Z in the snow?
 

Planning a road trip to New Mexico next month, and will almost surely be encountering snow/ice. I have the option of taking the Z or my wife's Element. (Front drive, no traction control.)

I want to take the Z b/c of the nav and t/c, but am weary of driving on the summer tires. I'm also too cheap to buy a set of winter tires just for one trip.

Anyone have any experience driving in these types of conditions yet? Think I'll be ok for one week on the Bridgestones?:confused:

Below 30F degrees, the stock Bridgestones on your sport will suffer from a hard tread, and your traction even on dry pavement will suck. If the Element has all-seasons, you would be better off in that.

A couple of weeks before I put snows on my Z, I experienced this first-hand coming out of a roundabout. All summer long, I've been nailing the throttle coming onto the straight after this circle. At 35F degrees, the back end came right around on me (easily caught) and overall the traction on the circle was perceptibly less good. That's without any snow at all. I would highly, highly recommend that you avoid driving the stock summer tires in snow!

You’re not going to like this but, here goes. Being from the Midwest, I never drove a sports car in the Winter. You can be a careful driver, have adequate traction but, it’s the other drivers that will slide into you. Additionally, road salt kills metal. I would look into renting a 4X4 SUV.

Don't do it! Take the front-wheel-drive Element! Save the Z! Snow, salt, geez.

X2. Your tires are going to be ***, unless you replaced them with quality all-seasons.

Don't do it! Let's keep the Z insurance low.

Thanks for the quick responses. Looks like I'll be taking the box then.

A wise choice.

Yup...Best plan..

http://images28.fotki.com/v964/photo...ew_copy-vi.jpg

dont think you wanna take that chance with a nice car like that!

Yep, take the Element. Woke up today to snow. The Z goes to the hanger at the airport as soon as the roads dry a little.

+1 :tup:
But some of our members are ballin that they don't see the z as a dream come true. :shakes head:

...350Z in an permanent Summer here!!! My 365-day-a-year DD! Greetings, guys!
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ____________
Flawless '04.5 White Pearl Touring Coupe: Seamless AT, no feathering, no oil heating/consumption issues, no starting problems, NO PROBLEMO!!!

Z with summer tires in snow is a bad plan.

To all who claim that road salt will kill a Z....we'll find out soon enough. What about a Z do you think is different than any other car that has no problem surviving a road-salted winter? I've driven a number of cars through Chicago winters and had no corrosion problems.

Honestly? After looking closely at the chassis and undercarriage parts of the Z, I wouldn't subject it to a salty winter... Like Z's before it I don't think it will age well in those conditions...

Yes, zincrometals and corrosion-resist coatings have made a huge difference in snow belt states. I posted earlier about Ford's new self-healing paint. This is a huge change! When I was growing up in upstate NY, we'd see brand new Cadillac's reduced to piles of rust after 3 winters. (this tells you that I am an old fart):nutswinger:

Porsche & Audi pioneered 2-sided Galvineel and now that most of the industry uses at least 1-sided, very few rust-through warranty's have to be honored.

Anyone know whether the Z uses 1-sided or 2-sided Galvineel?

snow and z :bowrofl:

That is the one trait of Japanese cars I hope they have fixed. Rust. I own a '96 Camry that we use as a knock-around DD. It does not have any rust at all. Good sign.

When I bought my 1999 Benz (ML-320), I asked the salesman about rust (The rust protection I think is 10 years). He said "they don't rust". He was right.

So uh, what is the minimum temp (F) that the Bridgestones can handle, anyway? Ima drive it in winter if it's 40F and no snow..............

A pair of Blizzaks on the back would make a night and day difference, but, cmon man. Salt, mud, gravel flying at your bumper and windshield...you dont want to do that.

You absolutely should NOT mix winter tires with different seasonal tire (eg, winters on the rear, summer up front). As stated on numerous tire sales websites, this can lead to a dangerous traction imbalance.

Summer tires become more rock-like as the temp drops. You can certainly use them in 40F dry weather, but they won't have the same grip as in 80F weather. Traction will be reduced but summer tires in 40F DRY weather isn't unsafe.

One word: BLIZZACKS!

Make sure you buy them for all four wheels. You will have absolutely no problems with them on all four wheels.