Whats up yall. I just bought my 350z ENTHUSIAST and signed up for this website within the last 4 days. I have read through the threads and found a lot of intersting information and it seems that there are a lot of cool people on this site. (like minded gearheads)

Anyway, a couple of questions if some of you have the time to help a fellow Z owner. By the way, I love this friggin car. I sold my Audi A4 quattro to buy it and the driving experience is so much more involving. anyway, here is the nitty gritty if you guys can help.

1) my 03 Z enthusiast came with mismatched tires and I presume this is why I am having trouble hooking up. It came with 225/45/17 Bridgestone Potenzas in the front, and Falken 235/45/17 in the back. When I break traction, the tires in the back arent even audible (no peel out noise) so I am assuming that they arent sticky enough or are just plain wrong for the car. The question hidden in all this rant is: On tirerack.com it says the stock tires are 225/50/17 and 235/50/17. So I don't know if having 45 series tires are hindering my traction and whether or not the speedometer needs recalibrated because of the change in size. Should I buy 45 or 50series tires and what brand of tire do you recommend?

2) when I do break traction with the TCS on, I notice that 80% of the power it seems is taken away. This makes sense so as not to continue sliding the car around, but sometimes the power loss can last for up to 45 seconds after the initial slip and I know that I have regained traction. Why does the amount of time vary when I lose the power and is there anyway besides turning tcs off to limit the amount of time the power is lost? Its dangerously difficult to keep my speed when this happens and I panic thinking people will run into me becuase I have drastically slowed down.

3) How much longer until I get laid because I have this car? The Audi only took days to get me some action. LOL!!

Sincerely,

WILLY2X

 

Welcome!

1) The 45 series tires aren't really a problem other than throwing off your speedometer since the overall diameter is smaller than the OEM tires. Unfortunately, the ECU can't be reprogrammed to adjust for tire size.

2) That's exactly what TCS does. When it detects slippage of the wheels, it cuts power for a few seconds to allow them to hook up again. It should take 45 seconds though. Are you letting off the gas when it kicks in? You probably ought to do that because it will allow the normal operation to take over quicker.

3) Can't help you there.

 

Thanks for the help Dave... I am still a noob with this ride so, Im sure I have a lot to figure out. I will try completly lifting of the gas next time it detects slip and let you know how it reacts. Thanks again.

 

1. For traction there are better choices than Falken. OEM tire size? Its on the placard inside the drivers door.

2. TCS is sensitive to tire spin and road surface. Sometimes it cuts power for a split second. Sometimes longer. Thats just the way it is.

 

The worse you break traction and freak out TCS, the longer it stays engaged. A quick chirp of the tires or something will only engage it for a few seconds. But if you go swinging the rear out and do a 180 while spinning the tires, it'll stay on longer.

 

+1 on that, if you get them right at the edge of traction, you can almost feather it on and off. Go real deep, it'll take a while although mine has never taken 45 seconds, although sometimes it can feel like 45 seconds.

If you want to run 45 series tires, others have been successfully running 245/45 front, 255/45 rear on 17s. It will give you a little more rubber on the road and be pretty close to stock diameter.

Chris

 

You mean you didn't get laid yet? The receptionist at the car dealer dropped her pants when I came in to pick up my Z.

 

Thats some pretty good info guys, I think I have started to figure out the TCS and in reality, 45 seconds is a bit long, it does just feel like it.
I also know what you are talking about when you say that it depends on how lurid your slide is (the amt of time power is lost) a quick chirp just flashes it, whereas a slide will keep it on for a while.

What crappy luck I have, the receptionist at my Dealership was a man.