snow time

[sojirovskensi]

I am living in Texas, but I have some possibility moving to North/East where there will be snowing a lot.
How do you handle snow?
I think even if you put on snow tires, it won't be as safe as AWD.
Should I consider trade-in for EvoX?

[ZedZed]

Go straight to a hummer !

Seriously, if you look at the tire section of this forum, a lot of people are running on 225/50/18 on their Zeds and have no trouble in snowed up roads. Of course, you need to keep it easy on the throttle and know what you're doing but it's easy enough to handle for anyone whos driven in snow before.

[ZedZed]

Interesting threads for you to read:

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

Winter Tire Setup - Drag DR31 Gunmetal 18s w/ Hankook i-Pikes

Really liking my Cheap Winter Tires/Wheels

My Winter Rims/Tires Setup: TRMotorsport C2 + Blizzak LM-25 w/TPMS w/pics (AK370Z)

[chuckd05]

225 and 245 on 18s and my Z handles 1/2 inch this morning like a champ.. was actualy able to accelerate rather hard without an issue... I was pleasently suprised... most NE snow storms shouldbt really be a problem..

I would find a cheap subaru legacy or FWD reliable car before I traded in the Z for a evo X . Two totally different cars though.

[AK370Z]

Originally Posted by ZedZed

Interesting threads for you to read:

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

Winter Tire Setup - Drag DR31 Gunmetal 18s w/ Hankook i-Pikes

Really liking my Cheap Winter Tires/Wheels

My Winter Rims/Tires Setup: TRMotorsport C2 + Blizzak LM-25 w/TPMS w/pics (AK370Z)

OP, read those 4 threads and you should have an idea how to tackle northeast winter (coming from a guy who lived in Northeast for decades )

[ChrisSlicks]

Good info and links from ZedZed.

Just as a perspective I live in the North East, I put snow tires on all my Winter vehicles. All my cars are RWD, with the exception of one which is FWD which I hate driving in the Winter. I don't drive the Z in the Winter but that is purely to save it from the salt, if it were my only car I would have no problem driving it through the Winter with snow tires, I would just wash it regularly.

Just remember AWD doesn't do squat for braking, it's all about the tire. They typically keep the roads plowed pretty well up here, it's only the very heavy storms that they get behind and you'll find some back roads with 3-4 inches of accumulation.

[Holliday]

Here is what to do with your Z



Then buy a cheap beater to get around during winter

[spearfish25]

^a luxury I dearly wish I had.

[fuzzywuzzy]

Originally Posted by Holliday

Here is what to do with your Z



Then buy a cheap beater to get around during winter

Why would you do that? You bought it to enjoy it so....drive it year round and if in 3-4 years if it gets a little worse for wear buy another.

[Holliday]

^^ Like many others, this is my "hobby car". I do enjoy it very much. I just prefer to keep it away from the winter road salt here in Germany. Plus, driving my old G35 here was not fun on snow

I got to drive my Z yesterday when the weather was nice. If it is dry and there is no salt on the roads I will drive the Z, otherwise I drive this

[ClemsonWill]

Originally Posted by Holliday

Here is what to do with your Z



Then buy a cheap beater to get around during winter

Looks very nice tucked away in a safe place. I agree with you. My Z only comes out on nice days. You can't safely have fun with it in the bad weather anyways.

[Cunnos]

Originally Posted by sojirovskensi

I am living in Texas, but I have some possibility moving to North/East where there will be snowing a lot.
How do you handle snow?
I think even if you put on snow tires, it won't be as safe as AWD.
Should I consider trade-in for EvoX?

It depends where you will be living. If you are living in or around a city you might be able to get around with snow tires, but if you are doing more than just driving around town I would consider getting a second car ( or perhaps something besides the 370z). I've lived in the Northeast all my life and there are to many factors that play into the "should I drive my Z in the winter". Here in Boston we can get anything from 2-3 inches to 12 and above. That being said, our cars are really light and when the road is cold with slush and ice, guess what, you barely have any control. This is especially true if you are driving on the back roads or highway driving at high speeds, its just not worth it. When you live in the Northeast you have to prepare for bad driving conditions (mainly because our weather meteorologist suck) so having a sports car gives you very little options when you look outside your window at work at 5pm and theirs six inches of snow on the ground. If you are moving to the Northeast, especially in the suburbs or above Mass, like NH or VT, get a four wheel drive or AWD and you wont have to worry about anything. Or you can just get a second car. Hope this helps

[spearfish25]

Can we please dispel this idea that AWD or 4WD is somehow the end-all of snow safety? In many ways, it's more dangerous since it helps you 'go' but does nothing to help you stop or turn. If you buy an Audi with quattro or a 4WD Jeep Cherokee but have bald tires, you're still fu*ked. AWD just makes you less likely to get stuck in snow, and that's never been an issue in my Z with snow tires.

[Z-WHIZ]

Aside from the the dangers of actually driving your Z in the snow, prepare for it to be destroyed by the salt on the roads - not only from a corrosion stand point, but it will chip the hell out of your paint.

[red6spd]

What do I do for the winter??? I take my Z and put her here.


Then I hop in this bad boy. LOL


I understand that not everyone can afford to do this. But I look at it this way. Who knows when the next time I will be able to just dump 10k down on a 2 seat sports car??? This Z is gonna have to last me a long time. And by not subjecting it to the crappy winters we get here is one way I can make sure she looks and works like new for many many years. We just got about a half-a inch of snow and Long Island went crazy dumping tons of salt and sand everywhere.

Oh and that old Forester in the Back ground was my old DD. I spun a bearing on her on the way back from PA, Just hit 180K RIP old friend.