Driving in winter... (mild 56K warning)

didymus

I still don't understand why they went with summer tires

370Z Purist

Because even ultra high performance all season tires do not have enough of a contact patch and/or grip and/or speed rating to allow the Z to run at its intended performance level on dry road.

It is also generally understood that driving any sports car in snow is both dangerous and unnecessary. The idea is that if you want a performance car that you'd either have another car for winter (because even with snow tires you can't exactly drive the Z normally whereas most other cars will handle perfectly fine).

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-Phil

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m4a1mustang

A sports car is not dangerous in the snow (nor unnecessary) if you have the proper tire for the conditions.

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JB1

Send you a PM with the info, hope it helps! Good luck getting your car fixed!

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JB1

Here I have to disagree, I'm in my second winter season with my Z and have had no problems driving normally. Yes, my wife's Forester handles better in the snow, but compared to the front wheel drive cars on all season tires I had in the past, the Z on Blizzaks handles the winter weather a lot better.

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Black Fangs // Black rear Valance // Berk CBE // COBB post MAF tubes // K&N drop in filters // Setrab Oil Cooler // Stillen Sway bars // Z1 SS brake lines // Stillen brake cooling kit // Harness bar //

spinhead

I guess it depends on what you mean by "normally". Obviously you can't Need for Speed on snowy roads in the winter like you can in the summer. Nor can winter tires even handle the power of the Z so you can't really push it without vdc kicking in. But slow and steady driving on snowed up roads has been just fine for me so far on michelin x-ices. In fact I seem to be doing better than most people on their all seasons with front wheel drive. So I definitely wouldn't call winter driving in snow tires unsafe, just boring.

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Jeffblue

VDC comes on when i drive with my snows, its doing its job. you have to drive cautiously, like you should be doing anyway in snow, unlike every SUV driving soccer mom who doesn't realize their braking and turning ability has greatly decreased.

The Z doesn't come with all season tires because all season tires are mediocre at everything. You get mediocre summer traction and terrible winter traction. i think you're better off with summer tires in winter, knowing that they suck in snow then with the false sense of security you have from 'all season' tires. all season tires work decently in snow on a underpowered FWD car with thin tires. on the Z the improved traction you get on snow is marginal at best when compared to a summer tire. Hence, let the car come with summer tires, and if you want to drive it in winter/on snow, you'll get a set of winters, instead of throwing some mediocre tires on it so that the overall driving experience is diminished.

mpanecki

I live in NJ. In the fall I bought a set of nice set of 18 inch rims mounted with bridgestone bilzzak tires all around. I got them from tire rack for about $1400. The 18 inch tires are just as tall as the 19 inch so traction control and abs work fine. Mine is not a daily driver but if it snows this is about is good as it gets. Good luck

m4a1mustang

+10000000

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370Z Purist

Honestly, I've driven a car with snow tires (40% tread Blizzaks), all seasons (60% tread Hankooks), and summer tires (50% tread Fuzions).

Notice how they're all around half done for. I was driving them on about an inch of snow in a large parking lot and teaching my buddy how to drive manual in a 94 Impreza L with 280 whp. The center diff was welded to 50/50, and the only difference I found was that the Hankooks performed worse than both the snow and summer tires. They were probably just cheap ones, but they were all the same dimensions, 225's on various 16 inch wheels. Mind you, the L only weighs 1900 pounds, but I could drop the clutch in at 4500 and get grip faster than the Hankooks.

I've heard of some of the members here dropping 50 pound sand bags into the trunks of their RWD cars and getting decent traction. I can't remember exactly, but I believe m4a1mustang was one of those people.

It just seems the only good application of even the highest performance all seasons are dry highway use because they handle dry and heavy rain decently and work okay in the snow as long as you're driving slower than a senile retiree (if you're the slow driving kind and not the insane driving kind, no offense to our older members...).

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-Phil

"Since one of my brake light bulbs just went out, the forum told me that my piston rings are about to blow."

Red__Zed

It's still suboptimal, given the drivetrain and the weight distribution. It's certainly not unreasonable to do though.

370Z Purist

I see it as being possible but unreasonable, if you catch my drift.

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-Phil

"Since one of my brake light bulbs just went out, the forum told me that my piston rings are about to blow."

samb03

check and see of the tie rod is bent. If isn't you can get realigned enough to drive it to the shop by adjusting it. All it takes is a couple (can't remember sizes) open end wrenchs and a tape measure. get a measurement from the front of the tires and adjsut it so it has the same measure on the backside of the front of the tires. This will get you 0degrees of toe. You will have to secure the steering wheel in place or it will not be pointed straight up when you are done. This is just a quick fix to get to the shop for a proper alignment. Road racers do this alot. When you are done bounce the front end of the car to settle it and see what it looks like. "settle" it before you start aswell.

You can build a box of string measured from the same points from the car on both sides. Then measure distances from the strings to the tire and do a full alignment caster/camber/toe. In that order.

Holliday

I hate winter

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SeattleLion

Like most generalizations, this one is deeply flawed. The optimum performance for any car is acheived when the tires exactly match the road conditions. That's why people who race seriously have a set of track tires that would perform horribly on standard roads in bad weather.

Theoretically, all season tires can perform as well as summer tires. In practice some all seasons (like Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus) do outperform many "summer" tires. The key is to consider what the car is intended to do. How many 370Z's actually need the level of performance the Bridgestone summer tires claim? If Nissan followed their own logic, only the NISMO would come with maximum performance summer tires. It's the Z Nissan says it intended for racing.

Most of the rest of us will find no performance issues with really good A/S tires. I swapped the Bridgestone Potenzas for the Michelins in October. Even on warm roads, the Pilot Sport A/S tires do better than the Potenzas on wet roads. I admit that I am not racing, but I do drive in a "sporty" manner much of the time. I live in an area that is frequently wet and has roads I can enjoy the speed and handling of my Z when I drive.

In my use, the Michelins stick better than the Potenzas. That's not to say on a track the Bridgestone's wont prove better. My point is that the Z has a special place in the sports car market. It is affordable by people who can't afford multiple sets of tires. Also, other sports cars come with A/S tires.

I wish Nissan would do the same for all but the Nismo.