What's up everyone. I might be attending UPenn a year from now for grad school and I was wondering how many of y'all drive the Z year round in philly. My brother went to high school at valley forge for a few years and a friend I talked to who went to UPenn for undergrad both said that the city does a horrible job of cleaning up the snow during winter time. Also, does it rain often ? Thanks in advance.

 

dz,

Welcome to philly. I drive pass upenn a lot on the weekend. I don't drive my z in the winter, because of the salt and the large pot holes. Philly does do a horrible job at plowing the streets unless it is a major street such as broad, market, walnut, etc...... If you have to use any side streets to connect to a major street you are going to have a rough time.
Good luck.

 

Welcome........My son attended Valley Forge (assume VFM) for two years as well. Take a look our club thread. https://my350z.com/forum/north-east/206281-south-jersey-philly-club.html

We have a meet this weekend. Love to have you!

Rick

 

the good thing about philly is that we havepublic transportation so getting around without driving isn't that bad. I drive my z year round and i just have to take the train or get a ride on snow days.

 

I live out in the 'burbs and this will be my first winter with the Z, but I plan on driving it year-round. I can't speak for the city situation, but as far as climate goes we really don't get much significant snowfall on average (in my opinion). Maybe one or two "bad" storms each winter, but they can usually have stuff cleaned up within a day or two. If you are in the city you have the option of public transit. If you live out of the city a bit you could try to live near a train station (like along the Main Line, etc.) then commute in like that.

Personally, I work full time and I am saving a few vacation days in case there is too much snow for the Z to handle. If I convert my yearly salary into hourly pay an assume, worst-case, I have to miss 3 days due to inclement weather, the time I spend at home (at $x per hour) does not add up to the amount of money I will have to spend on either winter wheels / tires for the Z or a beater car + insurance for winter driving. I dunno if that makes any sense to anyone but me. Hopefully the logic isn't too convoluted.

Back on point though, I think there is plenty of nice weather here to justify having a Z. It would be a shame to leave it in California just because of a few snow storms and some road salt. That's what $5 wash-as-long-as-u-want car washes are for!

 

Thanks for the responses guys. Theatrix, I'm gonna be in Philly next year so I won't be driving 3000 miles to be at the meet . The public transportation sounds very adequate, I think it's a good plan to just use it on the days with bad weather. What kind of salt do they use on the roads? Will it corrode my calipers/aerorotors (stoptech) or zeal coilovers? I just got some volk wheels too lol... the thought of these baby's losing color makes me go

 

DZAOO, I live in downtown Philadelphia and I had my G35 coupe for 3 winters. I actually work in University City on 34th and Walnut. From my personal experience, the winters are pretty mild. Like Sry110 said there are only a couple bad storms each winter, but even so you can still drive around with your Z once the streets are plowed. I would suggest leaving your Volks in California unless you plan on bringing winter wheels and tires with you. With the temperture being around 30 degrees or less in the winter I strongly recommend all-season tires. The summer-tread tires are no good in the winter. As far as the salt goes, it should wash off pretty easily. Hope this helps.

 

I take my beater whenever I go into the city... I'm just afraid of it getting stollen, keyed, dinged, dented, de-rimmed, de-headlighted, etc...

My friend has a POS old caprice classic that he never locked in philly... he never kept anything in it (including a radio, dashboard trim, carpet, etc...) and he would joke: "what are they going to steal?" Well, when came back to find the seats missing. I fear for cars in Philly.