Tire question for anyone driving their car in colder weather.

[P4mnceblue82]

Providing roads are dry and clear, I would like to drive my car on the sunny blue bird days this winter. Temps ranging 20-40's.

Does anyone here drive or plan to drive their car in colder weather? Are you throwing an all season on? Or just driving with some sense and running stock tires?

I always swap my summer tires for winter tires on my DD and usually park my "seasonal" car come this time of year. But this car is so amazing, I dont know if I can stomach just looking at her for the next 4 months. Esp on those sunny beautiful days where the temps aren't ideal.

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[Epiphany]

I don't know if I could stomach staring at a smashed up GT500 for the next four months. Yes, there will always be that guy, and I'm sure he will chime in shortly about the exploits of winter driving without issue in their high powered Mustang. Just be aware, the factory Michelins aren't a cold weather performance tire. They, in either a 4S or especially Cup2, literally turn into hockey pucks and have the propensity to crack below ~40*.

 

[stungjoe]

I know I have read the following before, but I cannot find/verify from a legitimate source. The Pilot Sport 4S is not supposed to be driven in sub 40* F temps. In fact they don't even want the weight of the car resting on them in sub 20* temps.



The Pilot Sport 4S excels in warm dry and wet conditions, so like all Max Performance Summer tires, is not intended to be serviced, stored nor driven in near- and below-freezing temperatures, through snow or on ice.

and

Note: Tires exposed to temperatures of 20 degrees F (-7 degrees C) or lower must be permitted to gradually return to temperatures of at least 40 degrees F (5 degrees C) for at least 24 hours before they are flexed in any manner, such as by adjusting inflation pressures, mounting them on wheels or using them to support, roll or drive a vehicle.
Flexing of the specialized rubber compounds used in Max Performance Summer tires during cold-weather use can result in irreversible compound cracking. Compound cracking is not a warrantable condition because it occurs as the result of improper use or storage, tires exhibiting compound cracking must be replaced.

That being said.....it didn't stop this guy! Michelin Pilot Sport 4S Winter Below Freezing Review | Shelby GT350 | Auto Fanatic - YouTube

 

[Epiphany]

And from the description in the above linked video...

"I do not recommend anyone to drive on summer tires below 45 degree temps. This video was conducted just as a test and these tires are not a replacement for winter or all season variants."

 

[P4mnceblue82]

I don't know if I could stomach staring at a smashed up GT500 for the next four months. Yes, there will always be that guy, and I'm sure he will chime in shortly about the exploits of winter driving without issue in their high powered Mustang. Just be aware, the factory Michelins aren't a cold weather performance tire. They, in either a 4S or especially Cup2, literally turn into hockey pucks and have the propensity to crack below ~40*.

I also agree with you! A smashed car is very difficult to look at. I knew the compound of the 4S would get hard under 40 but didn't know about the cracking! That worries me about it even sitting in my garage. It's not heated and gets quite cold in the winter months. While the garage may not get below 40 air temp, the concrete floor can def get below 40 during our coldest winter months.

 

[PaddyPrix]

I was driving my Mustang through New England winters not by choice, and it was alright with bags of quikrete, kitty litter, and cinder blocks in the trunk, carpet samples and a fold up shovel. Had a cheapo set of take-off rims with all seasons, and another busted set with Blizzaks when 12+ inches would fall and work still said tough.

Are you in a place where all that road stuff would still get caked and kicked up? Don't do something like that to a car so nice.

 

[Epiphany]

I knew the compound of the 4S would get hard under 40 but didn't know about the cracking! That worries me about it even sitting in my garage.

The idea is.....don't move the car when ambient is that cold. I have always stored my cars in an unheated garage that can get quite cold in. Just park it and don't move it until you see temps at or above what Michelin recommends and you'll be fine.

 

[IceAge]

Your driver door inside pillar shows a sticker explaining not to drive your vehicle with the factory tires below 44 degrees

 

[P4mnceblue82]

Your driver door inside pillar shows a sticker explaining not to drive your vehicle with the factory tires below 44 degrees

When I open my door, I don't get a chance to look at the little sticker bc I'm having to jump in the car before that snake on the floor bites me!

 

[P4mnceblue82]

In all seriousness, I was aware of all that and understand the rubber compound issues and limitations in cold weather. What I wasn't aware of was the cracking possibility. With that info, I def won't be driving the car unless I buy some UHP all seasons.

On another note, has anyone had to get new tires yet. Curious what kind of milage you are getting out of them? Many moons ago I had a nismo 370z that had staggered set up. So rotating was out. Wasn't running the michelins but I would go thru 2 sets of rears for every one set of fronts.

 

[The Chairman]

Your driver door inside pillar shows a sticker explaining not to drive your vehicle with the factory tires below 44 degrees

You mean this sticker?! Never noticed it before:

Remember that snowstorm we had in TX last Feb? We had a track event at COTA that weekend. Friday was cancelled as the track was covered with snow:


But Saturday and Sunday were a go.
The temp at the Drivers meeting Saturday morning was 27*F.
I think it was above freezing by our first run group. But there was a lot of snow on the edges and the track was wet all morning.
There were several GT350/500s running. Some with Cup 2s. I was running the stock PS4. Guess I should have been worried when I hit the brakes at 160 at the end of the back straight.
I need to check my video clips….

 

[The Chairman]

Don’t know if this will load. But the white stuff around the track is snow. The wet spots were pretty slick, and we certainly didn’t want to leave the track. So we were taking it kind of slow:

 

[IceAge]

This is a thread that years ago was the same conversations. I was a forum member in the GT350 forum separate from this conglomerate of forums. A forum member argued and basically stalked me arguing the the tire temps are bs and you can drive these tires no matter what the temps. I have a personal friend who owns a tire auto center and he personally called Michelin to get the real story. The Michelin person claims you ruin the tire in cold temps and will in essence need to replace it if it’s driving in temps below 20 degrees. The tires do crack and void the warranty on them as well. I personally feel driving the car on a 40 degree plus sunny day will not do anything to the tire since road surfaces can be warmer if it’s say black top. But I can attest I just about crashed my GT500 on a cold May Day in 2020. It was an overcast day around 44 degrees and I was entering the beltway and got into her and the back end came out and I miraculously just missed clipping a car as I went by it. And then a few hours later coming back in on back roads she came out in a corner and just about crashed her again. I was just down in Tn and could only drive her one day along with my GT350 due to low temps and play it safe with my daughter. If you watch my video I talk about tire temps as we are driving around and had to be more careful.

in the end just swap out tires and wheels to enjoy your car in the colder months. If you have 90k to buy a car surely you have 4k-5k for a nice set of winter wheels and tires.

 

[P4mnceblue82]

This is a thread that years ago was the same conversations. I was a forum member in the GT350 forum separate from this conglomerate of forums. A forum member argued and basically stalked me arguing the the tire temps are bs and you can drive these tires no matter what the temps. I have a personal friend who owns a tire auto center and he personally called Michelin to get the real story. The Michelin person claims you ruin the tire in cold temps and will in essence need to replace it if it’s driving in temps below 20 degrees. The tires do crack and void the warranty on them as well. I personally feel driving the car on a 40 degree plus sunny day will not do anything to the tire since road surfaces can be warmer if it’s say black top. But I can attest I just about crashed my GT500 on a cold May Day in 2020. It was an overcast day around 44 degrees and I was entering the beltway and got into her and the back end came out and I miraculously just missed clipping a car as I went by it. And then a few hours later coming back in on back roads she came out in a corner and just about crashed her again. I was just down in Tn and could only drive her one day along with my GT350 due to low temps and play it safe with my daughter. If you watch my video I talk about tire temps as we are driving around and had to be more careful.

in the end just swap out tires and wheels to enjoy your car in the colder months. If you have 90k to buy a car surely you have 4k-5k for a nice set of winter wheels and tires.

Yes, ultimately that's my plan. Run stock rims with all seasons in winter months and get a set of signature wheels to run summer set up. We are just starting the house building process so kinda monitoring the output at the moment. But it seems like my wheels and tires may be getting factored into the contractors budge for housing upgrades!

 

[biminiLX]

Yes, ultimately that's my plan. Run stock rims with all seasons in winter months and get a set of signature wheels to run summer set up. We are just starting the house building process so kinda monitoring the output at the moment. But it seems like my wheels and tires may be getting factored into the contractors budge for housing upgrades!

Where do you live?
I’m in Toledo area and drove a Hellcat Charger for 3 winters 2017-2020. I used V-rated Yokohama quality snow tires and loved them.
My opinion is forget the all seasons. Just run a quality R-compound tire in summer and a high performance snow tire in winter. (The Hellcat went from drag radials to snow tires and back every year)
Good luck!
-J

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