Hey everyone,

New ZR owner here. 2004 Black touring. I've had the car for about 4 weeks now and I think I'm in love. My last car was a Tiburon SE (insert jokes here) so this is a big upgrade for me. I've been reading a lot of posts from this site over the past few weeks just to get a feel for the people who post on it. Anyways, I do have a few questions that I could not find answers for while I was searching the forums.

1. I fully plan on driving my ZR throughout the winter. It's my only car so I dont have much of a choice. LOL. I read alot about the top problems (which scares the **** outta me but what can ya do) so I plan on fully lubricating everything next week just to be safe. Is there anyone in the GTA area that drives a ZR during the winter? If so, any problems or precautions that I should be aware of?

2. It's a 2004, so I'm sure that I will run into some premature tire ware down the road. I want to take my Z to a nissan dealership just to make sure everything is in spec. But now I'm reading that Nissan's spec may be wrong for these cars? If this is the case, what would be the best way to go about making sure that my alignment is in fact correct? I just spent a shitload of money on Winters, and I plan on spending a shitload of money on some sick rubber for the summer and I dont want to ruin them.

Thanks in advance guys.

Nick.

 

can't stay to answer but welcome...

 

I drive an 03 Z during the winter.
I got hancook winter tires on the stock 18" rims.
Steelies are fine too.
I just put some lube on the gas tank cover thing were it opens so it doesn't freez and some lube around the back hatch rubber so they doesn't freez.
I get it rust proofed aswell so she don't rust. And a good wax to make the snow fly off.

It's light in the back end so watch it in bad conditions even with tires.
Without snow tires you won't move a foot.
It's an awesome drift car too. on snow ofcourse.
That's all I do for winter. Ofcourse make sure everythig mechanical is in good shape like ball joints and brakes etc..

 

Hi, welcome & congrats

1. Msg "toplessz" he owns an '07 zr and winter drives her.

2. For an alignment, I am sure any nissan dealership can get it right.

Many of us can recommend shops, but it would be easier to do so if we knew which part of the city you were in.

Cheers,

 

Welcome to the forums Nick!

I have a ZR, but I don't drive it in the winter...so can't help you there.

Regarding the second question..its really depends on where you live...i live downtown Toronto and wouldn't let the dealerships downtown touch my car. Though I have good relations with the people at Active Green + Ross on Dufferin, south of Yorkdale.

- Nick

 

Active Green + Ross at dufferin ??? harry??

 

Best advice? Post in the Useless East Canada thread non stop to earn serious street cred.

 

i used to drive a cavalier.. congrats on your step up.

I dont drive my Z in the winter, but my advice is to "limit your downshifting"

 

why limit on the downshifting??!!

 

Can cause a slide if you do an aggressive non rev-matched downshift in the snow at the wrong time. Its more a common sense thing than watching downshifts.

 

Thanks for all the replys guys.

I live in downtown Toronto right next to the Rogers Centre. I'm originally from the Falls. So the DT Nissan stealerships are terrible? That sucks, cuz I was gunna get the closest one to me to check my alignment. Guess not anymore. I do go back to the falls quite often so maybe I will take my Z to the Nissan stealership in St. Kitts. I'll let you guys know what goes down.


As for winter driving, I've been having way to much fun driving this thing. I got some pretty serious snow tires on her so she grips actually quite well. Of course if you giv'er the backs slides a bit but I'm pretty good with rear drive cars because thats all my dad drives. He hates front drive cars. Whats a smart guy.

 

For your alignment it would be worth the drive to Simone Performance Imports in Newmarket. http://www.simoneperformance.com/ or phone 905 853 1677

 

Hey bro ..

I am a fellow Black ZR .. mines an 07 and I drove it last year and plan to drive her one last winter since it too is my only car right now. Funny thing I had a Z24 back in the day to lol.

1. If so, any problems or precautions that I should be aware of? - keep the salt off the top. I have the VDC etc .. so for me I think it handles very well in the snow with a set of snow tires. I have a set of 17's on BSA rims / Conti 2's Winter. Honestly other than the clearance the car handles better than my 05 Jeep I had.

Other than that .. enjoy the ZR bro .. when the spring hits .. there is NO better experience than driving the Z with the top Down .. I would never go back.

 

yea the thing about nissan doing the alignment is...back then people would go back to the dealership to fix it...and the problem would come back again.

Like the above suggest, simone works too but hes pretty far from where you are - but worth it. He's a great guy and he gives discounts from my350z members - just mention the forum.

Also if you are going to lower your car eventually when you get 19" rims. Have the springs/coilovers settle on your stock 17"/18" wheels and get the alignment first before swapping to your 19"s.

 

Thanks for the heads up bro. Would you recommend doing the same thing if I decided to roll on new 18s instead of 19s? I love the look of 19s on a Z, but the sidewall will be a little too small for my liking. I'm planning on dropping her early April, not too much tho, I wanna put a nice lip on her as well. Any recommendations on a good kit either springs or Coils that will drop her about an inch? Also if I do go about an inch all around my alignment would become toast right?

Sorry guys, I just have wayyyyy to many questions. LOL

 

Nice! Glad to meet another person who is in the same boat as me. I haven't had the car for long, and there hasn't really been that much snow in Toronto so far, but I do go back to the Falls about once a week and it's got plenty of snow to go around. I was actually really impressed with the way it handled. I don't have VDC but I do have TCS, and I think it works great in preventing the tail for sliding. But it is also really fun to turn that **** off and go crazy too!
Anyways, I only plan on driving her this winter, then hopefully pick up some beater for next winter. She's too perfect to have to suffer driving in all that salt and garbage on the road. And since I just bought my Z while the weather is cold, I have not drove around with the top down yet. So this Spring will be nothing short of amazing.

 

you and "z-lover" should hook up and coordinate your n00by posts

 

hey bro .. as an fyi .. im dropping mine in March with Tanabe springs and I have 19's Volks . you'll be very happy in the spring

can't wait for another ZR when the cameras come out for pics at the meet.

 

I was just gonna say this. My buddy Steve works there he is an awesome nissan mechanic. He was trained at a Nissan dealer as a master Class A mechanic and has been into performance cars and stuff since we were both kids. I have him do the stuff on my Z and would leave him with it keys in hand no problem. I absolutely trust him to work on the car and or drive it if he would want to, no questions asked.

Vic as a shop owner is cool too. Generally the shop owners are total A-holes and don't really care about the customers. I went there originally to have Steve work on my car and had never met Vic. He was totally cool, reasonably priced and easy to talk with. He races pretty hardcore in a Sentra as well so they seem to really be into what they are doing.

I am in no way affiliated with them and have only been there twice, but after my last two experiences would totally go back.

 

i live by newmarket, and when i went there to get a price quote for the tires and nuts, he said "The list prce is 550, but i will let it go for you for 449.99 or so" in my mind i said LOL hes on crack. because other 3 shops i visited that day i got prices of 340, 360, and 400 (For BFG GForce KDW 285/35/19)