johnnyboy

Put some winter tyres on, It makes a colossal difference.

And another thing ... do NOT throw away the old fans and cowl (like I did...). Not only in case you want to go back to OEM (like I did ....). Somebody on here will want them - any sort of front end damage will require a new cowl and the cost at least £50 from a breakers (and there are few about...). The fans will go to somebody who wants to refurbish a pair without taking their car off the road while they refurbish their own.

Bit confused... I didn't really have any wiring spare..... Unless... Have you kept the two (unequal length) wires that plug into the loom, run around the OEM cowl and go into the back of the standard fans? - I took these off with the OEM fans / Cowl and plugged the Mishimoto wires straight into the two sockets on the loom. (Making sure I got them the right way round ...). Is this the difference? I positioned the Mishimoto wires straight across the back of the fans (rather than running them round the Mishimoto cowl) and put a couple of wire ties onto the plastic bars across the back of the fans (the wires are not exactly heavy and it didn't seem to block a lot of air...).

I put some Mishimotos on this summer and could not put up with the noise (particularly an issue at slow speed and in traffic - which is pretty much the only time they come on...) - so I went back to "refurbished" OEM fans instead. Much quieter.

All four of mine, including the two stamped "rear", have the 5 recesses you describe. (I have been trying to post photographs but it has defeated me... and they are not very good photographs anyway...) Looking at other posts, maybe it is the 8.5" rears that don't have the recesses?

Exactly. all 4 wheels are the same size/specification as far as I can see (apart from the cast in "front" and " rear" on the back of the same spoke as the cast in Diameter, width and et). And although I have not had it from new, it was a one owner car with 12,000 miles on it when I got it, with every indication that it had not been fiddled with in any way and with what I am pretty sure were OEM fitted wheels with half worn original tyres. (I then bought a set of Rays and use the originals for winter tyres...).

Haven't tried them and I would also like to know, so I have asked a question on them on Amazon. See what people / seller has to say .

You obviously have a high regard for the intelligence and diligence of the 350z driver (ie. me) and my local tyrefitter. (and I wouldn't actually say its "clearly" marked... maybe you keep the inner side of your wheels cleaner than I do... I had to wire brush it to see which was which...j

I knew somebody would know! (and I should have expected it to be you, Alex) So what harm would it do to get it wrong?

Respect! While agreeing with the principal of your comment, I will absolutely guarantee that you would have been (slightly ) less stressed on the Alpins. (if you could have found some in the right size, which I doubt...) (brave man!)

You express it very well.. Winter tyres (good ones) ultimately "move around" and let go progressively with plenty of warning rather than let go unpredictably or in a snap. It may not be ultimately as fast but actually makes them much nicer (and probably safer) to drive on. Nokians are truly famous for their "snow" tyres - they are at the extreme end of the Winter tyre spectrum (as befits coming from Finland...) and their snow tyres are definitely not famous for being good in the warm and dry. On the other hand they have just brought out a less extreme "All Season" tyre (Nokian "Weatherproof") that is getting excellent reviews for its cold weather / rain behaviour and is significantly cheaper than the Michelins and Continentals (Still not convinced about using them in summer on a Z though ...) and besides, I couldn't get them in Z sizes. I wouldn't go to a warm dry track day with snow tyres - but neither would I go to a wet and cold track day with summer tyres...

Agree entirely that we were quite happy for decades without bothering about Winter tyres. We didn't used to have "Summer" tyres either, they were just tyres. Unfortunately, times (and in this case tyres ) change. Heavier more powerful cars going faster on busier roads. More directly of importance with snow, on much wider tyres with much bigger tread blocks, a lower percentage of sipes, better wearing (ie. harder compound) rubber for longer life and above all reduced rolling resistance so the car manufacturers can quote better MPG figures. And a need for the manufacturers to have the same cars across Europe (if not the world). We now routinely put on "Summer" tyres that are by definition ideally suited to Italian summer roads. In Winter. In England. Remember how many miles we used to get out of our old tyres? 15,000 was good, Michelin X's did maybe 18,000 and were considered amazing - but of course nobody bought them because they didn't give any grip in either the wet or the dry, let alone snow. WRX rally cars use 205 width snow tyres (or at least they did untill a few years ago - I don't follow it any more)... England is a bit of an exception to the car/tyre manufacturers. The rest of Europe is either: a) nice and warm and dry for most of the year (Southern France, Spain, Italy,..) so summer tyres are fine all year for them, or... Hot in the summer and downright cold and snowy in the winter (Germany, the Alps. Denmark, Poland, Swiitzerland...) so they absolutely need two sets. In England, Northern Ireland and Wales (and probably Scotland but I haven't been there in twenty years...) we could do with "all season" tyres (like the ones we used to have...) but manufacturers are not going to fit them as standard because of the fuel figures and a need for standardisation across all markets... and aftermarket tends to follow OEM. This year a couple of "all season" tyres have appeared (Michelin, Goodyear and Nokian are getting good reviews) but I have not yet managed to find any in our sizes - or I would have bought two yesterday, rather than another pair of Continental TS850's. For absolute grip on a warm dry road a nice wide Summer tyre is King. The rest of the year, not so much.

Just had another look... cant see one.

I have tried to look this up in previous threads but cant find an explanation. My Winter tyres are on a set of standard touring alloys (2007 350z) which appear to be identical but are stamped "front" and "rear". They are all 18" diameter, 8" wide, 30et offset, JJ rim profile (I always wondered what JJ meant - as against just J - but my searching this morning explained it ...) I have always been careful to put the fronts on the front and the rears on the back, but every year it bugs me. So what is the difference?

Probably a bit late for you, but in case it is helpful... I do a fair amount of milage on Winter tyres in Europe (and of course in UK..) and currently run winters on my 350z (standard 18" touring alloys with 225/45 fronts, 245/45 rears). I have used Dunlops, Michelin Alpin A4's and currently Continental Wintercontact TS850p's. I also have experience with other vehicles and tyres (BMW X3, MG TF, Ford Mondeo, Focus...). The Alpins were excellent, the Continentals even better. The way that putting Winter tyres on the Z improved its cold/wet grip and handling is amazing. It isn't just the snow - though driving a Z up a hill in 3" of fresh snow and going past stuck 4x4's (which were on summer tyres...) was thoroughly enjoyable - its the way it feels safer on cold wet mornings on the M42. I have also tried some cheaper makes. They seem to be pretty good in snow (certainly compared to Summer tyres ) but unfortunately seemed very iffy on anything else - poor on dry roads and particularly bad on wet roads - they are just not predictable on bends. The Alpins and Continentals are superb in the cold and wet and pretty good in the warm and dry even compared to my Continental summer tyres. They are just more predictable and nicer to drive than the cheapo's. As an aside, my wife leaves her Winter Alpins on all year round on the front of her Mini (which you are not supposed to do as above 8 or 10 degrees they are not supposed to be as good as a good Summer tyre) on the basis that as a careful driver she doesn't have much trouble in the dry in the middle of the the day in summer, but seems to do a lot of her driving on damp cold mornings in the midst of a load of half asleep idiots . Winter tyres have changed a lot in the last 2 or 3 years (for the better...) so be a bit careful to make sure you buy current models, not last years (unless of course they are discounted nicely - they have not improved that much...). Michelin have just brought out a "Summer optimised" Winter tyre (??) that sounds great but I have not tried it - and it is expensive. Magazines run tests every year - see http://www.autoexpre...prices-compared (I like the bit where they try to put their recommended summer tyre through the winter tests as a comparison, and it could not get to the start of the "snow handling circuit" ). In practice, buying some cheap ones and "putting them on when it snows" doesn't work, I have tried it and its just not practical. Buy some decent ones and leave them on from October to April (if not all year...) as they are just better tyres for our roads.