silvrz5

For those of you driving this car year round, what type of snow tires are you going to use? And do they make them in 18" size. Also I read somewhere the brembo brakes might not make it on aftermarket snow rims. And also do you think you will be able to drive this car in the snow even with snow tires.
BTW.... please no mention of getting a beater for the winter.
Thanks

bobbyz

iTrader: (1)

I know there are pirelli snows that come in 235/40/18. I guess this will have to do. With all the confusion about what size tires come on the car, I'll just wait until it comes and then decide.

Intrepid

Michelin
Pilot Sport A/S

Front: 225/50-17
Ultra High Performance All-Season

Rear: 235/50-17
Ultra High Performance All-Season

chicago_z

Ok, I've never owned a car that I thought I would have to change the tires on to handle the winter.

Keep in mind that my intent is to NOT drive the car at all during the winter. But lets say I had to.

Im curious, about what would it cost to have someone take off all your tires and put on winter tires (not the cost of the tires themselves, just the changing)? Or is this something the average (or below average) person like myself would do in their garage?

sorry if this is a dumb question.

Samurai

I have driven the folling cars all winter long, every day to work, and have been my only car at that time:

1970 240Z
1975 240Z
1978 280Z
1984 300ZX
1990 300ZX
1994 Mazda RX7

I have never put on snow tires. I even drove the 1978 280Z in a foot of unplowed snow 30 miles home from work. The only car I had trouble with was the 1984 300ZX which I spun out a couple of times but didn't hit anything. When I got the 1990 300ZX I started carrying chains in the winter in case I get stuck but I've had them for 12 years and only put them on once to get up a steep driveway. ( I would not recommend chains unless it's an emergency).

With limited slip differenctial, anti-lock brakes, traction control, VDC, and some good driving, I hope my new 350Z will be the best car I have had in the snow.

Boomer

Not a dumb question at all. Check out: www.tirerack.com They are a reputable on-line source for all sorts of tires. Just go to the section on winter tires to get some idea of prices ie. usually they and many others recommend both tires and wheels for winter.

Boomer
BR/FR/AT

rai

I got a set of snows from tire rack for my passat. basically if you get plain steel wheels with the snows, you just change the wheels, no mounting and re-mounting that would be expencive. The steel wheels are cheap, like $50 or so. That way you could get 16 or 17 inch snows that should be cheaper, but you have to watch out for the clearance on the brakes if you go smaller for the wheels.

This way you can use the snows like 4000 miles a year and get like 5 years out of one set.

I guess I would recomend this but my Z will not be driven in the snow since I'm keeping my SUV. There are intermediate snows I got michilline pitot sport snow and ice (or somthing like that)

Ladypod

I change to snow tire on my Miata each fall. It costs me about $25 to have the summer tires removed and the winter tires placed and balanced. It is not something you would want to do at home. As others have noted, the alternative is to buy cheap rims for winter and put you snow tires on them. Then, you would not be at the mercy of the tire dealership after the first snowfall.

Subw00er

You guys should also keep in mind that not every tire shop will be ableto mount 18" tires easily, or at all. The cost to mount them from a reputable place will be over $100, so it makes a lot of sense to buy steel rims for the new snow tires. After two years they will pay for themselves and your nissan wheels will last longer.

One that note, would anyone be interested in trying to get a group deal going on a nice set of performance 17" snows (like the awesome dunlop wintersports) and a cheap, but OK looking aluminum rim? Anyone have a connection over at TireRack? Its a bit early to actually do this, but october is not too far off.

c350z

Glad I live in florida.

PistolPete

It is also common to run a skinnier tire with snow tires. If you order some cheapy steel wheels, they don't neccessarily need to be the same width. Skinny tires get better traction in snow and slush, unless you have mud tires. If you are in an area where you need snow tires, you probably don't want to subject your nice wheels to the salt.

Fortunately, I have a jeep for use in inclement weather. The thought of my Z exposed to salt and muck makes me cringe! My jeep is already ugly.

rouxeny

Damn, all this talk of snow is getting me depressed. Assuming the car comes in August (and I don't think it will), I'll only have September, October, maybe some of November, possibly a week of December, before it snows here. I think I'll get a set of cheap steel 17s to put on for winter. Either that or I'll keep my current car and garage the Z for most of winter. Too bad winter lasts from Nov/Dec to March/April here.

At least I'm not in Albany any more.

Now you've all got me homesick for sunny CA.

chicago_z

So to try and summarize all the great advice here...

I'm obviously easily confused these days...

it is about +-$25 (total or per wheel?) to put your snow TIRES on your stock rims and balance them. I can, as an alternative, get snow tires on cheap steel rims and put them on myself. Wouldn't I still want them balanced? And 17" snow tires should be fine as a replacement for my 18" stock tires as long as the breaks clear?

sigh... Sometimes I wish I was a mechanical engineer instead of a software engineer.

thanks for your continued advice

john

Zboy

Hey rouxeny. Did you go to RPI/Albany med school program? Did you join RPI in 1993?

MichaelU

Glad to see another Chicago Boy afraid of a Z winter.

Anybody here talking about driving in snow is one thing. Driving in Chicago Traffic in the snow, that is the defintion of hell on earth. I know you said no mention of a winter beater, but it's on my list down the line. The Z is just depleting alot of my account so the beater is going to have to wait untill next winter. That means my black beauty is going to see a $#!7 winter.

Oh it brings a tear to my eye. But think of next summer, it'll be SO worth it.

Ciao,
Michael

Subw00er

Zboy, I went to rpi in '96. It sucked!

z-extreme

I was going to be in the same boat, but then I decided to keep my truck for the winter then get the "Z" for the spring. This way when winter rolls in I will be all set for the winter driving and will have a feel for the car.

bobbyz

iTrader: (1)

Its about $40 more for an 18" winter tire then a 17" tire. The way I see it is that it will be almost the same price to get tires for the 18's or get 17" wheels and tires. I'm most likely not going to keep the car longer then 4 years. I live in Caanda and the winter is about 5 months. So, I would rather get the 18's and spray the salt off every few days. I did this with my Porsche and it was fine.

Zboy

LOL! Yup you are right. They dont call Troy "Troylet" for nothing. I went to RPI in 93.