I just purchased my 2005 Z Roadster. Never owned one before. I know there is back and forth about the need for snow tires. Anyone with any experience in the Boston area? Thanks for your help.

 

First off, welcome to the boards...always great to see another Z in the area.

As for your question on the snow tires, I'm big-time in favor of them. Unlike a lot of people in snowy climates, I drive my Z 12 months of the year, and during the winter months, snow tires are a must if you want to drive effectively in bad weather. The OEM tires on the Z are designed for the summertime, so when the weather gets cold, they harden into 17" hockey pucks and lose a lot of their grip, regardless of how much snow/ice is on the ground. If you do a forum search here, you'll find many horror stories from people who've had bad experiences driving their Z on inappropriate tires during the winter.

 

Thanks for your info. Do you have a recommendation on the brand of snow tires? As you can probably tell, the world of sports cars is entirely new to me. I do love my Z, however. And with your 2005, have any of you experienced the feathering from the '03 and '04 models? Thanks. Vinny.

 

If you look around the boards here, you'll see that Bridgestone Blizzaks are the most popular brand. I've been using Blizzak LM-22's over the past two winters, and they've done a great job. As with anything else, your best bet when looking for snow tires is to do lots of homework and shopping around.

Although I did have the feathering issue on my Z (it's an '03), it was really no big deal for me. The extent of the feathering was light to moderate, and the dealership got me two new tires and fixed the alignment without incident. That was sometime back in August '04, and I haven't had any feathering problems since.

By the way...when you get a chance, be sure to visit the official ZGCA club website: http://www.g350z.com. There's a really big contingent of Z/G owners in New England that hang out there, and there's also a lot of information on upcoming meets/special events. Our next gathering is this Saturday near Portland, if you're up for some cruising this weekend

 

yay for snow tires

blizzak LM-22

 

If looking for all weather tire, Continental ContiExtremeContact was a world of improvement over the OEM tires but still good idea to not drive much during heavy snow fall. For a good set of snow tires and rims, you can buy a beater.

No tire feathering at this point on my roadster