insomniaxvi

iTrader: (1)

Ouch man; any damage?

Jyoder7

iTrader: (3)

Exactly. It doesn't matter how much experience your have you're going to be helpless with tires that aren't meant for cold tempatures let alone snow and ice. If you put proper snow tires on your car you're fine.

98sr20ve

Nope, I lived in a cul-de-sac

Cheezwiz

OH GOD no wonder. Those are summer only. I sell tires trust me, I know. I have a Mustang with summer tires, and my Z has all-seasons, which should very well be winter tires.

Z DreamZ

Looks like it has a morning woody! lol

MasterRacer

iTrader: (8)

Well I drove my car today in bout 2.5 inches of snow and ICE and
i only fishtailed 2 times.........I was amazed that the car handled pretty well.
So to all the numnutz out there who claim the Z cant drive worth a lick on ice and blah ummmmmmm U just have no driving skills!

98sr20ve

Or they are on "Summer Only" tires and you are on "All Season". If you can't park the car in a slightly sloped driveway with about 1/2 inch of fresh snow with out the car sliding down the drive on it own, no amount of driving skill will make that car safe to drive in the snow. It seems a lot of people here don't even know what "summer" vs "all season" tires are and how dangerous summer tires are in the snow/cold weather.

98sr20ve

I paid 1200 or so for 4 17 inch wheels (106 each) and 4 blizzaks with the TPS installed. It's cheaper to get a new set of wheels in the smaller size. Tirerack has some SSR GT7's at a great price of only 117 each in the 17 inch size. Smaller is better for snow driving as well.

98sr20ve

$244 installed. Then I had to have Infiniti re-program the system That was supposedly $49 but they charged me 19. Maybe they knew I was waiting for my survey from Infiniti.

DumbGenius

The z with blizzard tires handles better than my Pathfinder with M+S tire. Get a good set of rubber and enjoys it.

Muzlimchu

i picked up a set of blizzaks on 17's (used for 2k miles) from some chick in Minnesota for $600 shipped. It has been a wierd winter in boston where we have not had any snow.

Everytime I get a diffferent car, the first time it snows, i find an empty parking lot (without poles or curbs) and see what happens in it. All cars are different. I have had rear, front and 4wd and they all act differently and its just getting used to sensing how it reacts.

I love snow, but this year I don't want it to snow becasue after getting the Z i didn't have a chance to find a good winter beater. I will this summer though (anyone selling a '90s toyota truck or rodeo/passport?) and next year the Z will be in the garage with the bike (hopefully).

Good luck to all this winter.

sry110

iTrader: (17)

Just last month I installed a brand new set of SSR Comp-H in 17" x 8.5 with 225/50/17 front and 235/50/17 rears Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22. And last night we had a dusting of snow here in Southeast PA (only a few millimeters of snow I estimate) which was my first chance to drive the Z in the snow since buying it in March 2006. On the roads I didn't try to push the car's limits at all and I kept it around 40-45 mph in the straight sections. I had no problems with traction. I knew where I was going so I could anticipate all turns, and I had no problems staying planted while turning. I only had to climb a couple of shallow hills so I have no fishtailing / ditch drifting to report. In an empty parking lot near the bowling alley I did some steep turns to see where the car would let go and had some fun trying to do donuts, but I need a lot of practice on my donuts. I don't like snow, but I'm a little anxious for it to snow more so that I can put these tires to the test. It's a hoot going 25 mph, cutting the wheel and pulling the e-brake, then trying to recover : )

Muzlimchu

I jinxed it...its snowing in boston!

Spike100

Anyone have experience with 18” wheels vs. 17” wheels and snow tires.

I mounted snows on the 17” wheels on my Enthusiast (Blizzaks which worked great), but I upgraded to a Performance Z with 18” wheels and haven’t bought snows yet. I’m considering new wheels (19” and a new set of summer tires), and would like to keep the 18” I have now and mount snows on these. My guess is that the 17” wheels with a higher side wall for the snows are better than mounting snows on an 18” wheel, but really have no idea. Any advice is appreciated. --Spike

98sr20ve

Use what you got if you like, BUT. Look at the prices of 18 inch snows vs buying some 17 inch SSR's that are on sale at tire rack. You may be better off selling the 18's buying the 17 with the less expensive 17 inch snows as well.

Spike100

Yes, you are correct: For about what I would pay for snow tires for my 18” wheels, I could almost get a set of 17” wheels and snow tires (but adding the TPS – needed for my Performance Z - to the 17” wheels adds another $200+ to the cost of the 17” wheel/tire set).

I was asking about using the 18” wheels with snows because I’m thinking about buying 19” wheels and new summer tires. --Spike

sry110

iTrader: (17)

If you have the room and the extra $1000 for the time being, store away your stockers and buy a set of 17"+winter tires, then buy your third set 19" + summer tires. I am in the same boat as you. I have my stocker 18's sitting on the back porch and winter wheels/tires on the car now. By March I hope to foolishly buy $3k worth of summer wheels/tires 19". But the reason I say to keep the stockers is for resale value of the car. Especially if you trade it to a dealer, you'll want the stock wheels on. Then you can sell your aftermarket wheels on ebay, forums, whatevs.

Also TPMS is not a necessity. All Z's come with the TPMS system, but you don't need to use it. My winter wheels/tires do not have TPMS installed and all that happens is that the yellow {!} light comes on while I am driving. Then I just check the pressures manually once a week or so, no big deal. If I were you, I wouldn't let that deter me from making one decision or the other.

Barmats

iTrader: (1)

I bought a set of wheels and tires for my 06 ZR from Discount Tire Direct. The wheels are 17 x 8" +20mm offset each, with Hankook W300 snow tires: 225/50 front and 225/55 rear. I went with 17's mainly because they were less expensive for both the wheels and tires, and for snows, there was a better selection of 17s. I didn't need or want a wide tire because they're not as good in the snow as a narrower tire. And since I'll only use these in the winter months, performance wasn't a top concern. However, they are remarkably quiet on dry pavement, even on the highway, and provide pretty good lateral grip in corners. The taller sidewall performs surprisingly well, and is within .1% of the stock diameters on both front and rear (still staggered). For me, it was a very cost-effective way of getting through the winter.

Edit: I decided NOT to do TPMS on the winter set, not because of the cost of the sensors, but because the car's computer would have to be recalibrated at the dealership each time I swapped wheels.

Muzlimchu

Ditto...

Spike100

Thanks guys (Barmats, sry110, and Muzlimchu),

I’m taking your good advice and buying a 17” wheel/snow tire package. That arrangement worked great on my Enthusiast. I mistakenly thought that I had to use the TPMS on the wheel/snow package since the Performance had this built-in to the computer. Looks as though I was wrong.

Great help (saves me some dough), --Spike