How does 350Z handle snow

[oracleicom]

I live in Chicago, IL which can have some pretty horrible winters...so I wanted to know how does a 350Z handle in snow?

Thanks in advance

[joe603]

You'll want a set of snow tires mounted on a cheap pair of rims for the winter months. Its not fun driving any rear-wheel drive sports car in snow and ice!

[oracleicom]

Thanks for the speedy response. I have one more question...my last rear-wheel drive car was a 94' Ford Thunderbird...should I expect the same results in rain and snow like what I had with the Thunderbird?

Thanks again,

[evildky]

sports car + snow = badyeah should be abotu the same as the T-bird but with less ground clearance, assuming your Z is anything but base model and your T-bird was a Turbocoupe or other LSD equipped model, if you've got an open diff, life is gonna suck

[nsrZ32]

They're not great in the snow. We have a couple customers that have come into the dealership to get their winter wheels and snow tires mounted on their Z33's. Supposedly makes a huge difference and they have driven them through the last couple winters.

[tiger]

Today I was driving home from work... er, or trying to drive home.. I had to park a mile away from the house and walk home cause my z would not go up this hill... it was snowy.. the powder kind and I was slip-sliding EVERYWHERE. I was so scared. I have some Kumho 275's on the back with about 1/4'' tread left. I was so scared that I was going to wreck. This is the first real powder snow.. the kind tha tpacks into the cracks in the road and is slick as a greased pig...that we have had this year. It's sunday so the salt trucks didn't even come out.

[joe603]

You can try turning of the VDC to get up a hill, but be careful! Get some winter tires!

[Bubba1]

You can try turning of the VDC to get up a hill, but be careful! Get some winter tires!

They suck in the snow, but there's one word that could help some.

Blizzaks.

My Z sits in the garage when there's snow in the forecast.

[jEzTeR]

yeah when I had my Z it would be parked in the garage in snow and rain.

[Stumblin]

I'm the same way. Mine sits tarped when there's any snow in the forecase. I'd highly recommend getting a winter beater to deal w/ the elements.

[C-Kwik]

Do not try to drive on snow with summer tires. The compound is much too hard compared to all-season and winter tires. The cold makes it even harder. Summer tires will lose a lot of traction even in very cold weather without the help of snow or ice.

[Hail2mee2]

Today I was driving home from work... er, or trying to drive home.. I had to park a mile away from the house and walk home cause my z would not go up this hill... it was snowy.. the powder kind and I was slip-sliding EVERYWHERE. I was so scared. I have some Kumho 275's on the back with about 1/4'' tread left. I was so scared that I was going to wreck. This is the first real powder snow.. the kind tha tpacks into the cracks in the road and is slick as a greased pig...that we have had this year. It's sunday so the salt trucks didn't even come out.

Yeah man I'm the same way. I live in Philly and my 275 TS1s with about the same amount of tread left weren't exactly performing (but that's obviously understandable).

I wasn't a fan of when the middle section of snow from cars driving on un-plowed side streets turning frozen in the late hours on my way home frmo work and made terrible noises come from under my car. Needless to say, after the first horrific sound of my everything scraping with the ice, I drove 3 miles an hour to my garage and pissed off many townies and Septa busses in the process.

When I got to my garage, a small [2"x4"] portion of my heat shield underneath was hanging down. I cut it off the next day because I couldn't stand hearing the scraping in the quiet garage

I'm buyin a cheap pair of 17s and getting snow tires pronto...

[nissanman04]

You'll want a set of snow tires mounted on a cheap pair of rims for the winter months. Its not fun driving any rear-wheel drive sports car in snow and ice!

speak for yourself, i'd take rwd over fwd any day. understeer is way scarier than oversteer.

[tiger]

dang! I'm just crossing my fingers and praying for no snow on the days that I have to drive to work. I feel sorry for anyone that has a Z and lives in NY. Even with snow tires, do they actually make a big difference?

[nissanman04]

dang! I'm just crossing my fingers and praying for no snow on the days that I have to drive to work. I feel sorry for anyone that has a Z and lives in NY. Even with snow tires, do they actually make a big difference?

well i don't have a z, but yes, snow tires make a night and day difference. the cold makes hard-compound summer tires even harder and extremely slippery. the soft compound of snow tires makes life MUCH easier and more predictable. I have never felt "out of control" in the snow w/ my 240, i can't say that about the crx.

[srdrps13]

dude.. i just got the Z a couple of months ago and imo they're HORRIBLE in snow... i did spun out on I95 and cops had to help me turn my car around. lol

[XCLuSiVeSTiLo]

They suck in snow on stock tires or any summer tire for that matter. I havent driven in rain so i dont know what thats like but its definetly drivable. DONT TAKE OUT THE Z IN SNOW

[Barmats]

The only thing wrong with the Z in snow are the stock summer tires. If you're doing ANY driving in snow you should use snow tires. I run dedicated snow tires on 17" wheels in the winter, and it's fine in 3 to 4" of snow. Any more than that and the Z stays garaged.

Driving in snow with the stock summer tires is a recipe for certain disaster. I wouldn't recommend all-season tires in snow, but they will be much better than the stock summer tires.