uzbones

I have a 2007 Touring with the 18 in stock tires, and live in northern Indiana, so I am obviously going to need some type of snow tires if I expect to drive my 350Z anywhere during winter. I have also heard that it's horrible to drive without snow tires since the tires made for the car that aren't snow tires are either performance tires, or all season performance tires (which probably just means it's ok in a light rain).

So my question is which is the better of the two snow tires I have found:

Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3
Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 DSST Run Flat
or
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 with UNI-T
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 with UNI-T
or
another brand that I missed somewhere

A reason WHY it's better would be appreciated also.

Thanks in advance.

Z04

iTrader: (15)

this is just being honest, but snow tires on a Z are worthless because the Z is not a good car to drive in the snow in the first place, no matter what tires are used. look around and see all the threads involving crashes in the snow and the crappy makeup of snow tires. bu tit is your car, spend your money how you want, but jsut wait and see when winter comes around. i forsee another thread this winter beign posted about how crappy the Z is is the snow, even with snow tires.

The Brickyard Rat

iTrader: (1)

I've read numerous threads on here about guys driving their Zs just fine in snow/ice with snow tires. Blizzak is the tire I see people list most often.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

drivenCSZ

iTrader: (2)

whens the last time you personally drove your Z in the snow?


I love it when people don't know what the F theyre talking about.



I have dunlop wintersport M3's...which are great, i really dont think you can go wrong with any of the ones youve listed. I know the old blizzak WS-50s(not sure if they make them anymore) were a bit more geared to snow driving with a little less performance. Im not sure what kind of snow you get in indiana though.


The only real problem with the Z is the ground clearance, which is understandable. Its hard to go traipsing through a foot of snow when the car isnt even a foot off the ground.


and OP next time use the search function.

Z04

iTrader: (15)

let's see, i have driven a few times in the snow with my Z, not a thing i would ever want to do again since the car is light as hell, and has nothing to do with ride height at all. using your "guess" that would mean every car on the road would have trouble driving in the snow. I have been driving over 20 years now, and have plenty of snow experience being from the midwest. i have also driven many military vehicles off road in many feet of snow in Hohenfels Germany and on the autobahn as well. so please, do not start calling anyone out or making a guess as to what i know or do not know, i have read the threads here concerning people driving in snow and the complaints about snow tires not working. yes, i do know how to search and read and comprehend what i am reading, obviously unlike others here. all i did was state an opinion; if you have never driven a Z in the snow, then snow tires or not you are in for a rude awakening. so yeah, i do think i know what the fck i am talking about

drivenCSZ

iTrader: (2)

well we disagree then....i have driven my Z in the snow, with snow tires and without.

were you driving with snow tires? because alot of people who actually drive with snows on the Z say tires make all the difference. And from my personal experiences(4+ years in my Z) I say that as well.


and ALOT of those threads we see in the winters with people wrecking are those not running with snows. Go back and re-read.

Z04

iTrader: (15)

that i do agree, but there were some that had snow tires as well. the few times i did, i was using all season tires (potenza RE960) and it was not that bad, but again i am use to driving in the snow. i only have two snow seasons in the Z (one year i was in iraq and obviously, no snow or my Z) rather than three but i have in other rear wheel cars. sorry if it seemed i was a bit biased, but if a person really has never driven a Z in the snow before, i know i said this earlier it is going to be a eye openeing experience, snow tires or not. hopefully you can agree on that. peace?

drivenCSZ

iTrader: (2)

i can agree...It is by no means the ideal car for snow drivng(wrx with AWD will run circles around it) and caution goes a long way

jjellyneck

I drive the G35 coupe with Pirelli P210 snow tires for 3 Minnesota winters, and have been driving various rear wheel drive cars in the snowy area of the country for 35 years. With proper snow tires it's as good as any rear wheel drive car. The keys are good tires and proper driving style.
My next snow tires will likely be the M3.

Spike100

If you equip your Z with snow tires (on all four corners - 4 snows because you need to stop as well as go), you can safely drive the car in snow and on ice. As someone else points out, the only limitation is clearance. Once the roads are plowed (or in new and light-to-moderate snow), the Z goes like a champ. The VLSD provides a traction boost. In rare circumstances TCS/VDC can interfere, but you turn this off easily by simply pushing the switch. I usually have my VDC on since it is very helpful in slippery conditions.

I hesitate to say this (since it may invoke some amout of skepticism), but my Z with VLSD/VDC/TCS and 4 snow tires drives better in snow and ice than does my FWD Saab 9-5 equipped with all season tires. Truthfully, when we get a significant snowfall (6 inches or more) in Frostbite Falls, I drive the Jeep. But the rest of time (and there is always lots of ice here) in the winter, I drive the Z (about 95% of the time in the winter).

Answering the OP's question: I am using Blizzaks.

--Spike

kangol99

I've ran blizzak lm-22's for two winters. I live in southern michigan. I've had no problems at all. It gets around pretty good IMO for a rwd sports car. really deep snow is a no go but i drive on a main road to work so i usually don't have any problems. i try not to drive the z more than i have to in the winter for the most part you'll be fine with some good snow tires.

uzbones

OP here. Thanks everyone for giving me thier honest opinions.

I tend to agree with everyone here that the car is probably not the best choice to drive in the winter, but if you do have good snow tires and don't drive like a moron (though there are a LOT of morons driving in Indiana in the winter... ).

At this point it's either buy snow tires or a beater, and I have never found a beater that didn't need new tires anyway and cost me more money that it was worth...

I think I will give the Dunlops a try this year to see how it goes.

Thanks again.

StreetOC192

iTrader: (7)

I made it through this past NJ winter with Toyo Poxes4 tires (all seaons) on my Z and I use it as my daily driver. I did just fine. I think it's 40% what tires are on the car and 40% you knowing how to drive in adverse weather and 20% how the other idiots on the road are driving.

All together we had about 4 or 5 snow storms here last winter.

bms350z

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, Im in central Jersey and we normally have a mix, its rarely a full blow snow event. Im in the market for a set of snow tires, last winter I almost wet myself, got stuck at work late and NJDT decided not to salt. By the time I left, there was a 1/4 inch of sleet on the road... SCARY SCARY driving... the car just floats on the snow/ice and never makes contact to the road.

Spike100

So... You keep your Summer Performance tires on your Z even when the temperature drops below 40 degrees F ?

--Spike

bimmer330

I actually have a set of Dunlop Sport M3 tires for the Z that were used for 1.25 seasons (maybe 5 mos total and 3-4k miles) in Philadelphia. I have them on a set of stock 18 inch 04 Touring rims. I would simply swap them out.
They are excellent tires and with the traction control I had no issues at all. The only thing that can stop the Z with real snow tires like these is the ground clearance. The traction in snow and dry is excellent. They were a little expenseive because of the sizes but worth it.
If you are interested in buying the entire setup just send me a pm.

bdavids1

iTrader: (2)

I just bought my Z (used 2004 Roadster) in September, and drove it during the winter. I'm right by Washington D.C. where we tend to get more slush and ice than snow.

I was trying to get as much as I could out of the stock tires, and gambled a bit too much. For the first snow, the car still had the stock tires and they were close to bald. The car was completely un-drivable. I'd never spun a car out before (and I was only going 10 MPH)...

Then I got some Bridgestone Potenza RE960s (all season, not snow tires), and WOW what a difference. I have never had so much fun in a car in my entire life. I thought it was very drivable, although you need to use a lot of common sense, drive at reasonable speeds, leave plenty of room, etc.

That's my experience in D.C. weather, where 1 1/2" is considered a "blizzard". I know winters in Indiana are a completely different beast, so this probably doesn't help you too much.

gunslinger

Buy a used xterra and keep the z in the garage when there's snow on the ground. The xterra is also nicer to bring to the hardware store...

dubbzdiggler

Performance snow tires were designed for euro sports cars that drive high speeds on the autobahn...ground clearance is probably the only negative for snow driving in the Z. The reason being, if the snow is too deep, you bottom out on it and you can't get any traction...I can plow through the snow on the streets and in the neighborhoods when we get a bunch of snow, but if the driveway isn't plowed and it's deep, I always get stuck, just bc I bottom out. It's the TIRES not that car that are bad in the snow. Plus those threads of people wrecking their Zs in the snow are probably from kids that didn't know how to drive a rear wheel drive car in the snow...many people don't know how to correct overstear...BLIZZAKs FTW!!! But the Dunlop M3s are good too.