Winter beater

HEK · 02-12-2015, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

what he said

ayrton88 · 02-12-2015, 10:48 AM

I grew up with RWD and I much prefer oversteer to understeer. What I find scary here in the midwest is all the idiots that get a 4WD SUV and think that they can drive like its summer. I must admit I get a good laugh at all the SUVs into the walls on the Eisenhower expressway every time it snows. I see much more of them in the wall than Mustangs or any other RWD cars. I think it has more to do with experience driving than anything. It's funny, but most taxis here in Chicago are big old boats with RWD and I see very few involved in accidents in the snow.

LAVA · 02-12-2015, 11:27 AM

very true AWD/4WD instill a false sense of security.

NissanGuy23 · 02-12-2015, 12:23 PM

Quote:

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.

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.

synolimit · 02-12-2015, 01:39 PM

Point proven

Snow tires.

Shotta · 02-12-2015, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott@Synergy

Point proven

Snow tires.

Wow!

kenchan · 02-12-2015, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shotta

Everyone just needs to drive what they feel comfortable in.

you mean like a winter beater.

HEK · 02-12-2015, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenchan

you mean like a winter beater.

did anyone say winter beater......

HEK · 02-13-2015, 07:03 AM

here is a little dirty at work z park.jpg

kenchan · 02-13-2015, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HEK

did anyone say winter beater......

made a whole circle

back to page1!!!

HEK · 02-14-2015, 04:06 PM

And people pay big dollars to have their cars wrapped. New England does it free for me...

zefaulter · 02-14-2015, 04:09 PM

Damn I hate the salt but what can you do

HEK · 02-14-2015, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zefaulter

Damn I hate the salt but what can you do

It raises your blood pressure and makes you bloated...

, but really the salt will not eat away at your vehicle the minute it hits your car, is leaving it there unattended for months but for now I'm not worried, once we get passed these blizzards coming our way and the temp goes above 32 deg. I will spend a few hours rinsing the vehicle mostly under and in the wheel wells the paint is protected since the last time I washed the car I clayed it, polished it, waxed and sealed it so it may look ugly but it's only on the surface. Today it was snowing and I headed out, there were cops directing traffic because of an off road Ford actually off the road, lol and when I drove by the cop he stopped me and said " wow beautiful car is that all wheel drive", I said no it's rear wheel with all wheel snow tires", he laughed and gave me a thumbs up...

zefaulter · 02-14-2015, 11:20 PM

Good plan! I really like the 2013+ led DRL front. Looks good: tup:

HEK · 02-15-2015, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zefaulter

Good plan! I really like the 2013+ led DRL front. Looks good: tup:

Thanks man, I like your after market rims, I had a few choices for my Winter set up unless I went with the square look I chose not to so I dropped from 19" to 18" and was able to keep the rear wider than the front, no problems.Today we may get another 6 to 8 inches of powder snow. The only problem I'm faced with is the car being so low and the snow banks on the corners are more than 5 foot high I have to inch myself on to the main drag when I take turns....

( Off topic...is there a spell checker button somewhere on the response screen, I make mistakes and these words become underlined but I have to go back and fix them manually, thanks)

02-12-2015, 10:48 AM	#62 (permalink)
ayrton88 Enthusiast Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Chicago Posts: 397 Drives: 2010 Nissan 370Z Rep Power: 14	I grew up with RWD and I much prefer oversteer to understeer. What I find scary here in the midwest is all the idiots that get a 4WD SUV and think that they can drive like its summer. I must admit I get a good laugh at all the SUVs into the walls on the Eisenhower expressway every time it snows. I see much more of them in the wall than Mustangs or any other RWD cars. I think it has more to do with experience driving than anything. It's funny, but most taxis here in Chicago are big old boats with RWD and I see very few involved in accidents in the snow. falicfr likes this.

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02-12-2015, 11:27 AM	#63 (permalink)
LAVA Track Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Ohio Posts: 775 Drives: AWD Q50S_3.7 Rep Power: 81	very true AWD/4WD instill a false sense of security.

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02-14-2015, 11:20 PM	#74 (permalink)
zefaulter A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,983 Drives: 40th 370Z Rep Power: 28	Good plan! I really like the 2013+ led DRL front. Looks good: tup: