Z's in the rain
 

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?

Most 350z owners are terrible drivers with little to no prior experience driving a rear wheel drive vehicle. And then you can take into account that terrible drivers almost never maintain their 350z which probably has worn out summer tires. And it sounds like it was your first rain shower in a while. Add the fact that the 350z doesn't need to be revving very high to make full use of it's torque. There's a hundred scenarios but this is more than likely the case almost every time I see a wrecked 350z.

You mentioned you already slipped in what is probably a front wheel drive vehicle, go buy yourself an impreza.

If you have decent tires on the car and don't drive like a retard in the rain, there's no difference between the Z and any other car.

Down here, the majority of these cars are owned by kids now, which means:

A. They drive like retards in the rain anyway, no respect for the road conditions
B. They can't afford to/don't bother to keep good tires on the car. A Z with worn tires will slide around on it's own at 60mph on the highway. Below 3/32nds is no bueno.
C. They have no ****ing clue what to do if the car starts to slide, so they panic and hit the brakes, which pretty much ensures that the car will just slide wherever it's going to go backwards instead of forwards.

Mine has never veered off the road and crashed in the rain or snow. I'll bet that it wasn't the car.

My rear has gotten loose a couple times in the rain. Just counter steer to straighten out. To be fair I was driving as if it was dry.

Engineers created traction control for a reason. Turn on the VDC, drive normal, and youll be fine

only time I have ever lost traction was because I floored it or wanted the back end to swing out when it was a little wet out. If you dont drive like an idiot then you wont have any problems with rear wheel drive, just realize how easy it is to lose traction with any significant amount of throttle in the rain.
This might sound crazy but I would wait until it rains and find a huge parking lot to try to purposely lose traction and figure out how the car will behave.

The Z was designed for some smooth dry pavement. Most of us here would never take it out in the rain. I've been in an 2011 sti in the rain and we couldn't get it to break traction, but i really doubt that you will have problems with the Z unless you are trying to spin them

^^^ This :icon18:

The only time I've ever heard of a Z crashing into the woods is when someone is driving it. The common denominator would be the driver.

x2..... i have had na and boosted z for 7 years and have never went off the road.... i have even drove in the rain with nt05r's on accident and stayed in control just fine.... just have to know your limits... which most drivers... not just z owners.... dont know...



Every one thinks they are the best driver to ever hit the road... :icon14:

Like a any other RWD in the rain. If its a moron behind the wheel it will end up wrecked.

My Z is the first car I've had with TCS so when I drove it in a rain storm, it didn't feel like an uncontrollable FR car, more like a FWD car, due to not spinning the tires much. I normally drive with TCS off, but it can be very useful in this type of situation. As with ALL things, discretion is the better part of valor.

I wasnt worried about myself with losing traction. I was just beginning to think maybe it was a VDC bug or something. Glad to hear it isnt.

and no crayon I havent driven fwd in 10 years

^ Fixed. It doesn't matter what type of car, truck, SUV, or whether it's RWD versus FWD. I've taken enough accident reports in the past 11+ years of my career to know that there are a lot of idiots who don't know how to drive safely in the rain regardless of what kind of vehicle they are driving. Dumbass drivers are the common denominator. I dread whenever it rains during my shift because multiple accident calls start rolling in within a matter of a few minutes.

OP, don't let a couple of wrecked Z's on the side of the roadway discourage you from getting a Z. It's a safe car when properly maintained and driven by a competent driver.

It's not the car, trust me. It's the driver and tires on your car. I have been driving my 350z for 6 years...commuting 30 miles to school on highway at 70mph in rain, snow, ice, etc. You named it, my Z been through it.

Don't let the wrecks discourage you because of inexperienced drivers. The Z is just as safe as any other car as long as you drive within respectable speeds and keep up with the maintenance.

Look at this way, there were hundred of thousands of these cars built, and relatively a low number smashed up. So what does that tell you? ;)


Whilst we can't possibly cast aspersions as we weren't present, it could be lack of talent, and/or average tyres. So many go for the aesthetic mods before the really important things like, tyres, suspension and brakes!



Given the stock RE040 & RE050 are better on dry pavement imo, there are a number of other options/brands of tyres that are fantastic on a wet pavement. :thumbup:

Best reply on the thread.

The practicing in an empty lot in the rain is a great idea actually but, truthfully, Z's are not any sort of problem in the rain unless you drive like an absolute *******. They aren't that torquey, especially in low RPM conditions. With a stock Z with decent tires, you literally have to TRY to lose traction in the rain. I had a nicely modded Mustang before this car, and THAT got to be a pain in the ass on wet roads, but I practiced with that in the rain too.