Front: Pirelli SnowSport 240's 225/45VR18
Rear: Blizzak LM-25's 225/50HR18

So much more of a comfortable ride, less road noise, I can hear the engine at lot clearer, but lowered handling performance.

Get the TPMS re-calibrated tomorrow.

 

d pak,

Sounds good, but aren't you supposed to use 4 of the same tires for maximum performance and handling?

I always thought especially with snow tires that they should always be installed as a complete set.

Let us know how you make out with handling etc......

 

I'm so glad I live in Vegas and don't have to worry about a winter setup

 

i use my maxima for winter

 

After the winter tires come on I don't think handling is of top priority anymore. I think the point is to shoot for straight line starting and stopping.


I've always been skeptical of manufacturers saying keep all four tires the same. I can understand the same tire per axle but I can see the reason why it would matter front-to-back.

 

You just have to remember that traction is nowhere close to that of Michelins in the summer, and you'll be fine with whatever tires you put on and where. I have Pirellis in the front and Blizzaks in the back for winter.

 

From Tire Rack's website

I'm not saying you can't use different brands, but I believe the tread patterns are designed to work in concert with each other, thus improving or minimizing the loss of handling performance/control.

Anyways.....The Dunlops Winter Sport M3's were fantastic last couple of seasons....really good traction, and handling was reduced to a minimum only because of the higher sidewalls.

 

^^Marketing slur.
Thanks!

 

Well, my dilemma was that I already owner the set of 4 Pirelli's on Rims, that I used for my SE-R during Winter and they did great. Since the G35 has larger rear tires, the only option I had was 225/50R18 which was only the Blizzak LM-25 rated H. So a cost of ~$350 for 2 new tires or ~$1600 for new rims with wider in the back and 4 new tires. I went with the cheaper option.

Before I bought, I talked with the dealer and he said that since the G35Coupe is rear wheel drive, the axle's need to match, if it were the G35x, or any other vehicle that is 4wd, or has a 4 wheel traction, then you really need to have all 4 matched. Got the same answer from local tire installer I have used for 10 years (the old owner not the new younger techies).
The only people who said all 4 have top match was TireRack, but eventually they allowed me to buy just the 2 tires. (wouldn't ship until I called to confirm that I was matching all 4).

Anyways, so far this weekend about 250 miles on them, about 50 or so on wet roads, all below 35 degrees and to tell you the turth I have been trying to see if I can get a slip or break the rear ones loose, but it's been handling great. Steering is extremely straight and smooth and gripping the road nicely even at 80mph. They don't handle like the RE050s but pretty damn good.

Mostly I want to be able to chomp through snow, I will find that out by this weekend.

Ideally I would match all 4, but even summer track vehicles often use different tires on rear, so it makes me argue the logic about matching all 4.

Basides, I think I am still safer than than majority of vehicles on the road that drive in winter with no updated maintenance on vehicles like pressure, enough thread or even proper alignment/balancing, all of which I have noticed is pretty common.

I'll let you know how it handles on snow as soon as I try it out.

 

So we got about 6" of snow & freezing rain today at home, took freaken 2 hrs to shovel, anyways I took the G for a test drive at noon today and here are my observations:

- The roads were not plowed or salted and so I was driving on 4-6" of powder freezing rain crap (extreme test conditions, local roads & no traffic)
- The G is well weight balanced 54/46 and no very little fish tailing and VDC keeps the car straight mostly, I had some fish tailing with VDC off. That feature is a life saver.
- The SLIP light kept coming on continually and I could even hear the VDC mechanism working hard, it constant came on and off and every time I accelerated it would kick in too, kind annoying, but kept me straight. In a stretch that I could normally reach 40 mph, I could barely get up to 25mph because of VDC. Felt like I was towing a semi.
- The ABS kick on everytime I stopped, but it stopped in enough time and never over shot.
- During turns the VDC kept kicking in so much that I could not even make the turn, had to turn it off so I could actually finish making the turn, with a little fish tailing.
- The steering is not too bad for an RWD, I definitely understand the advantage a FWD has, but as long as I kept turning the steering wheel back and forth to compensate G wewnt where I needed it too.
- I did not get stuck anywhere.

Overall, the snow donuts in parking lots were way too much fun, until the freaken towny cop showed up and I told him exactly what I was doing and he left me alone i.e. "testing the tolerance and safety of my new car in a safe location so I can be a better driver on the road under similarly conditions."

Basically, the G is not good for extreme winter conditions, but with the right tires, VDC and a light foot, it does as well as any other car. I

Some random camera phone pics below.

 

I just had the opportunity to drive my 08 G35S 6MT in about 10"-12" of wet snow, and initially had considerable trouble. The car is equipped with new NOKIAN RSi's (225 width). From a standstill, in deep snow, the only way to drive the car was to turn VDC OFF and keep a light foot on the throttle. Once the car was going, VDC was fine. With any sort of deep accumulation, VDC did not help. The VDC was simply kicking in too much, and preventing any sort of forward motion. Let me know if everyone else is experiencing the same.

My previous car was a Honda Civic that was excellent in every winter condition, with good winter tires on it.

 

I strongly disagree with the part of your statement pertaining to "whatever tires you put on..... will be fine". If you try using summer tires like the Michilin Pilot Sports(which were OEM on the '03 and '04 coupes that have 18" wheels) in snow/slush/ice, chances are you won't be going anywhere or stopping with any confidence/safety. My old Pilotsports used to have about 30% of the traction that they would have in warm weather during the few times that I've driven them in weather below 25 degrees(and that's on dry roads) or on icey roads. I'm sure the car does OK with the right snow/winter tires on it, but a summer tire won't even come close to cutting it when the conditions take a wintery turn for the worse up here in the Northeast.