Winter beater

Originally Posted by HEK

I promise to take pictures of the undercarriage after this Winter and continue this topic that went from driving the Z in the Winter to a discussion of putting my life in danger to having the elements take a toll on the vehicle.
I bought this '13 Z Sports/ Navi leftover in 2914 so this is my 1st Winter. I do detailing as a hobby for myself and friends and barter instead of money. Most people wash their car via a "thru car wash" ( I don't) neglecting to go under the car and wheel wells because as long as it's clean on the outside nobody will see the bottom of the car only the mechanic on a lift.
So on that note I can promise you guys that mr rust will try to do it's thing on my car but being as anal as I am with taking care of my machine it will take a while before this happens, how many of you park outside all year round not worrying about the acid rain, bird crap or occasional vandalism to your car. Mot people that have garages use them to store crap and not protect one of the most valuable things they own. So I thank you for your advise but let's keep the negativism to the minimum please there is enough on that on the news which is why I hate TV and come here to chat with people that share one thing and that is driving a Z

Originally Posted by 90 ST

It's people like you that will drive the prices of classic cars into the ground by not doing your part in thinning them out, if everyone with a '32 Ford, or '57 Chevy had your ideas about car care, there would be way more of them on the road and they would all be worthless because of the amount of them. I for one will not baby my car so that one day they will have a low resale due to numbers of them still on the road.

Originally Posted by kenchan

no worries. your car is only worth $10 with 250k miles..

Originally Posted by 90 ST

LOL, if that! I've already told a few buddies, they can have it for 6k Canadian next year.

Originally Posted by kenchan

REPORTED!! why you trying to rip people off!

Originally Posted by 90 ST

LMAO! It's not like i'm selling it on Ebay hardly used, they've seen the car.

Originally Posted by LAVA

ok that makes much more sense

Originally Posted by 90 ST

Notice they are both mustangs? I'm not sure that's a coincident...I drive my Z all year round have over 200,000 miles on it half are winter, good tires and it's fine. Just don't drive like a A-hole.

Originally Posted by Duc_Z09

I drove through 14 winters in that car before my luck finally ran out. I was only going 40mph at the time; the road went from wet to icy very suddenly and I wasn't the only one in the median that day... one of the people who stopped was in a 350Z and he was crapping nickles. In fact someone I work with slid his 350Z off the road that very same afternoon, only difference was there didn't happen to be a sign in the way when he went off. The point is $h*t happens in RWD cars when the roads get slick and you're better off with a winter beater, preferably 4WD.

I got my salvaged 04 Grand Cherokee (72k miles) for $1500 and have another 2k in fixing everything that's wrong with it and adding a lift kit and various accessories. By the time I finish painting it this spring it's actually going to be quite nice. Best insurance policy I ever got.

Originally Posted by JDubya

I feel like I'm picking on you as this is the second post of yours I don't fully agree with.

I'll take the superior (in many cases) weight distribution of RWD in the snow. I'll also take oversteer as opposed to understeer.

Lastly, 4WD and AWD only get you going. They don't help you stop better or provide any drastic improvement to turning in the snow. If you hit a huge patch of ice, no drivetrain in the world is saving you. The tires on your car are more important than any drivetrain choice you make.

I hear where you're coming from about unexpected things happening to RWD cars in poor conditions though, but I think that's more of a function of a driver being unprepared to handle the power that comes with most RWD cars.

Originally Posted by Duc_Z09

I agree with you about tires being important, but I definitely don't agree that oversteer is preferable to understeer. Understeer is predictable; oversteer is not. Also, 4 wheels turning absolutely helps keep you straight when cornering compared to just spinning the rears. Ice is ice, but I've purposely drifted my Cherokee in snow through enough (slow) turns to know the difference... If I tried that in the Z it wouldn't end well. I also doubt that power was ever a factor in my wife's or my v6 Mustang offroading adventures. Those cars have none

I literally got my Z stuck on a flat side street in less than 1 inch of snow last January. Sure, the summer tires didn't help. But you can't tell me it compares in any way to a 4WD platform that I've taken up steep logging trails through several inches of snow and ice, regardless of tire choice.

Originally Posted by JDubya

Yea, I drove my Z on summer tires in the snow once (just outside my house to see how bad it was). It was comical.

And yea I'd definitely much rather have something with a 4WD platform if I'm driving on roads that haven't been maintained that have steep inclines, so we agree there

And I swear I'm not trying to rock the boat, but 4WD and AWD literally do nothing to keep your car on the road when you turn. It's all about the grip of the tire to the road, and power to the wheels doesn't create extra traction when turning.