Hey guys I've read numerous posts on how bad the Z sucks in winter with summer tires, but with spring right around the corner I was wondering how the Z handles with heavy rain in spring, should I be worried? I just bought a Z in January and have kept it garaged (gonna take it out next week probably).

 

I never had a problem in driving rain, even though I didn't have the benefit of traction control. Be judicious with your right foot and the clutch and you should be fine. I never, ever drove in snow though. Never would.

 

It's pretty decent in the rain. Drive smart and you will have no problems.

 

drive mine in the rain and the ice here.... not a problem with some common sense

 

Good Driver

Good Tires

No problem

 

I lost traction coming from an on-ramp to the highway. I was going 30 mph and my back end broke loose. I ended up replacing front bumper and scrachting my headlight. I've driven in rain prior to this inident without any major issues, but ever since this incident every time I drive in drive, I get paranoid as hell.

Drive cautiously if you have stock tires.

 

No problems for me, in the rain. Of course, I switched to all season tires, about 1 month after I bought the car...

 

High performance "summer tires", the type that come standard on the Z are NOT designed for driving in the rain. They are especially dangerous in standing water. There have probably been a hundred posts here over the last couple of years by people who have wrecked their Zs by hitting a puddle of water at highway speeds.

As everybody has pointed out, if you are cautious in heavy rains, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

What do you think of the Bridgestone Potenza tires that come on the Z?

 

They are excellent in the rain, especially when a bit worn.......for making you look like a goose that just landed on ice.

 

That's what I'm referring to. The first year or so, I didn't have any problem with them. As the rears started to wear down, the tail of the Z would get squirrley on the highway. I had a few scary moments on those tires. Some HP tires are better in the rain than others, but for the most part, care must be taken when driving in the rain. Remember, it's not the rain that's the problem, it's standing water.

I'm running on Michelin PS2s now and they are orders of magnitude better than the Potenzas. I've even autocrossed them in the rain and was blown away with how good they handled in standing water.

 

Have run both the Goodyear GS-D3's & Michelin PS2's and they are a supreme improvement over the stock tires in wet & dry.......I had horror stories on the stock tires in the rain & changed tires & wheels 2 weeks after buying my new Z - ha!

 

Actually, I am very impressed with its stability on wet pavement.

Certainly much better than the Miata I had, and the MR2 turbo I had before that.

bill

 

It's all in the tires and what you know about how the RWD platform behaves in the rain.

Do you have TCS/VDC?

I have driven at 70+ with a quater-half inch of standing water on the pavement in heavy downpour and didn't have any issues, but then again, I didn't exactly throw caution to the wind and pretend it wasn't raining.

 

I have VDC (I have a 2003 performance)

 

the z handles exceptionally in the rain IMO. all you need to do is be cautious and you won't have any problems.

 

What about the REO50A's on the 2007 Z?
Peace!

 

The RE050s probably have the same characteristics as the RE040s did. Again, they're "high performance" and by design are not made for extreme wet conditions.

 

The only rule for driving in the rain is keep ur traction control on. If ur having fun and can handle urself then thats a different story

 

For the most part, TCS/VDC do you no good in water, snow or ice. Remember that one of the things they can do is apply the brakes for you. If you have no traction as a result of hydroplaning or ice, then VDC/TCS isn't going to help the situation. It will probably make it worse.

Hence all the threads that you see here about people losing their Zs in snow/ice or standing water. Maybe that's one of the problems, people think that VDC is going to save their *** in any situation.