Good point. Regardless of what the rear end is doing, the 350Z will want to go straight. HPDE instructors teach a gas off-hands off technique. If you let the steering wheel slide in your hands, the Z will point straight again.

 

Yea I've ran into a few bad weather conditions myself because I was being stupid and I caught it pretty well. Basically let the car do what it wants. While at the same time work with what its giving u to get it bck under control.

 

Yea I'm gonna look at all of them too. I guess I'm lucky I get the garage to park the car?? It'll never touch snow unless I'm driving....

 

God I hate snow.

*looks outside*

 

Don't even bro. I open my door this mornig. not thinking to look at the little window behind my bed. And the light looks greyish. I look at the window n go F*********K. I got so mad. I mean I knew I heard about snow today. But didn't think it be like that. But the streets over hear are looking pretty good now. So I'm not stressing. It's only an inch we got. Nothin big.

 

Did you get a 350Z?

 

 

experience is they key to truly understanding. .unless you drive like mario andrettey you'll be fine. .just in rain and snow. .watch how you use the gas, spinning is as easy as fwd but your rear end will loose control in that situation compared to a fwd controlled spin. .thats about it. .

 

damn you guys in long island got snow????. .it's bright and sunny in central jerzee. .THANK GOD!! but i feel you guys. . .Sux!!

 

First of all congrats on the Z purchase if you go thru with it! I had 4 FWD cars before getting my Z. My Z is ALSO my Daily Driver. The Pros to RWD imo, is the cornering is second to none! And the handling is superb. I will never go back to a FWD car. The only cons to it come with regard to winter. I was a NOVICE RWD driver when I bought my Z in Februrary of 2006. I had BALD rear tires, and I had to drive 40 miles with most of it Highway during a snow storm. This was the worst driving experience I ever had. I will NEVER do it again. You NEED...no REQUIRE good Snow tires in the winter to be safe. Other than that, if you dont have snow tires, your tires better have good tread, and then you need to drive VERY cautiously. I say go for it. And make sure you buy snow tires around October. Good luck!

 

I think its a trade off RWD cars are fun to drive because they stree better in the corners. This is the big plus when comparing FWD to RWD.

Of course in raining or snow the FWD vehicle drives better. But thats a different kind of driving.

Traditionally most (not all) Sports cars are RWD and its for a reason.

 

This thread is 2 months old....

 

davidv strikes again.

 

hah. .my bad. .i didn't even check. .

 

To see the diff in a rwd and fwd ........
When turning a corner in the z nail the gas ......... you will notice the difference real fast.

The good thing about a rwd is now you can do donuts going foward instead lookin silly like the civics that have to do em backwards.

 

make sure it's wet out. .you get a better feeling then!!!

 

Dizerifting FTW

 

So did this dude get the Z?

My story is, I bought my Z in March 2006 after owning only FWD cars. In a straight line as far as I can tell FWD and RWD feel the same under acceleration - the wheels want to go forward, so the equal/opposite reaction is that the weight shifts backwards. However when accelerating in a turn, the FWD will want to plow (understeer) while the RWD will want to 'fishtail' (oversteer). As davidv mentioned a while ago, RWD pushes the car through the turn, instead of pulling it.

I did buy a set of snow tires for my car, which are thinner than the stock summer tires because the thinner the tire, the higher the psi loading between the tire's contact patch and the road/snow/ice, meaning increased traction. Since I live in southeastern PA and we have had a few mild winters, I have only driven in bad snow conditions a handful of times, but every time has been successful. The key for me is to always engage the clutch slowly, even if it means slipping it a little (which is not great for the clutch) - but it's better than the alternative, which is letting the clutch out quickly and creating a torque/power 'spike' at the wheels which could kick your back end out. Also avoid braking in turns, because then you won't have any traction. In snowy conditions I tend to slow down while going straight, before I hit the turn, to a speed that is a bit lower than what will get me through the turn. Then I actually feather the gas a little while I am turning, enough to get me through it but not enough to make me spin out.

Of course having traction control and an LSD helps a lot too. And avoid stopping on hills, if you can. Mostly if you take your time and don't worry about keeping up with all of the morons in SUV's blowing past you (not realizing of course that 4WD won't help them stop any faster), then you should be OK.

 

try driving the Z in a minnesota winter. i took mine out last night becuase my bank made me take it off storage insurance and put it back on full coverage because i still owe a little on it (tried gettting away with it).

so i said **** it, she needs a bath and the roads were pretty clean because it hasn't snowed in a week, so salt was minimal. among going from a 100hp winter beater that ive been driving for two months, to the Z (lets just say i felt the same way as the first time i drove it home back in July)

among the big differnce in power that i was getting used to, that car doesn't do well in the winter, (and there wasn't even snow on the ground, just cold tarand a little bit of salt) putting the gas pedal quarter way down, the Z's *** end moved to the side like i was trying to drift or something. needless to say, in my little 15 minute drive i had some safe fun, but i would never drive her in the winter.

 

Good snow tires are a must have. Be gentle with the clutch and accelerator pedal and try not to start the rear wheels spinning. The VDC/TCS will keep the back end under control unless you do something really dumb like too much speed into a corner. If you can find a big parking lot with fresh snow it's a good place to practice and learn. I just got back a few minutes ago from the grocery store and had to drive in a bunch of fresh snow.