Omega350Z

Anyone with some life experience with vehicles in general, what kind of effects does drastic winter weather have on teh break in period of a new car? I will be getting mine tomorrow, and i live outside of chicago. Obviously nearly my entire break in period if not all of it will be thru harsh winter weather. (Thank god the vehicle has the paint protectant and runst proofing done already on it.) Also, if anyone that already has a new Z has been thru some snowy/icy conditions please let me know how it handles? My dads vette seems to have no probelms in the snow when he takes it out for the weekend. I would assume that if i drove teh car gentle like i would have to anyways because of break-in i will be fine but real world experience speaks louder than thoughts in the head. Hope to get some helpful feedback. thanks.

brzi

WEll if this helps the breaking period which says in manual is
1200 miles and u have to drive under 4000 RPM.

Omega350Z

I understand what rpm and mileage is required during break in, but im concerned about the harsh winter weather in the chicago area. I mean, one week its above freezing, then the next week we could be -20 with the wind chill. I was worried abotu the extreme cold on a brand new engine.

ericM

I live in S. Dakota. It's colder and nastier than Ol Chic!
I drive my cars new or old to work everyday. A few tips.
1. A brand new car handles winter better than older. Don't
worry about the break in period.
2. Put your car in the garage if you have one.
3. Put HEET in the fuel tank. Always keep your tank full.
4. Warm up you car in idle for 1-5 mins dep. on how cold it is.
For AM below 0, I sometimes idle the car about 3-4 min.
5. Don't race a cold engine. Let it warm up and drive slowly first.
6. If you can, don't park your car facing strong artic wind.
7. Ask Nissan if engine block heater is available for the Z. If so
intall one. It helps in very cold AM.
8. Rear WD cars are hard in ice and snow. too much torque.
The new tract control help but don't force it. Drive a beater.
I'm buying a Z but waiting until after march, when temp. is
better. I'm driving a Camry V6 FWD w/ traction control.
9. Oh yes, the worst enemy besides accidents, is the salt
they put in roads. It will lead RUST. Spray your Z at least
once a week if you use it in winter to avoid RUST!!!!

ares

iTrader: (2)

break in should be no problem temp wont matter much, and I dont think youll be hitting even 4000RPMs in bad conditions.

best thing to do tho is get a set of winter tires, people seem to reccomend blizzaks around here. without them, the car will not get anywhere regaurdless of how careful you are. I dont know if you dad has winter tires, but I couldnt imagine a corvette running real well with those fat tires it comes with.

Omega350Z

I didnt say it ran "real well" in the winter, but he doesnt have any probelms when he any my mother take it out cruising on some of the BETTER winter weekends. Obviously with a car that has that amount of hp and torque, its NEVER going to handle as well as it would in the summer, but he doesnt seem to have as much of a problem driving it as most would, myself included. The thing is that this will be my daily driver and wheter i get it now or hold off until spring, i will be driving it thru next winter when it gets here again (shudders at the thought) I really need to find a good job closer to the Equator....

ares

iTrader: (2)

well from what ive read the Z is no good in the snow, not even a little bit without snow tires. and with them it does just fine. there have been lots of stories about sliding sideways the whole way, couldnt get traction, all sorts of things that just make it sound like in stock form the car cant do winter conditions. but with tires many say it does good.

WashUJon

Do NOT try to drive the Z in the snow with the stock RE040 tires. They get 0 traction in snow. I've seen other car owners and car clubs with the same complaints concerning the RE040s. Audi issued a warning to S4 owners NOT to use the stock RE040 tires in snow and they have AWD. At the very least, buy some Pilot Sport A/S tires, but snow tires seem to get people around just fine. I don't have my Z yet, but I plan on putting snow tires on at the dealer on delivery and just keep my stock rims for the winters. Then come the spring thaw I'll buy some nice aftermarket wheels and summer tires. Just a friendly suggestion...

-Jon

justwant1

I live in the Chicago area as well, and I didn't even attempt to drive my Z when the snow hit a couple of weeks ago. My Step-Brother has an Audi TT that also has the RE040's on it, and he drove it one winter and went looking for winter tires...told me they were beyond terrible in the snow. I went out and purchases Blizzaks, but of course it hasn't snow since, so I can't tell you how it handles in the snow. There are some guys up in Canada, from this board, that say the Blizzaks are great on the car, in the snow.

NCSUteg

If you drive SUMMER ONLY tires in the snow then you deserve to hit that tree. Buy some cheap wheels and have some winter tires mounted to them and run some summer tires the rest of the year.
You get the best of both worlds this way because the traction that you get from summer tires is SO much better than that from All Season tires, as long as there is no snow...

WashUJon

Now THOSE are emissions laws. What's the penalty for doing that?

WayneTN

The car will not be affected by wind chill temperatures, only dry bulb temperatures (the tempeature read off of a standard thermometer). The only exception would be the chilling of moist areas, such as spray on your windshield, which could freeze due to evaporative cooling. (Keep your windshield dry when it's that cold - like someone from Tennessee needs to spread that secret up North .)

Starting in the cold is still harder on your engine, but it may not be as bad as you think. It would seem colder to you than the car if the wind is blowing.

Thanks,
WayneTN