A practical Winter Tire Question

SeattleLion

I have read the informative threads on snows (with 18 in rims, without, etc.) on the forum. Before investing about $1,000 I have some questions:

1. I live near Seattle. We normally get very little snow/ice. But when we do, there is little-to-no snow clearing done. The local governments don't have many plows and almost no capacity to salt/sand the roads. Considering the very low road clearance of my 370, even with snows, would I have much luck if the snow was over a few inches deep?

2. Has anyone any real life experience on snowy (unplowed and icey) roads with a 370 with snows?

This is the first car I have bought that actually has summer tires on it. The tread doesn't look encouraging to handle any ice or snow at all. I did order a pair of chains for the Z to use in the event a storm catches me when I am at work or out. I do this for every car, just in case.

I have a lot of snow driving experience. I come from NY where we normally got about 10-20 ft of snow a year (not all at once). We have a 4X4 truck so that if the bad weather sets in and we aren't surprised, my wife can drive me to work, etc.

Should I just plan on leaving my 370 in the garage, or can the car actually handle bad weather with the right tires?

One more thing. Our "season" for snow is usually November/December. After that, it rarely goes below freezing here. The La Nina forecast is that we will have an exceptionally cold/snowy time during late fall and early winter. As long as I don't attempt to cross the Cascades, my need for winter tires is just 2 months.


Thanks,
Bob

kenchan

AK has a video of him test driving his Z with snow tires in deep snow. he did pretty damn well for RWD!!! i think the only thing you need to remember is start off in 2nd gear.

ClemsonWill

I have a similar situation. We get snow here about once a year but the local governement just shuts down. They don't even attempt to clear the roads. They just wait until it melts. I would save your $1000, keep the chains for emergency, and plan on having your wife take you to work if the weather turns bad.

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Jeffblue

i'd save the money and just hitch a ride on the rare occasion that you would need one. I am going to get snow tires, already picked up some stock 18's to put them on, but i am in NY and it can snow in November all the way to april sometimes, and its pretty damn cold from november till march.

in your case, i dont think its worth the time or money of dealing with the snow tires since you only have 2 months to worry about.

cossie1600

look for used ones.

wilsonp

I would keep in mind the summer tires don't like cold temperatures either.

We don't get much snow/ice, but it does get cold for 3.5 months or so, and I normally switch to all season tires to handle that.

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Was 2009 370Z Touring Sport+Nav 7AT Metallic Black/Persimmon
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JerWA

I'm winter beater shopping myself. Supposed to be the winter of doom if you believe the forecasters. I was here in Seattle for the storms in 2007 and 2008 and there's no way snow tires on the Z are gonna cope with that if we get it again.

Plus like you said it's easily $1,000 for snow tires on the Z, you're already half way to a beater that fixes the other half of the snow equation; other drivers! No matter how good the Z does in snow the Seattle drivers can't handle it and are going to be doing stupid things like the last bad year lol.

Jeffblue

what are you looking at getting?

JerWA

Old 4x4 trucks mostly. They are relatively cheap and I won't care when/if someone crashes into it. The problem is that road maint here is up to the city, most cities have almost no equipment to deal with snow.

If it's as bad as they say, like it was in 2007 or worse, we will probably have 6"+ on the ground a few times. It was deep enough that my Mustang high centered on the rear diff and I had to dig it out... and that was in my driveway. Cost me 2 weeks of work over all, which is about what a beater would have cost me. If it's supposed to be even worse this year, I can buy a beater, drive it on the worst days, then sell it in the spring lol.

Jeffblue

true that, and a 2k car doesn't really depreciate that much in terms of acutal dollars. if it depreciates by half, big deal, 1000 bucks for a few months of beating the snot out of it, sounsd good to me.