated rubber by tirerack.com, Conti's "Extreme Contact DWS" with treadwear rating 540. And another great feature about this tire is its bidirectional -- you can swap left-to-right, so it helps on the even wearing.

I don't know if there's rubber like this available for the 19s, but I'm almost looking forward to wearing out my OEM rubber at this point. Tires are the single biggest change you make to improve a car's performance, and unlike a CAI or high-bypass exhaust, everyone has to confront it at one point or another.

I think some people care more about having their sports car be sporty than luxurious. with touring you are paying for a sound system you don't necessarily want, JUST to get leather seats.


I dont think its laziness that people get sport instead of doing everything after market. To some, the idea of replacing their brakes, buying new wheels, etc seems like a lot of money to spend AFTER buying a whole car. Yes i think a lot of times packages are a rip. I got the alloy wheels when i got my Altima. waste of money. i could have gotten nicer wheels that were more than 16" for what i paid for that package, but this is different.

I am getting both, but if i had to settle for one it would probably be sport package.