I hate snow (only for the holidays i.e. white christmas, thanksgiving and new years - other than that it sucks!)

 

I'll likely drive my car on snow under few occasions: it's thin and I'm going to school (3 miles away). Otherwise, I'm staying home. Even though I got winter shoes, people should still stay off the roads altogether when it snows.

Either way, for any other instances, I'll have my FX to plow along. Though I can't imagine the FX and its awful Potenza RE92s being any better in the snow now that I've got the Z wrapped in snow shoes.

 

Who in their right mind puts sand bags in the trunk of their Z to make it heavier for driving in the snow. Get a beater or dont drive it at all. No offense but some of the threads you have posted in the past are all really stupid. The reason why I know is because of your bosnian name that stands out like a sore thumb. Dont be a "glupan" and eff up your Z.

 

This question is asked annually, and always about this time. The answer is yes, you can safely drive a Z in the winter. Here is the equipment you need, and what you need to consider:

Equipment (Snow Tires and Wheels)

You should mount 4 snow tires. (i.e., you need to stop as well as go, and also turn safely). A dedicated wheel/tire setup is wise since the wheels will sustain damage driving in snow and ice. 17” wheels are best since they allow mounting tires that provide better flex and road contact, and snow tires for 17” wheels cost less. There is no need to do a staggered width setup with the snow tires since more narrow tires often perform better in snow (i.e., under-steer is more significant on slippery roadways). 225mm width all around works well for snow tires. Of course the tire’s overall height should vary from front to rear matching EOM specifications.

Driving Considerations

Normal winter driving with the Z and snow tires is pretty much straight forward. One variation you might experience is slippage. Z’s equipped with TCS (and TCS is part of VDC) might lose traction and then kill power when you really need it on a slippery surface. The solution is turning TCS off (or VDC off with vehicles equipped with this) to regain traction. I have a 2003 Performance model (and thus VDC which incorporates TCS), and I find I often need to turn VDC off when driving on very slippery surfaces when I begin to lose traction. In all other cases, I have VDC turned ON (since it is safer).

The Z is RWD so in most instances driving on a frozen roadway, you can expect the car to under-steer (the car tends to “plow”). Probably the worst scenario while turning is the fronts suddenly acquiring solid traction and the rears losing traction (over-steer). That can cause rotation (a spin-out). With a FWD vehicle, you apply power to escape, but doing this with RWD only compounds the problem. In this case, your actions depend upon the equipment on your Z:

If you have VDC, you can simply push down hard on the clutch and brake pedal while keeping the steering wheel pointed in your intended direction. VDC takes over (TCS kills power, ABS prevents brake lockup, and VDC differentially applies braking to the appropriate corner to straighten the car). VDC works quite well (I’ve been there).

If you have only TCS, the system will kill power to the rears automatically (and mercifully), but you will need to do some amount of counter-steering if you begin to rotate. Of course ABS won’t allow you to lock the brakes and put yourself into even a worse state.

If your Z is plain (no VDC or TCS), you need to get off the accelerator (smoothly and slowly), and start counter-steering if you are rotating. You can press the brakes hard since all Z’s have ABS.

I did read the message advising putting a sandbag or adding rear weight to the Z. I think this is foolish and possibly dangerous. Any weight you add to the rear can potentially and adversely influence the handling characteristics (the weight might shift), or the object could become a disastrous projectile in a front end collision.

--Spike

 

Wow you can even keep up with a Subaru - you are the man!