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MPSS and snow


shiney bits

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Hi folks

After some opinion on what you think on this.

Now my wife had a 350z roadster before the 370z roadster and it was awesome in the snow. Traction control was 1st class, just point and go. Now the 370z is horendous. The car has a full set of MPSS. Traction control seems like it does nothing what so ever apart from flash the trac light. Is the car really that bad in snow compared the the 350z or is it the MPSS that are so bad in the snow.

 

Cheers

John

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Turn the traction control off so you benefit from both rear wheels getting some grip. MPSS are a 'summer tyre' and dropping the psi to 32 means you are flattening/spreading the grip patch, albeit slightly,which on snow/ice is not what you want. If you put on some winter tyres which will be a thinner profile with harder compound and more defined block pattern on the tread, as required in such conditions in parts of Europe, you would immediately see a great improvement in grip

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No, because you're using a smaller contact patch to put more downwards pressure to cut through the snow to get to the road underneath :thumbs:

 

You're going to have massively reduced grip in the snow regardless, this is just the best way to make best of the situation.

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No, because you're using a smaller contact patch to put more downwards pressure to cut through the snow to get to the road underneath :thumbs:

 

You're going to have massively reduced grip in the snow regardless, this is just the best way to make best of the situation.

 

Errr .......... I dont think you are right mate. Ive regularly dropped pressures in snow for increased grip, although narrow tyres are defintiely better raising them isnt going to make the tyre any narrower, it will just be harder.

 

I remember getting totally stuck in one of my old Deltas, dropped pressure as much as I dared and it was like a different car, the snow that had stopped me now wasnt an issue at all. Id add that the construction of an MPSS means it wont get much more of a footprint, but anything is better than nothing :)

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No, because you're using a smaller contact patch to put more downwards pressure to cut through the snow to get to the road underneath :thumbs:

 

You're going to have massively reduced grip in the snow regardless, this is just the best way to make best of the situation.

 

Errr .......... I dont think you are right mate. Ive regularly dropped pressures in snow for increased grip, although narrow tyres are defintiely better raising them isnt going to make the tyre any narrower, it will just be harder.

 

I remember getting totally stuck in one of my old Deltas, dropped pressure as much as I dared and it was like a different car, the snow that had stopped me now wasnt an issue at all. Id add that the construction of an MPSS means it wont get much more of a footprint, but anything is better than nothing :)

 

Must confess that I thought the same but was temporarily deferring to the judgement of the resident tyre guru B) This would tie in with the logic of winter tyres being softer as per my earlier post.

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It'll be narrower and harder, so more likely to cut through the snow. You will reduce the contact patch by increasing pressure (think about what happens to overinflated worn tyres), and that can make it enough to cut through.

 

That said, and Doc's own experience backs this up, you can happily try to drop the pressures massively too: That's the easier thing to do, however you then run the risk of the tyre spitting off the rim when you drop it low enough to make a difference. Most people would drop the pressures, simply because it's easier to remove air by the side of the road when in a drift than add it!

 

Winter tyres are always preferred in the smaller sizes because of this. The compound is softer to warm up quicker, that's all. Same reason I run the softest 888s I can on the MR2.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I surprised that there is any debate here. The long and shot of it is, an ultra high performance summer tyre will not cut it in the snow end off.

 

You can adjust presures to try and increase or decrease contact patch/foot print depending on the type is snow but this makes little difference to overall grip. You may improve traction slightly to get you out of a spot but you are in a world of bother.

Dan and doc you are both right if you take into context other factors. Eg in compacted snow/ice a wider foot print will reduce grip significantly as you are coversely reducing presure there traction while in fresh powder snow this will be good for traction. Same theory for driving in dunes.

 

Thinner tyres are better for snow as they exert more pressure which is more important for traction. There more to winter tyres than just the compound but the tread pattern is also important and when all that is said and done the is a limit and then you need chains or studded tyres.

Also FWD, AWD or RWD impacts on the cars behaviour however RWD is always fun.

 

My zed became undrivable in the snow once I went from OEM size tyres to 265/295. I couldn't even get up I to my gentle sloped drive in about an inch of compacted snow and the car was just spinning in 2nd gear all by itself

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