oren

blizzak lm22

great tires

turbohappy

Zeromus, personally I plan to put all-seasons on the stockers (or trade for pre-06 stock 17s) and then pick up a nice set of wheels with summer tires later. I wouldn't want my nice rims to go through winters...

Zeromus

iTrader: (1)

Hmm, good point -- I'm still debating what exactly to do, but I would want to get all-season tires on the new wheels in the future even if I just got them on the stock ones for now. Reading all these posts about people doing 360's in everything from snow to mild rain conditions on the potenzas has made me majorly paranoid! And if I get the new rims or not, I'm going to try to keep driving in the winter to an absolute minimum by borrowing my bro's Mazda3 whenever possible

Anomaly460

iTrader: (6)

Even in really cold weather ,without snow and ice, the stock tires get hard like rocks and lose traction. Back in february i was at the mall when it started snowing. I immediately headed home when i saw it start coming down...I drove as carefully as possible and still ended up sleeping in my Z. ONLY drive your Z in the winter if you have absolutely NO other choice!! Snow tires, avoiding hills, and using a high gear will help but at the end of the day the car simply was not designed for that type of use.

Vamos_Rafael

iTrader: (18)

practice powersliding without burning rubber =)
i'm going to try it sometime in the winter
hopefully triple A will come and tow me out of the ditch if i fail
=P

CelticPride2

+1...I've been using four Blizzak LM-22's on a set of beater rims for the past two New England winters, and I haven't had any problems. As long as you've got proper snow tires and use some common sense while you're driving, you should be in good shape.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

On days such as the one above I call-in work sick. Very sick. Sick for several days.

05-Z

iTrader: (4)

LOL...great pic. When this happens I call coworkers for a ride. Most are understanding.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

As in other cities, the snow plows clean the main highways first, then may never get to the side streets. I live 3 blocks from a perfect snow-free highway, but I cant possible get to it in the Z.

DavZ

iTrader: (3)

If there were Blizzak LM-22's on the Z in the pic, you'd get out no problem. I've driven my Z though 2 winters.
1st winter with the oem track tires , 2nd winter with the LM-22's .

I'm selling them here with a little story included:
MY350Z Marketplace private classifieds

maxpowers

iTrader: (3)

+1 to most of the replys in this thread.

With snow tires, you can drive in practicaly all snow conditions. Your only constraint is how deep the snow is. So if you trade in your Z for a crappy winter car, you may get an extra 2"s of snow clearance, but its not worth it to me.

bamyi

iTrader: (2)

Now I know where they got the name Pike's Peak White from.

pedroosan

iTrader: (1)

Why would you switch off VDC/TCS and start in 2nd gear from a stop in snow/ice conditions? And only turn VDC/TCS on once you are moving? Can anyone explain this technique? Thanks!

Just guessing: 2nd gear gives little less torque, and you don't spin as easy? But VDC should help you avoid the spin, right? So is the reasoning that you cannot avoid spinning on ice/snow from a stop, but need the gas at least for a short while to gain momentum? And the VDC would just immediately cut off the gas?

Any explanations appreciated. Trying to learn more about this.

BTW, 1st day snow here (portland area). It started very lightly, dry powder blown away by wind, almost like it would not stay on the road. So immediately I went out with the z on stock tires, because I wanted to get a feel of how bad it is, driving really slowly and not much sunday traffic, suburbs kind of thing... big roads...

First I went to an empty lot and played around with VDC on and off.. Was fun to get a feeling how to induce a spin with gas, then combined with turning the wheel, and did my first 180.

On an empty 2 lane road with 45 speed limit, I went at around 20mph (forgot how fast) and tried to shortly hit the gas just a little (going straight), and immediately I could feel how the spin started and the tail comes out a tiny bit. I could keep it controlled and just let off the gas, and continue driving straight. That was with VDC on.

But then more and more snow started to pile up and it became totally icy underneath. On a warmed up car ice started to build up on the windows where the wipers would not reach.

I drove probably not faster than 10-20 and it was safe and under control. No problems braking.

BUT at a traffic light, not even steep, I couldn't get the car moving.
It was ice. I had VDC on and only tried to start in 1st gear. I tried to give as little gas a possible, and ride the clutch a little. It would start rolling a little, but not pick up enough momentum to really move forward.
I tried 3 times, missed 3 green lights until people helped me out and pushed me. Then I was able to get home safe, and even up the driveway.

SO to those people who are thinking about driving the Z with stock tires in snow/ice: Don't do it. Leaving from a stop at a traffic light has really a random success rate, depending on ice patches that may or may not be there.


Would the VDC off, 2nd gear start technique have been able to get a better driver out of an icy area?

Another thing I noticed, when trying to use so little gas to get moving, the engine really bogged down (or hopped?). Don't know how to call it, but the transmission was almost shaking... Maybe I didn't ride the clutch enough and with so little gas, it was just close to stalling...

Thanks for any feedback!

dcmidnight

I've driven on a few snowy/icy days now in my new all seasons (Kumho Ecsta ASX) and absolutely love them. Just around $400 from tirerack.com, shipped to my local garage, where I got great service and probably found a new regular garage for my all around work. Few quick notes:

- Nothing will help your Z on ice - except maybe chains or studded tires. But to be fair to the Z, this goes for anything from SUVs on down. I've seen dozens of cars off the road in the last few weeks from snow and ice, and its anything from Escalades on down to beaters.

- All seasons are 100x better than the stock tires - at least. I drove home the last day before getting them put on and the stock Potenzas SUCK. I was slipping like crazy on anything resembling a mm of snow. Yet after getting the Kumhos put on, it was literally like driving a different car. In an area where you get a light winter, like DC, I just dont see the need for full snows. A good set of all seasons will certainly carry you through and again, light years better than the stocks.

- I'm glad as hell I drive this car all year round. Like I say in my sig, life's too short to drive a beater. I had to park it one afternoon because of an ice storm, but again, nothing will help that. Even if I end up parking it 5 or 6 days this winter, thats nothing. Thats 361 other days I am driving the car I've always wanted to drive. There's a a garage nearby that does hand washes for $20, throw some Zaino on after that, and I can keep right on going. Is it as great as living in a year round warm climate? Nope. But its as close as I can get...

seanlaw

iTrader: (4)

I only use this technique when I come to a complete stop at a traffic light. Having the VDC off at this point keeps the engine from cutting off gas. I found that having it off made me exit a complete stop a lot easier than keeping it on in conjunction with starting it in second gear. Then once any sort of traction is achieved that's when I turn it on.

Being on a hill stopped in any sort of snow...nothing will help. Turn on hazards, put the car in neutral and then roll back and find a different way to get home

eric_c

I live in Ottawa, Canada and we get “real” winters here. I drove my Z every day for the first two winters with Pirelli SnowSports on.

Its doable, but its not fun. First off, the car gets stuck quite easily in anything beyond three or four inches of snow. I got stuck a number of times in my own driveway trying to leave in the morning, whereas my wife would just back the Maxima out of the garage and go. I also got stuck here at work more than once.

Driving in traffic becomes an exercise in patience as it takes a while for the car to stop spinning and start moving.

Driving the Z in the winter is also the closest I’ve ever come to crashing a car. I was driving home during a snowstorm, going about 75 in 6th around a fairly gentle bend, VDC and TCS on. Next thing I knew the tail suddenly snapped out with the car probably close to 45 degrees. I managed to recover the car only to have the tail snap the other way a find myself staring at the guardrail. Recovered again, then snap, recover, snap, recover, snap. I probably did 5 or 6 oscillations before I got the angle down to 20 degrees and VDC actually started working. I had to pull over after that.

Shortly after that incident I picked up a used 96 Pathfinder cheap, threw on some no-name snow tires on, and now have an unstoppable winter machine. Stuff that would have me all white knuckled and sweaty in the Z I just blast thru.

I don’t drive the Z much anymore since we got an STi; its mainly my wife’s car now. Basically, she listens to the weather report in the morning and if there’s any chance of snow, she parks the Z and takes the Pathfinder. It’s just not worth it.

ericjackson

iTrader: (2)

i drove on a little ice in ft worth, tx the week before last, and it sucked. then my car spun tires at every light and got sideways on every turn almost cause of all the stuff they put down on the roads.

but i came home and all is good

dcmidnight

With all due respect, this is the main problem I have with people driving in snowstorms around these parts - and most those folks have SUVs. Even if I give you the benefit of the doubt and say thats KM/H in Canada, whats that, 50mph in 6th in a snowstorm? Maybe some here would think thats an OK way to go in the Z, but I dont. I grew up in Northern New England winters and I wouldnt drive a 4x4 that way. How do you expect a RWD car to react at those speeds in the snow? But no, I dont think this car was made to drive in constant snow.

Jua_Kali

I have found that the TCS keeps cutting the power every time the wheel slips so if you are trying to get up any kind of snowy/icy incline you lose so much power with every slip you just come to a stop. I switch it off. Without snow tyres it's hopeless!
Out comes the old Mercedes 380 SL with snows on it ... no problems! Rear drive with narrow tyres & lots of weight beats wide tyres and comparatively little weight ... for a change!

FatBoy1

iTrader: (2)

I know I would have stopped! A change of pants is due in this case.