hey guys, just got me a 2003 350z Track edition. Had a question about these OEM bridgestone potenzas. I was driving home last night, rolling to this light, i was in 2nd gear..and i started to make my turn. I guess I stepped on the gas a lil bit too hard, but i did not floor it, and got the car fishtailing before the VDC kicked in. I live in Chicago, the temp was about 32, and the road was dry. Is it me or the car should not be fishtailing at all on dry pavement only at full throttle? Also, when it was happening it felt like it was fishtailing in the rain.

I was going to check out the tread wear, but it was dark out so i will be doing that tomorrow morning. It seems to me that these tires dont have good traction, from what ive been reading, and IMO i dont think i should be driving on these until i get me a new set.

 

I have an 06 base open diff,stock tires, no form of traction control, and I have no problems with fishtailing on dry or wet pavement. Our cars can fishtail if you give to much gas or down shift in turn without rev matching heel toe shifting. You can probably use some newer and better tires even if your tires aren't worn down sometimes they can harden and cause problems. Hopefuly someone can recommend what you''l need as far as for the winter.

 

I hope those arn't the original tires?

 

Potenzas, like all high performance tires aren't very sticky at low temperatures. Below 50º, I used to be very careful because they didn't seem to have nearly as much grip. Being in Chicago, you definitely need to look into some winter tires, I understand the Blizzaks are pretty popular.

 

Both. Freezing pavement is poor for traction. Dispite VDC, you can do dumb stuff to get you into trouble.

 

i think these might be the original tires. I don't think the previous owner changed them because there's only about 26k miles on the car. I got the car from a small dealership and I did ask the salesman about the tires. But I did do a carfax on the car and noticed it was always serviced at its local dealership.

 

Definitely....you will notice a difference in tire performance around the 40 degree mark......

For us here in the Chicago area...if the road surface has seen frost temps overnight and has not has sustained sunlight to warm up the road surface....you might as well be driving on a wet surface with the stock potenzas.....



Be safe.........

 

If the tires show tread wear indicators, its time for new tires. Your safety and car are worth more than $800.

 

Summer compound tires should not be used below SUMMER night time temperatures........the friction is very diminished as you get down to 50F pretty useless at 32F in perfect DRY situations.

Why the make FALL- ALL season for Fall and Spring temperatures and Winter ICE/SNOW for cold temperatures.

Friction is a function of road and tire tread temperature. As tire age the friction declines as compounds harden from use.........New tires vs old worn out tires with > 8,000 miles on them. Performance tires are expensive to maintain as new performance means replacing them frequently!

 

ahhhh!!! I see! Thanks for the info Q45tech. I'll be buying me some winter tires soon.