A 370Z in the snow
 

Hey everyone!

So I am about to get a 370z but I live in Denver, Colorado. How do they handle in the snow.(obviously with some snow tires like blizzaks with possibly chains) I trust my driving ability but there's some things good driving can't help.

Thanks!

Joe

With dedicated snows/rims it will handle fine especially if you have a limited slip differential or viscous diff. whatever Nissan calls it. Chains may not clear brakes, etc. I've used Michelin Xice snow tires for the past four winters in Iowa. No problem until the snow gets 5 inches deep then you best park it unless you like to plow snow.

Well I can tell you that with summer tires, it's kinda drivable in the snow

The 370Z is my wife's daily driver and winter beater. If she could do it, you could do it too. It runs the cheapest winter tires I could find, in this case oversized Falken Eurowinter HS449 (to increase ground clearance) in 245/50/18 mounted on 350Z OEM wheels.

Just because you can use a scalpel to chop wood doesn't mean you should, or that it's a good idea. Park it and buy a winter beater. If you can't afford a second vehicle you can't afford a sports car.

I live in Minnesota. As a daily driver in a snow-prone part of the country...the 370Z is a bad, bad choice.

I can also tell you that with summer tires it's not in the slightest bit driveable in the snow. As a matter of fact, it's downright dangerous. With the expense and hassle of snow tires and rims, the car is about as driveable as you would expect from a 3300 lb 330 HP rear-wheel drive car with 4.5 inches of ground clearance. That is...not very.

Drives fine in the snow with real snow tires, as long as it's not too deep.

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Bzzzzzzzzzt! Wrong.:icon18:

Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner!

I've been stuck in half an inch of snow. On a flat side street. Stock 285 Potenza RE11's. With summer tires don't even bother. With skinny winter rims and Blizzak's you might get away with it every now and again... but why risk it? I know the main reason I shelled out for a dedicated sports car was so I could coat it with salt and calcium every winter and tempt some jackass in a speeding SUV with bald tires to slide into it.:rolleyes:

I drove a fwd shitty car with a donut on one of the front tires in the snow and it all depended on how I drove which I would watch how i do with the 370z. My roomie also has a challenger that makes it through the snow.. so all in all i think it depends on
1. How you drive
2. Tires,(idk what rims hace to do with it)
3. A keen eye on everyone else driving

1. Well duh.
2. Skinny rims = more weight per square inch of rubber = better in snow
3. See number 1. This applies in good weather, too.

Your roomie's Challenger weighs about 1,000lbs more than your Z. And I have no doubt it sucks in the snow too compared to say, oh I dunno, my Jeep. Or any AWD car with decent tires. Or even a Camry with all-season tread.

The Z is a shitty winter car. Period. If you're willing to put up with it (and it sounds like you're trying to convince yourself to) then by all means drive it through the snow. Just remember that you're "getting away with it" not because it's a good idea or the car was designed for it, but because 98% of the time you'll be OK provided everything works out how you expect it to. The other 2% of the time you're going to be screwed.

You sound angry

Because I've seen this same thread dozens of times. On motorcycle forums it usually goes like this:

a) Hi everyone, I'm a brand new rider and I've always wanted a GSXR1000. Would this be a good bike for a beginner? It's only 190hp and my mom's Accord makes like 270...

b) Me: No. These machines are dedicated blahblahblah... lots of technical ******** newbs don't understand.

c) Newb: Oh but I'm really responsible and I won't ride it fast.

d) Me: It's not about responsibility, it's about experience blahblahblah... more advice someone who doesn't really want advice is going to ignore.

e) Newb: I know I'm going to be different.

f) 2-3 months later: a thread titled RIP Stup1dN00B_1000rr

its my dream car, if i can afford it now then I want it.(actually the 350z is my dream car, but I want the newer version) And I would take your advice if you didn't seem so hostile.

I'm actually trying to save you some grief. If you can afford a 370 (buy used, btw) then you can also afford a $3k beater for when it snows. You're going to find out soon that you don't want salt and calcium on your nice car anyway, and Nissan paint is notorious for being weak.

As far as driving a RWD sports car in the snow... let's just say I have some experience. I "got away with it" for 14 winters. Until one day I didn't.

Not wrong. I drove it in the snow with summer tires. No scares. Just sideways at times.

Can't tell me I'm wrong when I've experienced it myself.

You just proved my point. Sideways on a deserted side street is fun. Sideways into oncoming traffic gets yourself and a carload of other people killed.

Most of the time sideways was intentional because there was no one else on the streets. Also stayed in my lane the entire time.

Agree to disagree

Do you agree that winter tires or a different vehicle would have been a lot easier to control?

When I got my license I went to an ice driving school so it wasn't that hard. I actually had more problems with winter beater Maxima in the snow so I don't necessarily agree with that part. I will agree snow tires will make it easier

My entire point is that in the snow a 370z is a lot worse off than most vehicles. It's not my mom's AWD Volvo, it's not my lifted 4x4 Jeep, it's not even a Subaru Legacy. Hell, it's worse than my wife's Mustang. If you have uncommon skill and a bit of luck you can drive one... until about 5" of white stuff anyway. But why would you?:ugh2:

1: starts snowing even though there was no snow called for that day and took it to work.
2: Fun

No, especially on a sports car, an LSD will not improve handling in the snow, take off traction possibly, but with an LSD you're immediately going to find the fall line on a slick surface if it locks up.

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Number 2 is incorrect by the way, unless you're also running a much skinnier tire. The only thing that will do with a similar sized tire is change the shape of the contact patch, not the area.

Changing the shape of the patch can be a good thing as well though. Narrower bites through rather than rides on top and potentially gets better traction due to that.

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I have to ask what sort of Jeep you have, unless it's an XJ, Unlimited, LJ, or something with a comparable wheelbase, I'm assuming YJ, TJ, JK, CJ, etc., it's a terrible snow vehicle, on public roads, for a single very obvious reason.

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A 370Z in the snow
 

I've been driving mine in the snow since 2009. It's actually quite fun in the snow with full snow tires.

14 years is a long time, you shouldve 1.Had insurance and 2. By that time had enough for another car (to replace the wrecked one) or a "winter beater"

I beg to differ wit that one. Have you seen the memes?!? That's on dry pavement!
Seriously tho, can it be done with good winter tires and wheels? Maybe.
Should you risk it? Probably not
Would i? Definitely not

:iagree: I was able to drive in 1-3" snow max with the CONTINENTAL EXTREMECONTACT DWS. Good luck doing that with the stock tires.

stock tires aren't RE-11's...and those RE-11's are 'extreme summer performance tires'...per Tire Rack's website.

I've driven in the snow before with the stock OEM RE050s (which are a step below 'extreme'). Not a lot of snow, just a light coating...so I can't really give much input on this topic.

What he's doing in this thread is quite clever I have to admit though. Mixing just the right amount of truths in with the half thruths to make it plausible takes talent.

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The biggest advantage TO drive a manual (6MT) 370Z in icy/snowy/rainey conditions that not one person has thought of or shared is the rev match system. It matches both up and down shifts so traction and suspension isn't upset by drivetrain shock during gear changes. This alone (and patience) allowed me to drive after a suprise ice storm some years ago while still on stock summer tires. Smooth steering and rev match saved that day.

Then I upgraded my tires and never looked back to the idea of a winter car. These tires safely got me through Wyoming, Colorado, and the mountain range of New Mexico during a snow storm that was bad enough to shut I-70 down. I never once lost traction! They're great in the rain and have MUCH better dry handling/traction than the stock tires.

General*G-MAX AS-03

I drove mine in Canadian winters out west in the mountains for 6 winters...get some good winter tires and be smart about what you try driving thru/over. I don't know why people are so against driving this in the winter...cause RWD? So was damn near every car for 80 years. people got around.

They're what came on my nismo so I assumed they were stock. A previous owner could have installed them since I'm the 3rd owner of this car. They certainly don't like snow.

Salvage title WJ. It goes through snow like a champ. County plows, ATVs and myself were basically all that was moving on this day last January.

:iagree:

Appropriate driving on proper tires for the conditions in the Z is better than any of the idiots driving AWD SUVs in the snow like it's dry ...

The scary part is putting the Z on the road with all the other idiots in the snow :eekdance:

I swap to Blizzaks in late October and drive the car all winter. What's the point of having a car if all it does is sit in the garage? :driving:


That being said, the folks I work for understand that if there is more than 3" of snow, I'm not coming to work. At least until the roads are plowed. :p


With right tires and patience, you'll be fine. 40+ years driving in all kinds of crap and only one off-road encounter because of weather... course I had help from a were-possum... :ugh2:

I had my Z since '14 , live in MA and bought a set of rims and snow tires not going with the square look as I like the wider tires in the rear and never had an issue with the snow, granted we had 2 blizzards and even SUV's were getting stuck so use your head..other than that up to 3" you even get to drift once in a while...have fun :driving:

I had mine as a DD in Wisconsin over one winter. It's very drivable on winter tires. I'd suggest some sort of LSD though. I had a few cases where one wheel was slipping and applying more gas allowed my other wheel that had grip to move forward thanks to the VLSD. Even more drivable if you're at stock height.
I'll be driving a dedicated winter car from now on though, although I'll still have winter tires on the Z when I feel like having fun. Reason being that while I felt safe about my own car, I was always worried about getting hit and additional corrosion due to the heavy amounts of salt on the roads. I felt compelled to do very frequent washes and to me, having a beater that I can take out on the worst of days is worth the price of depreciation and registration costs on a $5000 car.

These are the reasons you should have a winter beater ...

not because the Z does poorly in the snow.

Don't do it...

Just because you can.. doesn't mean you should. Not driving the Z in the winter will keep the car looking nicer for way longer. No salt damage, less rust, etc. I put my Z to bed at the beginning of November and she comes out of hiding in March. I still get to drive her for most of the year, and I know that it won't get messed up by any winter damage.

Get a winter beater and call it a day.