Hi:

I have read tons and tons of info on both summer tires and all-season tires for the 350Z. I am located in Virginia and occasionally NJ and I dont have a need to drive in the SNOW - I have alternate transportation for these days. The only reason I am considering the all-season tires is due to the cold weather.

I currently have the RE040 stock tires on a 04 roadster, and under 30 degrees I have a significant loss of traction, to the point where I dont feel comfortable driving if I have to swerve or brake at high speeds. I also have 23k miles on the terrible tires though...

My question is whether I should put on a set of high performance summer tires like the Eagle F1's or some all-season tires like the M550 or Michelin Pilot A/S?

What it comes down to is whether the loss of performance in the summer is that significant, and what the loss of traction of the summer tires is in cold weather. I do like to enjoy the car and I drive relatively hard, but I dont take the car to the track so that is not a concern. I bought the Z to have a great time driving, but when it gets cold I like the security of knowing I wont be swerving off the road into a curb or guard rails. Is this terrible traction because of the RE040 at 23k, or normal for a summer tire?

Thank you for your input - I appreciate the advise.

Jeff

 

I am in VA also. Before I moved out here I purchased Kumho ASX all-season tires and I love them. They handled great in San Diego before I left and they work great out here in the rain/cold. I almost went with the Michelin Pilot A/S, but now I am glad I went with the ASX's.

 

How do the ASX's compare to the stock RE040 (or other summer tire) in terms of summer performance? I know the all-season will work wonders over the summer tire when its cold, what about having fun when its warm/hot out? Did you notice a significant decrease in performance ie. acceleration, cornering, steering, etc?

Thanks again!!

 

I was running Toyo T1-S before putting the ASX's on and I think they handled pretty much the same. It was still nice weather out in Cali before I left 70's and I was able to get about the same traction and ride comfort that I was getting with the Toyo's. I really don't know anything about the stock tires since I got rid of my stock wheels/tires within a few weeks of buying my car.

 

Thanks for all the info.

So being in VA, if you were to get new tires to use all year round (excluding snow), you would go with summer tires instead of all-season?

Thanks

 

summer tires for me

 

If you go with a summer tire, I recommend the BFG KD (Not KDW, just KD). The grip level is absolutely nutty.

 

I am going to Try out Falken Ziex 512s.. I will let you know how they do in WV weather.

 

All-season tires are a trade-off. Don’t expect handling, cornering and traction equal to summer performance tires. For ice, neither tire has an advantage. One potential problem with all-season tires: finding the proper speed rating.

 

Jeff,

I've got 2 years on my Pilot Sport A/S here in VA, plus occasional bad weather driving out of state. They've been great, and better in every way than what came on the car, but I can't help thinking that even a bargain summer tire would be more fun in warm weather. Don't even _think_ about summer tires here when it turns cold. I got through the first winter on them, but it was stupid scary. I'll be putting KD or MX on before Spring, and Blizzaks or something on my old wheels for Winter.

 

i have the OE potenzas (summer tires) on the touring 18s and i have a set of dunlop snow tires on the OE 17s. yea, i am extreme. lol. honestly, i dont think snow tires are worth the money in VA... especially this winter. i've driven thru "snow" once and it wasnt even much of a snow.

but it is quite scary driving on potenzas when it's below 32.

 

snow tires will save your *** in VA...on the stock potenzas, i was sliding on the highway in MD when it started flurrying out of nowhere (and sticking a bit) in temps of mid 30s

 

love my Pilots

 

I'm currently running Michelin Pilots Summer on the front and Michelin Pilots A/S in the rear. Of course you'll have to compensate your driving with this setup, meaning you'll notice your rears will slide out before your fronts will in the summer. But it's been great actually.

 

I have a set of ASX in the rear my Z, great all season tire, re40 are not designed for the snow or even cold for that matter.

 

Had my falken Ziex-512 installed on Saturday, Just in time for the Big snow.

Monday I took the car out for a check of the tires. I decided to give a snow/ice covered parking lot a test run. There was approx 4 inches of "Bumpy" snow on the pavement where several cars had went through it.

I am pleased to say traction was 100 times better than the stock summer tires on this. I was able to move throught the entire area without slipping at a slow speed and didn't get stuck once. I did slide a bit when I hit the brakes hard, but was able to drive right on through. I didn't get a slip light until about 50% throttle, but was able to continue driving in it.

On Wet roads they seem to do well and I had no trouble.

Much more confidence in bad weather than before. Since it is cold out (16 degrees this morning) I wont be able to test out the warm weather handling for a while.