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

Hey Everyone,

I got my 370z about a week ago and absolutely love it. I thought that I would be outside the Chicago winter, but alas, Chicago has a way of proving us wrong. It's forcast to snow 1-3 inches tonight and perhaps a few more before clearing up Tuesday/Wednesday.

Who's taken their 370 out in the snow thus far and how does it handle? Unfortunately I still haven't been able to track down rims and winter tires yet as Tirerack hasn't measured the 370z yet.

I'm just dreading a bad experience tomorrow...

don't do it...
summer tires + snow = disaster

Hi,

My 370Z will be my daily driver, and I will definitely need dedicated snow tires. Unfortunately, and due to brake caliper clearance issues, 18" wheels won't fit the Z with the sport package, so I will have to go the 19" way, which means the winter tires will be very, very expensive. I think that the only tire available for the Z is the Pirelli Wintersport. I may end up buying a second set of used OEM Rays to use them with the snow tires.

I'm actually delaying picking up my Z for just that reason. I'm sure they are going to call me monday and say i can pickup the car but with the snow we're due to get tonight through tomorrow forget that. This is going to be a fair weather car only, it will hibernate in the garage during the winter.

The 370Z with the Summer performance tires is definetly not a snow vehicle. I've been in 4" of snow and really did not have fun. My concern was bumping a curb or going into a ditch.........with different tires I'd guess snow driving could be fun.

To simplify matters, I'm considering Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires....all-weather ultra performance Z rated tires that might just do the trick all year long. People say they aren't bad in snow. They aren't cheap though...$330 a pop.

Despite Chicago winters being miserable, we only have maybe 10 BAD snow days and perhaps another 5-7 of mild snow. The rest is just wet and I think I'd wear out snow tires if I kept them on for 6 months of the year (snow potential season).

I'm pretty desperate to find out how people do with some snow and the Z. I'm looking for the car to be a year-round daily driver, too, and here in Detroit we get the same weather you guys do (sometimes not as bad!). I've driven a BMW 330 all winter with dedicated rims and snow tires and it wasn't bad at all. I agree that there aren't many days a year that I'd have to bum rides and I think I'm willing to do that in trade for having a Z.

I highly recommend dedicated snow tires, though, even if you get the high performance ones. I had Blizzak LM25s and Hankook Ice Bears, both of which were great even in the dry weather. Long as the temps are below 45F, you'll be OK with the winter tire tread compound (or so I've been told).

Let me know if you have to deal with the snow and how it worked out, please!

So far I'm dodging this storm by borrowing my in-law's Jeep. A neighbor with a Porsche C4S just said 'forget all-seasons, you need snow tires'. That put a damper on my master plan of all-seasons all year long. Looks like I'll have to get myself some rims, bilzzaks, and a nice torque wrench for all the tire changes I'll be doing. In the late fall and early spring, I don't know if I can really keep the snow tires on the car as the temperatures and conditions vary quite a bit here. Ideally I'd have three sets of rims/tires...summer, a-s for fall and spring, and then snow tires for the dark months of winter. Better buy some lotto tickets...

I suppose the other option is to sell the summer tires that came with the car and replace them with all-seasons. Then I still get a set of snow rims/tires making those two my alternating pair which better covers the spectrum in Chicago.

In the end money is an issue, and I think I'll just have to cope with all-season tires...the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires seem to get good reviews and work OK in some snow. That should cover me most days and for the severe snowfalls, I'll either cab it to work and back or make the wifey get me in the Altima :).

I'm also in Chicago too. The OEM wheels on my RSX got stolen 2 years ago, so I opted for 2 sets of wheels. I have 1 set of PZero Nero M+S's (on Volk GT-U's) which I use during the summer. They are arguably some of the best "all season" tires around, but are not really designed for snow. My roommate runs them all year long, and said they are worse than the stock all seasons, but bearable.

I also got a dedicated set of straight up SNOW tires for the winter on a cheap set of ADR wheels. I'm totally fine in the snow with them. I know I'm FWD, but I'd like to think that a good driver could handle the Z in Chicago snow on a set of snow tires.

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.

Snow? What's snow? I think I saw that on TV once :rofl2:

FWIW, I've found that the stock tires work excellently in wet conditions. As with any car, you're in trouble if you try to skim any deeper water at speed in normal tires - but for solidly "wet" pavement in light to normal rain, the car stuck to the road like glue (unlike my last car, where highway + rain meant I was the slowest guy on the road out of fear of a sudden loss of grip).

I got the Z after the last snow of the year here in Louisville, but will most likely be driving it in the one-two inches we get next time around. Like any rear-wheel car, I'm sure the Z needs a good set of all-weather tires at the LEAST. I've only driven rear wheelers, and I must say, all-weathers work, but be prepared to be a grand ma. With winter tires, the Z should be solid with safe driving habits, making your biggest worry the other cars on the road.

The 370Z is really bad in snow. Summer + wider rear tires really makes the car very hard to drive in snow. I was actually stuck with my 370Z in snow and had to take public transportation home :shakes head: . I am never ever going to drive this car in snow. If you want, you can buy some snow tires to put on the car. But since it's a rear wheel drive + lighter than the 350Z and high HP output, it's one of hardest car to drive in snow. Here are some of the pictures from the spot that my car was stuck! :(

http://www.the370z.com/new-370z-owne...html#post37439

These were taken next day before digging the car out of the snow.

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...m/DSC01311.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...m/DSC01312.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...m/DSC01313.jpg

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...m/DSC01314.jpg

I don't advise to drive in snow with the stock summer tires...not very safe IMO.

In February, I test drove a 370Z here in Calgary, Canada. The roads were clear of snow at the time but the dealership lot was still pretty full of hard pack snow...there was lots of spinning on the snow just to leave the dealership lot.

Poor little 370, AK370Z!

Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like winter tires will be my best option. Hopefully the snow has left for the season with last nights storm. That will give me the summer to find rims and snow tires. The concensus seems to be that summer tires are an absolute no go, all-seasons are marginal and snow tires make it a reasonable experience.

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 :twocents:

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

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

http://www.the370z.com/wheels-tires/...lack-370z.html
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.

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

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.

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.

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'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.

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.

You can't get away with that in jersey. :mad:

not mine.

as exciting as that video is this one is way more interesting:
YouTube - 370z takes 1st place at SC SCCA autocross
(although completely unrelated) :icon17:

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.

Japan Model has Snow Mode
 

Well, the Japan model of our car has Snow Mode with its automatic transmission as shown from an excerpt of their Owners Manual. Remember that they are right-hand drive so the shift layout is flipped. Here is a Babel Fish translation of the page:


Now you know what that blank button is used for, and the word SNOW is lighted in the fuel gauge bezel when the button is engaged. Just one more little perk we get screwed out of with the North American models. :shakes head:

I'm interested to know what exactly Snow Mode does.

I've read stories that with the stock summer tires you can get stuck in under an inch of snow on flat ground. Maybe it makes the Japanese stock tires bristle with long pointy metal studs... Realistically it probably just makes the car accelerate like a Prius.

Of course that button location is the SRM button on the 6MT (if you flip the US layout to match theirs, otherwise it's the hazard lights).

It usually starts the car off in second gear to avoid spinning, and provide a slower start.

Not sure why they wouldn't have included it, seems strange as it's just a software mode for the computer.

I think some of the Infiniti models have it, I remember seeing it in my friends M35X.

And yes, on the stock summer tires you aren't going anywhere if there is 1" or more of snow on the ground. All season performance tires are a little better but still pretty useless if there is more than a couple of inches.

I'm still waiting to figure out how to fit rims for my car so I can get a set of snow tires. The short story is that I want 18"s so I can fit Blizzaks, but I have no idea which 18"s if any will fit the sport brakes. Hopefully one day Tire Rack will measure the car.

I think the biggest issue with any after market wheels is going to be the spokes clearing the caliper (whether 18's, 19's or 20's). The wheel hoop itself should clear on most 18's, but there's not much room to spare.

Wonder if anyone tried the base model 18's on the sport? They would make great snow rims if you bought someone's take offs.

Why can't a wheel shop base their specs off the 370Z's spare? At least for the minimums.

Just did it in sleet.... Sport package, all stock... Not fun, but it recovers well if you let off the gas..... Couldn't brake more than 5mph, horrible! Do yourself a favor, buy a Jeep!

I made it about 2 miles through town before I decided drifting was downhill uncontrollably was unsafe. Don't drive in snow.

We got a few inches here about a month ago and I was able to make the 15 or so mile trip home from work. I wouldn't recommend it though. What's even more alarming is the sound of the 19's kicking up salt into the wheel wells, lol.