Winter beater

Duc_Z09

Sure, you can probably get away with driving a Z in snow, but why would you? According to your profile you're 56 years old, so you have plenty of experience and know damn well that a Z is one of the worst winter-performing cars you can possibly buy. Why not have a winter beater and stop endangering yourself and everyone else on the road? They're out there; I got a 2004 Grand Cherokee for $1500.

Here's why I don't drive lightweight RWD cars in the winter if I have an alternative. It's just common sense. The first one is me last year, the 2nd is my wife 2 weeks ago.

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2009 370z #206 (all mods are Home Depot)
2009 Ducati 848 (full Ohlins, Termignoni, etc)
2003 Grand Cherokee (long arms, big tires, 4.56, lockers)

HEK

I have wifey's 2014 Rogue to my disposal since she works from home. Clearly if we get a blizzard I will choose the Rogue but my point here is that I bought the Z as my daily driver and will drive it during the Winter because I control the vehicle not just aim it as most people do. I don't text, drink or eat in the car I drive because is not the car that causes accidents but most times is driver error. I went to both tractor trailer school and Top Gun driving classes back in the day (not sure if even exists now) so I'm confident not cocky that I can maneuver the vehicle under most driving conditions and well I'm going off topic but thank's for the advise

4TthAnnyZ

I bought a Pathfinder to replace my old Volvo this winter. VQ love!

JDubya

While I understand where you're coming from, and agree that a winter beater would be the best option, I'll argue that the Z really isn't that awful in the snow.

The Z has 3 issues in the snow: 1. Clearance, 2. Stock tires. 3. Other drivers who think their SUVs & FWD/AWD cars with all season tires are tanks.

Everything else (RWD for example) is not that big of a deal.

With winter tires, the Z is completely reasonable in the snow, provided it isn't so much that you're plowing it and assuming you drive reasonably with respect to the conditions. My Z with winter tires handles better than my Altima with all seasons ever did in the snow.

Anyway, this topic has been beaten to death on these forums. Youtube can provide at least 5-6 videos of Zs getting around just fine in the snow.

roadrash666

Here's my wifes winter 'beater', it was her DD before she got her Z. Her car doesn't leave the driveway if there's salt on the roads, much less snow. People in St.Louis can't drve in the snow, so it's better to drive the tank and leave the Z in the driveway where it's safe.

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The Z is hers. I'm just the caretaker.

synolimit

First off a Z isn't lightweight haha. Fuel and drivers 3500 lbs. A Miatas light weight. Second Id take a Corvette with snow tires vs anything else with with summers or all seasons. Stoping and turning has NOTHING to do with power or RWD!

If you crashed those cars like that it was because of poor equipment, poor skills or both. Pretty sure this is why it's illegal to have a car in Germany during winter without and ice/snow tire.

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13 370z-

JF450

Exactly what Scott just said. I don't daily drive the Z, but I do take it out once or twice a week. I live in Montreal and the winters are pretty harsh here, with lots of ice, slush and snow.

I never had any problems controlling any of the RWD vehicules I owned. (1987 chevette, 1989 mustang gt) And back then winter tires weren't even mandatory, now they are from Dec 15th to March 15th, and they make a HUGE difference.

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No more Z

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.

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.

__________________
2009 370z #206 (all mods are Home Depot)
2009 Ducati 848 (full Ohlins, Termignoni, etc)
2003 Grand Cherokee (long arms, big tires, 4.56, lockers)

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.

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.

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2009 370z #206 (all mods are Home Depot)
2009 Ducati 848 (full Ohlins, Termignoni, etc)
2003 Grand Cherokee (long arms, big tires, 4.56, lockers)

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.

Shotta

Took me almost 10 years of driving to learn it's got everything to do with the tires and almost nothing to do with the 2wd vs 4wd for normal winter roads (off road and mountain climbing excluded). For example, my wife drives a 4wd Ford Escape for the winter. That thing was scary as sh!t to drive in the winter with the factory all season tires, absolutely no stopping or accelerating ability. I threw on snow tires for her and it grips like no tomorrow now.

For people that have driven only rear wheel drive cars their whole life driving in the winter is a piece of cake, in fact I can get around most of the time without even getting the traction control to engage so I'm not slipping and sliding anywhere.

4wd with snow tires will make it easier and more forgiving for the majority but I wouldn't drive a junker half the year just because of that reason. On the other hand if we are talking bustin through snow drifts and driving off road I will take the 4wd. I had a jeep cj back in the day and enjoyed going to the jeep offroad events.

Everyone just needs to drive what they feel comfortable in.

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NissanGuy23

Yea my AWD subaru is far better in snow than my RWD Jeep was on the same tires. Acceleration is a huge part to driving a car (it makes it go) and having twice the grip makes the difference. The Jeep would just spin when i got to an incline, or get stuck, Subaru just rips up any hills and is controllable around corners (while accelerating) where as the Jeep is dangerous.