Z's in the rain
08-20-2012, 02:03 PM
#61
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my friend who has a 350z will never turn off his traction control hes always telling me , why did you buy a base model 2007 350z it comes with no traction control thats dangerous i always laugh at him
08-20-2012, 03:21 PM
#62
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Yeah that's what I'm running and I love em! I kinda want to go 295's in the rear, but it's not necessary..
08-20-2012, 09:39 PM
#63
My last set of Toyo Proxes T1Rs after somewhere around 25-28,000 miles (rears showing tread wear):
No problems in the rain with only minor slipping when accelerating from a stop and the tires crossed over any painted surfaces on the roads.
Drive cautiously and defensively as previously prescribed and you shouldn't have any issues in the rain. Yes, TCS and VDC will help but its better to be aware of and control your vehicle for the given conditions.
No problems in the rain with only minor slipping when accelerating from a stop and the tires crossed over any painted surfaces on the roads.
Drive cautiously and defensively as previously prescribed and you shouldn't have any issues in the rain. Yes, TCS and VDC will help but its better to be aware of and control your vehicle for the given conditions.
Last edited by Anomaly; 08-20-2012 at 09:41 PM.
08-22-2012, 08:39 AM
#64
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I don't drive in the rain, but sometimes I get caught unluckily and I have never felt out of control. The last time it rained, I fell in love with the windshield wiper, I was just looking at it and it was still operating with no water to swipe until I got home.
08-22-2012, 12:28 PM
#67
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Hell I DD mine in Illinois winters with snow and everything on the ground with all seasons on it in winter. Only problem I have ever had was traction control kicking on when taking off from stop signs/lights in the snow/ice. Then again, every car but one has been RWD of mine.
09-05-2012, 03:43 PM
#68
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so I bought an 07 base and on the way home hit a heavy florida downpour. The kind where everyone slams on brakes suddenly. Wasnt too bad just kept it at 70 in 6th and was fine.
Either you're damn lucky nobody slammed on the brakes in front of you OR you're able to defy the laws of physics.
09-05-2012, 07:15 PM
#70
vsc is for pansies! ive had my abs and traction/ any other electrical safty mod dissabled for the past 2 years and i live in florida. locked up the tires once when somone pulled out infront of me to do a uturn and i quickly unlocked and then started braking again. the z chassi tell you alot threw feeling but if you dont catch that feeling quick or know what it means it could put you in a bad situation.
09-06-2012, 05:25 PM
#73
Hey guys, as you can see Ive been here awhile.
Ive wanted a Z for a few years now, among many other cars. I joined back when I thought I was for sure buying one but ended up going another route. It's now time for a new vehicle and Ive given it months of thought, then decided on a WRX. I can only spend tops $18k though, so any WRX I go with is going to be around 05 - 07 STi or not.
you know what, blah
Ill just cut to the chase. I went against the idea of a WRX cause anyone I can afford will have a good chance of having transmission issues for me in the future, plus theyre hard to come by. So back to the 350 it was and Ive been searching for the best one my dollar can get me. However, I live in Florida, where right now its raining every other day.
Last week on the way home from work I saw a Z wrecked in the center grass area of I-4 while it was raining out. That kind of worried me but I didnt really think too much of it as it could just be some random retard. Today, while coming home I slipped on the onramp a tad and it got me thinking about it again, then after merging onto I-75 I saw on the opposite lane there was a tow truck in the grass, pulling a silver 350 out of the woods.
lol
so what gives? chance?
Ive wanted a Z for a few years now, among many other cars. I joined back when I thought I was for sure buying one but ended up going another route. It's now time for a new vehicle and Ive given it months of thought, then decided on a WRX. I can only spend tops $18k though, so any WRX I go with is going to be around 05 - 07 STi or not.
you know what, blah
Ill just cut to the chase. I went against the idea of a WRX cause anyone I can afford will have a good chance of having transmission issues for me in the future, plus theyre hard to come by. So back to the 350 it was and Ive been searching for the best one my dollar can get me. However, I live in Florida, where right now its raining every other day.
Last week on the way home from work I saw a Z wrecked in the center grass area of I-4 while it was raining out. That kind of worried me but I didnt really think too much of it as it could just be some random retard. Today, while coming home I slipped on the onramp a tad and it got me thinking about it again, then after merging onto I-75 I saw on the opposite lane there was a tow truck in the grass, pulling a silver 350 out of the woods.
lol
so what gives? chance?
Don't sweat it, take your time. In the long run you will be a better driver.
2cents. Good luck.
Rich
10-22-2012, 09:57 AM
#74
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Z in the rain - my latest experience
I have kind of been a pusillanimous driver. Have been driving almost 15 years now, cars, bikes, front-wheel drives, rear-wheel drives, hatchbacks, sedans, mini-vans, sports cars on different road conditions, on different continents. I'd still rate myself as an above average driver (I haven't pushed the limits yet).
I was driving in to work today, looks like it rained all night. Sitting up at a left turn signal, watching car zoom past at the intersection, wondering about the physics of hydroplaning. Moments later, thought turned in to a real-life experiment.
I have recently been pushing the Z on corners (all within the speed limit of course) just to test the grip on my bare-bones Continental Extreme-Contact to see the SLIP lights come on. In the rain I am a whole lot more circumspect, because I have rarely seen any car behave in a predictable way more than once on slick surfaces and on public roads.
Coming to the point I was taking a left-hander at about 25-30 mph (it is on to a big road and it is a long turn) and the car hydroplaned and funnily enough ended up on the lane to my right
(when my steering input was actually to the left). However my foot was off the accelerator (reflex) and brake, until VDC kind of self-corrected and I just eased out of the entire situation with a tap of gas. Needless to say my wife wasn't happy with what I just did, but it was kind of my first freaky experience with the Z - it is definitely a blast to do this with a RWD in the rain with VDC off on an abandoned air-strip. Just a bit too much to handle with thick traffic here in the South Bay. 
I was driving in to work today, looks like it rained all night. Sitting up at a left turn signal, watching car zoom past at the intersection, wondering about the physics of hydroplaning. Moments later, thought turned in to a real-life experiment.
I have recently been pushing the Z on corners (all within the speed limit of course) just to test the grip on my bare-bones Continental Extreme-Contact to see the SLIP lights come on. In the rain I am a whole lot more circumspect, because I have rarely seen any car behave in a predictable way more than once on slick surfaces and on public roads.
Coming to the point I was taking a left-hander at about 25-30 mph (it is on to a big road and it is a long turn) and the car hydroplaned and funnily enough ended up on the lane to my right
(when my steering input was actually to the left). However my foot was off the accelerator (reflex) and brake, until VDC kind of self-corrected and I just eased out of the entire situation with a tap of gas. Needless to say my wife wasn't happy with what I just did, but it was kind of my first freaky experience with the Z - it is definitely a blast to do this with a RWD in the rain with VDC off on an abandoned air-strip. Just a bit too much to handle with thick traffic here in the South Bay.
10-22-2012, 12:41 PM
#75
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I was driving mine home this weekend and got caught in a hail storm. The streets were white in about 2 minutes. Made it up some hills and my steep driveway without skipping a beat. I am running on brand new all-season tires though (they only have about 350 miles on them). Still, it was nice to know that the car's as sure-footed as it is, as long as you don't hoon around like some kind of idiot.
10-22-2012, 02:41 PM
#77
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I had a couple times on hills when it rained with easily spinning a tire with my open diff. Now that I have the quaife, no issues 
The open diff was very forgiving to too much gas around a corner though, where as the lsd will make the *** swing if you want it to! Just drive sensibly though. I slow down when it rains bad. Blows my mind to see all the average people doing above the posted limit on the highway with down pours. I know I inspect my tires frequently, and am still afraid of what can happen when it's slick out. To see some of these vehicles with surely worn tires or in general disrepair flying down the interstate, while texting and God knows what else, it scares the hell out of me!
Also, don't drive in the rain and try to push the car. It can be fun, but the consequences of messing up may or may not be worth the excitement. One of the best things I ever did, however, was participate in an autocross where it was off and on rain, or damp tracks. It gives you an idea for what the car does, feels like, and can do in the wet. I am no where near confident pushing even 8/10th's in the wet now, but it helped me to be a little more confident in what myself and my car can do in the wet.
The open diff was very forgiving to too much gas around a corner though, where as the lsd will make the *** swing if you want it to! Just drive sensibly though. I slow down when it rains bad. Blows my mind to see all the average people doing above the posted limit on the highway with down pours. I know I inspect my tires frequently, and am still afraid of what can happen when it's slick out. To see some of these vehicles with surely worn tires or in general disrepair flying down the interstate, while texting and God knows what else, it scares the hell out of me!Also, don't drive in the rain and try to push the car. It can be fun, but the consequences of messing up may or may not be worth the excitement. One of the best things I ever did, however, was participate in an autocross where it was off and on rain, or damp tracks. It gives you an idea for what the car does, feels like, and can do in the wet. I am no where near confident pushing even 8/10th's in the wet now, but it helped me to be a little more confident in what myself and my car can do in the wet.
10-22-2012, 04:23 PM
#78
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Tread provides traction when not hydro planing , tread also gives stabitily when up on plane. The car will hydroplane at slightly over 50 mph.
10-22-2012, 04:49 PM
#79
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only way you hydroplaned at that speed is if your tires were inflated to around 10 psi, most likely you were going fast enough to exceed the mechanical grip that your tread had to offer in those conditions.
Tread provides traction when not hydro planing , tread also gives stabitily when up on plane. The car will hydroplane at slightly over 50 mph.
Tread provides traction when not hydro planing , tread also gives stabitily when up on plane. The car will hydroplane at slightly over 50 mph.
My tyres are probably over-inflated and I need to check this again.
There a couple of things I follow on public roads - I give up well-before any mechanical disaster. I cannot believe what happened today for two reasons - the speed was way too low for me to have pushed the limits of tread and traction (I have over 8/32 tread still left on all of them) & secondly having driven the Z in the rain and at higher speeds I never felt the car literally being shaken like a rag-doll
On the other hand, it did rain today after quite some time, so I guess it just was the worst surface on offer. Either way I have learnt a lesson without having to wreck the Z - just chill.
