review: 350z on snow (open diff)

[ManDogFish]

Before I bought the 350z, I could not find the information I needed to know to know if the 350z would do for me in Canadian weather.

And I do think that would be a problem for other buyers, specially the ones with the open differential model (US base model)

Which is why I am putting this up. I know its not worded or phrased good...but for someone who wants the information, the opinion is there.

So before I got the car, so many people told me to not buy it if I need the car in the winter...I listened for a little bit and then I asked, did you drive a 350z in the snow? the answer was no
and to every guy who told me not to drive it in the snow and the ones who claimed it would be too dangerous to drive, I asked if they have every driven on been in a 350z in the snow, most of them said they didnt...
so this family friend of mine who owns a porsche comes to me advising me not to drive the car in the snow...I asked him, have you driven your car in the snow ever? His answer was no.

Even the form posts I found, seemed to be opinions instead of first hand information, I now believe a lot of 350z forum members on other forums do not own a 350z but are kids who wanted to buy them or their older brother or dad owns one so the gaps in their knowledge and filled in by their educated opinion/guess


so, I bought my 350z at the start of summer, its a 2004.5 us base model with an open differential.
It had 135k kms on it when I got it and now it has 152k kms. So I drove it about 17k kms, 11k miles, 25% of that was probably between -5 degrees and -20 C, which is -4 K

I installed Nokian Hakkapelitta R's 40% life at the front
and new hercules avalanche at the rear.

For driving a 350z in the snow, good snow tires are your bestest friend, I can repeat and emphasize this but i think you get the point

If you are driving the 350z in the snow and are not using the same tires at the front and rear then I would recommend using deeper tread snow tires (below 235) at the rear, and you "have to have" high quality (good compound) snow tires at the front as the catastrophic understeer can appear and disappear fast so u want good feedback.

The nokian hakkapelitta's seem good different to me in the sense that they can provide good transition of understeer and oversteer, I mean when the tires slip on snow but they can slip grip slip grip in a way that it seems like a very smooth transition so u can get partial slipping instead of just spinning out when u lose drip...its almost like its made to be gripping with the tires slipping at an angle.... so instead of catastrophic understeer u get very good feedback on the understeer with these tires...

The hercules avalanche (they look like offroad truck tires and are a lot harder compound than the nokian) have an aggressive deep thread which is why they work at the rear for me. The rear keeps slipping everywhere and if you are to drive this car long distances in the winter snow regularly even when u just wake up, u better build up reflexes and muscle memory. Deep tread tires, from what I have seen are more predictable....the grip you get from them while slipping usually matches expectation and doesnt vary as much as lighter pattern tire. They dont provide as good of feedback as the nokian but they do manage to pull ur car forward even if u redline on the snow. I do think you can get better tires than the hercules but make sure they have a deep tread as you dont want to spin out.

For someone starting to learn how to drive a 350z on the snow, the open differential does seem to be somewhat more forgiving.
When u have a significant slip, with open diff there is always a chance that one wheel will not spin and keep u on track....unless u significantly press the throttle and you are in a drift. Also on a good condition open diff, the side with more weight on is more likely to slip

If you have a VLSD version I would definitely recommend a few snow drift practice sessions before trying to rush to work in the snow in the morning...trust me on that, my car was all over the place on the highway, the wind was even making me slip at times but then other non-awd cars were stuck in snow...I almost got stuck so yea, if its deep deep snow, maintain momentum. For the VLSD, throttle control is very vital, if you cannot control the throttle just pull in the clutch when it slips....dont dump it back...vlsd has the benefit of not getting stuck in the snow, the open diff cars will just have to maintain momentum i guess.

The problem with the 350z on deep snow comes from the variation in the grip. After you start a drift or the tail accidently slides out and its difficult to always get the exact right timing and amount of counter steer specially when there is more snow under one side of the car...I mean most of the time it is easy to get right but at times its almost impossible so there is always a risk of you spinning out so keep distances from oncoming traffic and know where you can crash to avoid another car or person if you do get in an unstoppable slide

The 350z is deceiving on the snow in the sense that it is very nice to drive on fresh snow but once you have variation in snow grip its a pain....

I tale slid atleast 30 degrees by light braking in a straight line.... the front right tire hit a patch of dry road when I was braking and before I could react the car was starting to spin, I fixed it and got lucky but....the point it, braking, or braking during a slip may get you is a crash and be aware of road surface going under each wheel, Ive slowly built a habit of doing so..

Driving above average speeds on a 350z in Canadian snow storms requires being comfortable with snow drifting....if your not comfortable with it, ur heart will be racing the whole time ur driving... But its easier than learning how to drift...its just very risky to be done by a population of people. You dont need sandbags, you just need snow tires and alertness.

I am somewhat sure that most 350z snow accidents happen by counter steering too much or not reducing the counter steer at the right time. This may happen if someone cuts you off...

For me, 95% of the time, the 350z is very pleasant and easy to drive on the snow.....but the 5% of the times its as bad as I mentioned above.

In the first place, I did decide to use the car in the winter just so that I can learn to drift so that I can drift safely when it comes to high speed drifting.

Also if you are driving your car under -10 deg C, be prepared for failures from cold weather...
my rear differential makes a race car whining noise when it was left out at -20 deg C, and the oil pump or some other pump likes making whining noises when the engine is very cold aswell. I do not think its my water pump as my antifreeze shouldnt freeze shouldnt freeze until -40 C

Its really rewarding to drive in snow ...but only when you feel like driving

[ManDogFish]

had some snow fall this morning.... it was amazing....felt like fresh soft creamy snow...all the way to work, 27 mins late

I drove at the speed limit on the highway where the traffic would allow so that Im not late, the snow was higher than the bumper 30% of the way...it might have done some minor damage....time will tell cuz somethings making scraping sounds on full steering lock, the ice melted away in the underground parking so im not sure what it is yet

im noticing accumulation of massive rock chips and salt scratches...but then that is partially why I bought a nissan
I think the 04 year has weak paint

it feels epic having ur car warp side to side as u hit snow bumps at high speeds on an unpaved highway at 5:30am.
a lot of rapid and constant correction and I still slid the tail into a curb later....but then those were road conditions....the curb literally could not be seen...it could only be felt