Snow Driving...Who's done it so far?

AK370Z · 04-06-2009, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spearfish25

If anyone knows of cheaper rims that fit over the sport brakes, please let me know. Snow tires for the 19"s are tough to come by, and I don't know if 18" will make it over the sport brakes. Still waiting for someone to take a 370Z to tirerack to measure...

I'm actually thinking of picking up maybe an used "base" rims set for the Z and wrap it around with winter tires. This way I can preserve the nice OEM Forged rims. I can clean and store them in winter. When summer comes, they will go on the car in excellent shape. Just my

P.S. Anyone tested base rims on their sports package yet? I am assuming it'll fit.

spearfish25 · 04-07-2009, 05:17 AM

Yeah, I'm not sure they will actually. The forged rims barely clear the calipers. Anyone tried it with the 18" base rims?

AK370Z · 04-07-2009, 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spearfish25

Yeah, I'm not sure they will actually. The forged rims barely clear the calipers. Anyone tried it with the 18" base rims?

18" Nismo LMGT4s on black 370Z
One of our members actually tried the 350z nismo rims on a sports package 370Z and it fits without any problem. With that said, I'm thinking the base will def fit. It'll be nice to have someone verify it first though. Also, I remember seeing the 08 OEM rims on a 370Z as well.... Can't find the picture at the moment.

Zxces50 · 04-08-2009, 06:29 PM

Long time driver in Boston- got my Z in Jan & stored it. Put on road in March - had 1/4" snow Z would not even get up small slope- I kept my 4x4 truck so will drive that in winter

CrownR426 · 04-09-2009, 12:13 PM

This is the dumbest idea ever.
NEVER EVER drive in the snow.
You can get seriously injured or hurt other innocent people!
Please, try to avoid driving in the snow.
Many bad memories.

ChrisSlicks · 04-09-2009, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrownR426

This is the dumbest idea ever.
NEVER EVER drive in the snow.
You can get seriously injured or hurt other innocent people!
Please, try to avoid driving in the snow.
Many bad memories.

Dude, in Boston driving in the snow just goes with the territory. If you didn't drive in the snow you would be at home half of the winter.

Driving in the snow is perfectly safe provided you know what your doing and you have the proper snow tires. You drive much slower and brake much earlier. I wouldn't recommend the 370Z as a winter car but with the right tires it can be done.

spearfish25 · 04-09-2009, 01:16 PM

Exactly. Unfortunately I don't have the resources to enjoy the luxury of two cars. The 370z will be perfectly fine in Chicago for probably 355 days of the year. For the remaining "bad" snow days, I'll have a set of winter tires or I can borrow my in-law's jeep or take a taxi (probably worse than snow tires in the 370z).

Manual transmissions are historically beneficial in snow...anyone who knows how to handle one appropriately will be a safer driver than a corresponding automatic transmission driver.

Akirasoft · 04-11-2009, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by citycat

I put some Kumho all-season high perf tires on my BMW and they were HORRIBLE in the snow. Dedicated snow tires kicked butt, though, and I had less trouble than a lot of the pickups and SUVs around here in Detroit.

Spend the bucks on the rims and snow tires. Running snows in warmer weather won't do more than wear them down faster, so you might only get 3 seasons out of them instead of 4. Not a huge deal and not *so* bad, especially if you don't drive like a maniac with them on. I ran my snows from late November to early/mid-April and got 3 seasons out of the Blizzaks. Ditched the BMW before I even put 2000 miles on the Hankooks so I can't comment on wear there.

If you can survive this storm, it's probably close to the last bit of snow we'll see in the Midwest that amounts to anything this year. You've got all summer to save up for Rims&Tires in the fall.

Just my $0.02, FWIW.

were they ecsta ASX's? The ASX's were ok on my evo in teh snow but horrible on the wife's GTI. GTI was better with Dunlop SP Wintersport 3D's.

Just took delivery of my Z today and managed to drive home this evening with the temp at around 34-36. Was uneventful but I wouldn't make a habit of it. Summer tires are hockey pucks at that temp.

spearfish25 · 04-11-2009, 11:28 PM

I've found the summer tires to be pretty darn good even around freezing when things are dry. I do occasionally get some wheel spin and VDC activation on hard corning or hot acceleration in 1st and 2nd gear when it's near freezing though.

I was wondering why I couldn't get the tires to 'chirp' when shifting from 1st to 2nd like in all the videos, but then I realized it was a combo of the cold weather and the VDC being activated.

citycat · 04-12-2009, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akirasoft

were they ecsta ASX's? The ASX's were ok on my evo in teh snow but horrible on the wife's GTI. GTI was better with Dunlop SP Wintersport 3D's.

Just took delivery of my Z today and managed to drive home this evening with the temp at around 34-36. Was uneventful but I wouldn't make a habit of it. Summer tires are hockey pucks at that temp.

I'm pretty sure they were ASXs, yeah. I got a lot of spin on them with any snow at all. In wet weather, they were fantastic, and I liked them a lot for dry summer weather.

Blizzaks were great in the snow. Hankooks I didn't have long enough to make a solid judgement.

Akirasoft · 04-12-2009, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by citycat

I'm pretty sure they were ASXs, yeah. I got a lot of spin on them with any snow at all. In wet weather, they were fantastic, and I liked them a lot for dry summer weather.

Blizzaks were great in the snow. Hankooks I didn't have long enough to make a solid judgement.

yeah, for an allseason they were a pretty decent midwestern 3 season tire. just horrible in the snow in the size on the gti. WAY too wide for a fwd car with an open diff.

CrownR426 · 04-12-2009, 02:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisSlicks

Dude, in Boston driving in the snow just goes with the territory. If you didn't drive in the snow you would be at home half of the winter.

Driving in the snow is perfectly safe provided you know what your doing and you have the proper snow tires. You drive much slower and brake much earlier. I wouldn't recommend the 370Z as a winter car but with the right tires it can be done.

You can't get away with that in jersey.

kamikaze_Z · 04-14-2009, 02:05 AM

not mine.

Operator · 04-14-2009, 01:01 PM

as exciting as that video is this one is way more interesting:
YouTube - 370z takes 1st place at SC SCCA autocross
(although completely unrelated)

ChrisSlicks · 04-15-2009, 09:44 AM

They auto-cross very well in slippery conditions. Last weekend it was cold and rainy, the track started off damp but started to get a drying line. I was second fastest overall on raw time and fastest by a mile after PAX. The afternoon session was full wet with big puddles and this time I was fastest on raw time with second place going to a Nismo 350Z.

04-09-2009, 12:13 PM	#20 (permalink)
CrownR426 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: South Korea Posts: 4,676 Drives: Manual Rep Power: 848	This is the dumbest idea ever. NEVER EVER drive in the snow. You can get seriously injured or hurt other innocent people! Please, try to avoid driving in the snow. Many bad memories. __________________ Love + Hardwork + Passion RIP SVTRacer

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04-07-2009, 05:17 AM	#17 (permalink)
spearfish25 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Naples, FL Posts: 4,117 Drives: to work Rep Power: 1856	Yeah, I'm not sure they will actually. The forged rims barely clear the calipers. Anyone tried it with the 18" base rims?

04-08-2009, 06:29 PM	#19 (permalink)
Zxces50 Base Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 208 Drives: 15 C7 Stingray Z51 Rep Power: 16	Long time driver in Boston- got my Z in Jan & stored it. Put on road in March - had 1/4" snow Z would not even get up small slope- I kept my 4x4 truck so will drive that in winter

04-09-2009, 01:16 PM	#22 (permalink)
spearfish25 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Naples, FL Posts: 4,117 Drives: to work Rep Power: 1856	Exactly. Unfortunately I don't have the resources to enjoy the luxury of two cars. The 370z will be perfectly fine in Chicago for probably 355 days of the year. For the remaining "bad" snow days, I'll have a set of winter tires or I can borrow my in-law's jeep or take a taxi (probably worse than snow tires in the 370z). Manual transmissions are historically beneficial in snow...anyone who knows how to handle one appropriately will be a safer driver than a corresponding automatic transmission driver.

04-11-2009, 11:28 PM	#24 (permalink)
spearfish25 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Naples, FL Posts: 4,117 Drives: to work Rep Power: 1856	I've found the summer tires to be pretty darn good even around freezing when things are dry. I do occasionally get some wheel spin and VDC activation on hard corning or hot acceleration in 1st and 2nd gear when it's near freezing though. I was wondering why I couldn't get the tires to 'chirp' when shifting from 1st to 2nd like in all the videos, but then I realized it was a combo of the cold weather and the VDC being activated.

04-14-2009, 02:05 AM	#28 (permalink)
kamikaze_Z Base Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Hawaii Posts: 22 Drives: 2009-TS-GP-6P Rep Power: 17	not mine.

04-14-2009, 01:01 PM	#29 (permalink)
Operator Base Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: NYC area Posts: 14 Drives: 944S Rep Power: 16	as exciting as that video is this one is way more interesting: YouTube - 370z takes 1st place at SC SCCA autocross (although completely unrelated)

04-15-2009, 09:44 AM	#30 (permalink)
ChrisSlicks A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: North East Posts: 6,203 Drives: 09 370Z Sport M6 Rep Power: 653	They auto-cross very well in slippery conditions. Last weekend it was cold and rainy, the track started off damp but started to get a drying line. I was second fastest overall on raw time and fastest by a mile after PAX. The afternoon session was full wet with big puddles and this time I was fastest on raw time with second place going to a Nismo 350Z.