Because FWD kicks *** in the snow. The weight of your engine is directly above your drive wheels giving great traction.

 

Okay everyone, what is the best winter tire for the Z? I hear Dunlop is the best.

 

anybody selilng any snow tires? or snow tires mounted on rims?

 

Check the classified section first, and also look on your local craigslist (that's where I found my wheel and snow tire combo)

 

I decided against looking for a used set of snow tires mounted on wheels - unless you find a set from a 350Z, it's difficult to find the right staggered sizes. I bought 4 Voxx alloy rims with Hankook W300 snow tires for $1005, which was a very good price. The wheels are 17 x 8 each, and the tires are 225/50/17 (front) and 225/55/17 (rears). The tires have received fairly good reviews, and although I haven't driven on them in snow yet, they perform reasonably well (for snows) and are quiet at all speeds. I bought the set from Jay at Discount Tire Direct, and he was very knowledgeable and good to work with. The price I paid included a set of hub-centric rings, balancing, 4 replacement certificates (in the event of tire damage) and all lug nuts. Shipping was free.

The stock wheel size on my 06 is 18", but I dropped down an inch and made up the difference in sidewall. Pricing for 17" vs 18" is cheaper, so there was a savings there. I'm not planning on doing any aggressive driving in the winter, so these are a very good compromise.

I also live in MN, so snow is just a matter of time.

 

I got a set of used Dunlop Grapsics (90% Tread Left), on 17" OEM wheels all for $550 from a guy I found on craigslist. There were like 4 other Z owners selling their staggered 17" setups at the time i looked as well.

 

I was lucky enough to find a set of Nokian Hakkas on stock 17s on this board several weeks ago with almost no mileage on them. But I would have bought Hankooks from Discount Tire Direct if I didn't find a good used set of snows when I did.

I'm waiting to see if the Nokians are as good as the world press suggests - I've never seen a review that didn't rave about them, and they do get a little snow in Finland so they must know something about getting through it.

 

Z can be driven and have fun with in snow. Take it from a guy living in Finland. I have winter tyres on for around 5 to 6 months a year. Nokia hakkapeliitta Rsi´s (non studded) are great and Nokia makes also studded winter tyres up to 18" diameter. Now I have Continental TS810 Sport (non studded, 245/40-18 front, 245/45-18 rear) high performance winter tyres and those are not as grippy as Rsi´s on snow or ice. I did not want to go down to 40 profile (on 18" Rsi´s are available only on profile 40) and ended up with Contis. Would have got the Nokia Hakkapeliitta 5´s (studded) but delivery would have been in december and it has already been snowing for couple of weeks. And to straighten it out, we do not have polar bears in Finland (though a lot of reindeers and such)...

 

I have the Blizzak LM 22's and they are great IMO.