I have an 03 Base. I never had a car with TCS but I've driven some before and I really feel it's a dummy system for drivers that may be a unprepared for this type of car. You can get into trouble because of poor decisions on the road and TCS is designed to help you recover at the cost of performance. Having it is nice, I guess, since you can decide if you want it or not. If I did have it, I'd probably end up turning it on in really rainy days but honestly, I just slow down when it's wet and I never had an issue.

The only thing I miss in my base is HIDs and LSD. HIDs I can fix easily, and will soon, and with the 07, you're good to go with that. As far as the LSD, my previous car had one and now I find myself a little irritated with the open diff due to this:

https://my350z.com/forum/engine-and-drivetrain/304591-taking-turns-question-some-unsettling-behavior.html

See post #3 for the good explanation of why this happens. Is it a deal breaker? No. Is it irritating? Yes.

 

OP is in snow/ice country. People drove for generations in snow/ice land w/o TCS, etc. But, if it was me, I'd get the VDC or at least TCS since it is available for not a lot of extra cash.

 

how much can you add tcs for?

 

You would have to buy Enthusiast model which is around $1500 more but you get a lot more than the TCS. Go look up features on Nissan site.

 

My is a 08 and its a base model, and I don't have traction control. One thing for sure if you can't behave or cant really drive that well be care full because the rear end kicks out, other wise its fine. And no its not super crazy just don't slam you gas pedal in a turn thats all. Good luck.

 

The rear end seriously swings out very controllably and predictably. I have no idea what all these guys are doing to spin out and wreck, after some of the **** I've pulled.

Don't believe the hype, base Zs are not deathtraps.

 

My 07 base drives fine, in fact I don't think TCS is needed.

 

The fact that the base model didnt have traction control was a selling point for me. Having traction control cut power while your trying to cut across traffic isn't fun. Anyone that doesn't feel safe driving a rwd 300+ hp car w/o traction control please do us all a favor and don't buy one. My insurance premiums are high enough as it is.

 

I’ve got 07 Base, so that I may add my own goodies to it instead of factory options. TC is for people who play to much Grand Tourismo on their play stations. Yes it is a great thing to have, especially for a daily driver. But it helps control your car, instead of you controlling it. The unfortunate part is that our base models have not LSD in the rear, so we have an open rear end and can only accelerate to a certain point before we break one of our tires loose, compared to models with posi's in the rear. Does not really affect you unless you’re going slow and dump your clutch, or from a standstill. Plus if you’re trying to drift or swing your rear end around its harder but still achievable. Anyone have any suggestions for lsd's to purchase, I’m pretty set on the nismo. Good choice or not??? Any other good choices out there?

 

Get the quaffe. Its the most solid LSD out there, and they all cost about the same.

 

Ha-ha, good point. Its a very good handling car. TC can be a neusence. I live in Hawaii and only get sun or rain so its not bad, but in the colder climates (where i used to live) i could imagine it useful, but then again who takes out there Z in the mid of winter.

except for that one guy who posted a video on youtube to show off his new exhaust in the mid of winter. ??? Crazy ???