need help with 350z tires

[christian21]

i am going get a 350z, but where i live has mountain and it rains every once and while and snows......can you please help and tell which are good rain tires and snow tires and if they have such thing as both as one.

[300ZXttZMAN]

I don't know anything about snow tires because I have never had to learn about them since I don't need them in my region.

Let me see if I can get someone to help you with that.

[Dattebayo]

I like Blizzaks, but I'm sure there are some other brands that are just as good and possibly more affordable, but that's what sticks out in my mind.

[frapjap]

What part of the country are you in? The mountain range and geography makes a HUGE difference. If you're in lower New England or VA, you can get away with some high performance all seasons. If you're in the Rockies, NH, or VT, or Maine, its snow tire time!

[szh]

In snow country, i.e., whenever there is accumulation for more than an inch or so, snow tires will make a world of a difference, yes.

In fact, I would say any snow tire (no matter what brand or model) will be superior to an all-season tire when there is snow on the ground. So, just pick one of the right size and load capacity and go for it! Ideally on a spare set of cheap wheels so that you don't have to remount twice a year.

Years ago, when I lived in New Hampshire and owned first a 1980 Mazda RX-7 and then a 1985 Nissan 300ZX Turbo, I had two sets of wheels. One set was the stock wheels that came with the car and had good summer tires. The second set of wheels were cheap steel ones, with snow tires that I would put on, once the first snow fell that stuck around.

Without them, I once slid my Nissan going up a hill when caught in an early snow-storm and damaged the fender a bit, hitting a relatively soft snow bank.

Also could not bring my car up my driveway (long 100' asphalted, with a 15 foot rise) into the garage if it had snowed, when I was at work, till I changed the tires out.

Z

[szh]

Also, in wet weather (i.e., rain not snow), good/excellent summer tires will actually grip much better than All-Season tires on wet roads.

Much safer in winding mountain country with rain to use good summer tires, only changing them out for snow tires when it is cold enough to accumulate after snowfalls, rather than melting.

Z

[Bubba1]

Also, in wet weather (i.e., rain not snow), good/excellent summer tires will actually grip much better than All-Season tires on wet roads.

Much safer in winding mountain country with rain to use good summer tires, only changing them out for snow tires when it is cold enough to accumulate after snowfalls, rather than melting.

Z

Yep^, Given the 350Z is not great in snow, unless you like drifting, . Blizzaks are hard to beat as snow tires,but they are not cheap.

The best summer tire good in rain I've had on myZ were by far Goodyear Eagle F1A's. excellent Grip, predictable, and cheap. The downside is that they're Z rated,so they wear fast. If you seek long treadwear, stay away from Z rated . The longest lasting tires non-Z rated I had were the OEM Bridgstone Potenza's (RE050?).adequate wet grip, not overly expensive, W rated I think, and they wore pretty well. Nice compromise tire PLus, unlike some high performance smmer tires W rated tires can be used at any outside temp. Some summer tires are not meant to be used below 40 degrees. Gotta be careful when shopping . Hope that helps

[BusyBadger]

Also, in wet weather (i.e., rain not snow), good/excellent summer tires will actually grip much better than All-Season tires on wet roads.

I think the word "much" is, well...a bit much.

Look at an example using a couple of tires Bridgsetone's Summer and All-Season Lineup, the S-04 (Max Performance All-Summer) and the RE970AS (Ultra High Performance All Season)



There's not a drastic fall in grip between the Summer and All-Season there, at least as far as Bridgestone is concerned, I was shocked to see the difference in the Michelins. Now take into that the S-04 is a MAX PERFORMANCE summer tire, if we compare the 970AS (Ultra High Performance All Season) to a UHP Summer from Bridgestone this is what it looks like...



There's a sacrifice to be made in tire life here too, the 970's have a tread wear of 400, the 760's have a 340 and the S-04's drop down to 280.

Much safer in winding mountain country with rain to use good summer tires, only changing them out for snow tires when it is cold enough to accumulate after snowfalls, rather than melting.

Actually the drop off in grip force of summer tires when the temperatures dip below 40 degrees can be significant, the softer rubber that allows them to hold the road so well in warm conditions loses its advantage when the mercury drops, even if the snow hasn't. And if the mountains where Christian is has spring/autumn weather that's as unpredictable as where I live all-seasons are nice to have on, you can't swap out your tires when you're on top of a mountain and miles from home. Here in the Blue Ridge Mountains starting in late October to somewhere in mid-November the weather forecast is different for elevations over 3500 feet, and even though I've had plenty of times where nothing happened,but I've also been caught out on occasion.

In a perfect world I'd run a set of summers for special occasions, some all-seasons for daily driving and some winters when it got snowy - even though it seems that I see less and less of it each year, but I don't have the garage space for two spare sets of wheels and tires.

Christian, depending where you live I'd go with an all season for most of your year round driving and a a snow tire for those times when you really need it. The only tire that I know of for the 350Z (that's running the 18 inch staggered setup) is Bridgestone's LM60.

[C-Kwik]

Actually the drop off in grip force of summer tires when the temperatures dip below 40 degrees can be significant, the softer rubber that allows them to hold the road so well in warm conditions loses its advantage when the mercury drops, even if the snow hasn't.

Actually I believe its because summer tires tend to be harder at a given temperature that they lose grip during the cold weather. The harder compound allows the rubber to maintain its integrity at higher temperatures while the surface softens enough to provide the necessary grip. Meanwhile, a softer compound will start losing its rigidity and the surface will be much more like a liquid at high temps (which leads to worse performance at high temps). At lower temps a harder rubber would become less compliant and therefore lose traction. But a softer tire will still be able to provide enough flexibility to continue gripping the road. Not to mention the softer rubber will deform more which imply a greater amount of hysteric loss. This lost energy is converted to heat allowing the tire to be more compliant.

I do recall going to Vegas in the winter once not long after I got new summer tires. I felt l was driving on a layer of dust. It felt worse than driving in the wet. I was fairly pissed about the tires until I got home and realized they were fine.

To the OP, I'd probably get snow tires mounted on a spare set of wheels. As I understand it, snow tires are a bit pricey and driving on them year round would mean you'ld have to replace them more often while not using the benefits of the higher price. Plus, running summer or UHP tires when not snowing would mean more fun.

[asoomal]

Snow:

Nokian Hakka

Rain/Snow:

Nokian WRG2

[BusyBadger]

Actually I believe its because summer tires tend to be harder at a given temperature that they lose grip during the cold weather. The harder compound allows the rubber to maintain its integrity at higher temperatures while the surface softens enough to provide the necessary grip. Meanwhile, a softer compound will start losing its rigidity and the surface will be much more like a liquid at high temps (which leads to worse performance at high temps). At lower temps a harder rubber would become less compliant and therefore lose traction. But a softer tire will still be able to provide enough flexibility to continue gripping the road. Not to mention the softer rubber will deform more which imply a greater amount of hysteric loss. This lost energy is converted to heat allowing the tire to be more compliant.

Not exactly. The rubber in summer tires is softer, which is why it's so sticky/grippy which is also why it has a shorter treadlife than an all-season tire. If you're saying that a summer tire is harder at a lower temperature, yes it is...they don't maintain their pliability at lower temperatures, I neglected to say why summer tires didn't grip as well in lower temps - just that they didn't. But if you're saying that a summer tire is also harder when it's warm because it needs to be in order to handle high temperatures from high road temperatures and rolling friction, that is incorrect. All other things being equal (at least until the temperature drops), a summer tire has a softer rubber than an all-season tire does.

Depending on the grip level desired, we have arranged our summer tires into several categories including: Extreme Performance, Max Performance and Ultra High Performance. Of these categories, Extreme Performance Summer tires will be the softest and for the most hardcore of street tire applications. These tires feature very soft tread compounds that are more designed for extreme grip levels than treadlife. Following Extreme Performance Summer, both Max Performance Summer and Ultra High Performance Summer tires offer longer life and are a bit more street friendly.*

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Another quick read: "Why Winter tyres?" at Conti-Online.com