yea man the rain was insane, a good 30 min of crazy rain
power went out for 2 hrs where i worked

on the way home i actually saw 2 Z's in the rain and thy seemed to be doing fine, doing about 45mph

 

I've seen 120mph in light/moderate rain on the stock potenzas, yes I am insane..

Terrible tires.... Absolutely terrible!!

Actually.... they do have the tendancy to hydroplane if you hit big puddles at a decent rate of speed (most tires do). The other problem is the treadwear is short. I haven't had any other problems with them though.

I can't agree with anyone who says the tires are terrible. They certainly aren't the best tire ever, but they aren't terrible either.

 

I think the Potenza's are pretty solid. They are stock tires after all. And considering I'm in Miami and I have to constantly drive in the rain, the Z is solid. When it hits a puddle or pocket of water on the highway though, going anything over 40-50, wow. I wouldn't recommend it. But like someone else mentioned that they pulled over, pulling over isn't necessary at all and driving a Z isnt a terrible experience either. No reason you can't go 40 and be fine. Just avoid the lanes near the highway dividers cuz rain puddles will build up there and you're set.

 

Drove my Z in what I consider torrential rain with these:


Drove perfectly! I, too, was very impressed. Stable is definitely a word I would choose to describe this car!

 

Are those KDW?

 

I've got the Michelin Pilot Sports on 18" wheels. I've only had to drive in heavy rain once so far, but they were fine, I felt very comfortable with them.

What comes as stock tires varies. The Potenzas had a very bad reputation; the Michelins are considered much better.

Anyone know when Nissan switched tires, or are they still selling cars with Potenzas?

 

I didn't know anything other than the potenza re040 came stock?? That's news to me.

My service advisor told me bridgestone redesigned the tread pattern when I was in getting my free tires because of the feathering issue.

 

Insane is the word...By any chance were any of them DB with 20's???If so it was probably me. I was on 9 north.

 

I have the cure to loosing traction in the rain.. move to san diego. It rains few and far between here and when it does it is either a slight drizzle or over quickly. sunny and 72 every day in winter sunny and 80 every day in summer perfect driving conditions (except during rush hour )

 

Above: Summit Point, WV. 11/19/04. HPDE in the rain.

Spend the day driving in the rain on OEM tires. A true learning experience. The capabilities of the 350Z with fresh OEM tires exceed my driving skills.

 

I was driving in the crazy rain last night and my car felt really stable....

Does LSD have effect on hydroplaning/spinning out? I have the base coupe without LSD and does that help at all?

 

^ The LSD doesn't have much effect on hydroplaning... that's pretty much up to your tires. A LSD will make it easier to spin out, though.