snow time

kenchan

i have a FF dd with snow tires.

and yes you are right. in deep snow, snow tires do not work so well on RWD.

ChrisSlicks

That's not really true at all. Snow tires work just as well on a RWD car as a FWD provided that roughly 50% of the vehicle weight is over the drive axle. I'd rather fish tale a little than understeer off the road. I drive a RWD truck through Winter with snow tires and it has no problems with 6-inches of snow, obviously ground clearance is an advantage in that kind of vehicle.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

PapoZalsa

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2009 370Z MB Base w/Sport Package 6MT
Modshack's Custom Air Intakes /3M Clear Bra/ Illuminated Kick Plates / F. I CBE w/12" resonators / EVO-R Front Lip / Rear Hatch Wing / Tein S-Tech Springs /Ilegal Tint in the Rep. of VA/4x20mm Z1 Spacers/ Vinyl Roof/Liquid Carbon Designs

Jeffblue

is the salt really THAT bad? i mean, i've always been under the impression it is, but as long as you rinse off the car once week i can't imagine a car made in 2009/10 thats going to turn into a rust bucket after a few winter seasons being properly maintained. aren't cars nowadays designed to be pretty resistant to corrosion provided you treat them properly?

toxik

+1, I think salt is only bad for your suspension, not the body of the car really.

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Project Pearl Necklace - PW 370z 05/01/2010 - 07/06/2011 (sold)

spearfish25

I can't agree with Chris more about the FWD vs RWD. While FWD keeps most drivers from spinning out, they just slide into things or off the road instead. My Z has been getting a bit of work done and I'm driving a POS FWD car. I've been caught off guard with understeer a few times now. I'd much prefer a little tail-wag than the "Oh $hit, I'm not turning" feeling.

Jeff, corrosion isn't a huge deal at all. A weekly washdown with a nice undercarriage rinse keeps everything pretty much corrosion free.

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2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z

red6spd

Your right, the car is not gonna rust away. Thats not why I dont like drive my car during the winter. But you got to think of everything else that the salt is getting to. Interior, Rubber around the car, Wheels, Plastics. Its also hard to rinse your car down if its been below freezing for several days. Its not gonna wreck your car but, the car that has never been subjected to winter driving is going to be in better shape below the car and on the body of the car. Thats just me. I know it sounds weird but my Altima that I owned for 3 years also never saw snow and she did not have a spec of rust under her.

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2010 Base+Sport 6spd: Stillen G3, FI Non-Resonated CBE, FI Non-Resonated Test Pipes, UpRev Tuned, Custom 24R Oil Cooler, JDM Rear Fog-OEM Harness.
???Whp ???WTQ (Will find out come spring time)

ZedZed

You're joking right? "Destroyed by the salt"

I really don't understand people who write such things? Does the Z corrode quicker or more so than any other car? I seriously doubt it.

"Salt can chip the hell of your paint"? again, what absolute tosh

If you occasionally wash your car, including the bottom side of the car, during the winter there is no reason for corrosion to occur. I've driven my Audi in winter conditions for years and never got ANY corrosion happening on any part of the car.

You have to stop with your paranoia and encouraging false beliefs to spread.

Jeffblue

understandable, you should do with your car what you feel comfortable with.
^ this is the point i'm making. you sold the car, never drove it in snow, got whatever price you got for it, and i'm sure that wasn't contingent on whether you drove it in the snow. I'm sure the next owner drove it in the snow, so for all intents in purposes, it didnt really matter whether the car saw snow or not.

i just find it hard to believe that the salt could cause enough corrosion to a new car that it would be a problem within any reasonable amount of time. if i planned on keeping a car forever, i wouldn't drive it in the snow or let any salt touch it, but i don't plan to. i remember you saying you have gone through a lot of cars in the past few years, and my point is just that if a car isn't going to be kept for like 10+ years, the winter salt shouldn't really be a huge factor in whether or not it gets driven.

in a few years, if and when you sell your z, the would be buyer probably won't pay much of a premium for the fact that it wasn't ever subjected to winter salt and it wont matter to you anymore that the car wasn't exposed to salt b/c you wont own it anymore.

i see a lot of people who have never driven there cars in the rain or snow or if there is folioage on the ground, and they go to sell it i wonder why it mattered that the car stay perfect. they have taken every step to ensure the car will last FOREVER, except after 3 years they sell it, so why does it matter? i want my car to last me as long as i want to keep it, and i want it to be in good working order when i sell it, and no road salt is going to really get in the way of that.

not attacking or anything jjust making conversation and putting in my :2cents:

obviously, there are some reasons i dont seefor why certain people feel the need to not get their cars wet, cold, or dirty, but in my mind, washing my car fixes all of that. i guess maybe not for other people.

Holliday

tosh I like that British word

Obviously the car wont wither away, it is personal preference for some who choose to keep their Z garaged. Salt is corrosive point blank. If you take care of your car correctly during the winter than more power to you.

Here are some tips for protecting against salt damage:

Protecting Your Car from Road Salt

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Jeffblue

^good link thanks

Washing the car with WARM water in the buckets makes it much less miserable when its cold out. But makes you have to pee a lot

anyone have any tips or special brushes they use for snow removal? my car stays in the garage at night, but i drive it to work. i imagine those regular bristles will scratch the paint pretty easily.

Holliday

I think using a leaf blower would be a great idea! Only if the snow is really cold and dry though Otherwise you could use a boar hair brush to wipe the snow off

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Jeffblue

kenchan

there's your problem.

my Fit with snow tires will do circles around your 370Z with snow tires in snow, while my 370Z is spotless 100% salt free.

Jeffblue

yea but you have like 7 cars haha.