horrible snow day bad experience !!!

Augustus

Sucks that folks were pissed off at the OP. Around here folks usually band together to help one another when the weather gets rough.

I got caught in a blizzard last week in my Z. I made the mistake of thinking I could beat the snow home from the work Christmas party but the party ran long and the storm hit early. I'm 35 and I've driven all manner of front, rear, and AWD cars in the snow, so it's not a new experience for me. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the Z + stock Yokohama Advan's made for the most useless car ever. I would guess that those with 19" sport-package tires would be in even worse shape in the snow. I'm all for having a little fun in the snow (I miss my WRX.... ), but the the complete lack of traction was ridiculous and dangerous.

While drivable where plowed & flat, hills were out of the question and the rears would spin at anything more than idle. Braking is seriously compromised. If you're less experienced at RWD and/or winter driving, it's an accident waiting to happen. Don't do it. I got hung up on a snow berm where they'd plowed an intersection, which required a sheriff deputy and a couple of good samaritans to push me out. Not enjoyable. Especially for them, with 50mph winds whipping around. At least the deputy was cool about it.

Once was enough for me. Lesson well-learned. Until I can replace the stock tires with some good high-performance all seasons or spring for a dedicated winter tire set, my Z's staying the garage when it snows.

One sliver lining, I did finally have a chance to really experience the ABLS (anti-lock brake limited slip) system in action. As a non-sport Z with an open diff, ABLS does do an fairly decent job of balancing torque between rears in extremely slippery conditions. I was reasonably impressed with it.