Sport 4 S. Cold temps, normal driving ?

[Racer57]

Personal experience responses only please. Everything I have found says not to use them during cold conditions. But I would be driving on city streets and interstates. NO tracks, drag racing or even extra fast driving. Just normal. Will they still be a major issue ? I' had C7 Vettes from 2017 - 2022 with summer tires and didn't have any problems.

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[NightmareMoon]

Sub 30 degrees, yeah you can expect microcracking. I’ve had a couple sets do this, since its (almost) never sub 30 in Texas, I’d run them year round on my DD

Soo, I didnt find the cracking to be a huge problem, I ended up tossing the tires after a couple years due to age and that stupid inside wear problem before the small cracks were an issue.

So now I have a true DD and the mustang can stay in the garage when its that cold.

 

[MAGS1]

I just pulled my Conti Extreme Contact Sport’s (same category as the PS4S) off my car today for winter. The tire compound just isn’t made to hold up in colder temps (consistently below 50F is what I go by). They get hard and slick pretty fast in the colder temps and become unsafe. Not to mention they will start cracking prematurely. My car is my daily driver if that helps at all

 

[Racer57]

I just pulled my Conti Extreme Contact Sport’s (same category as the PS4S) off my car today for winter. The tire compound just isn’t made to hold up in colder temps (consistently below 50F is what I go by). They get hard and slick pretty fast in the colder temps and become unsafe. Not to mention they will start cracking prematurely. My car is my daily driver if that helps at all

So you don't have any personal experience with them during cold temps ?

 

[GrabberBargeCaptain]

OP you havent said what you consider cold temps. I've ran them at freezing temps but not much lower. Didn't have any issues but i wouldnt make a habit out of it.

 

[MAGS1]

So you don't have any personal experience with them during cold temps ?

I’ve driven on a tire with the same qualities as the PS4S a few times in mornings where it was in the 30’s. As I mentioned, they get firm and slick in a hurry. City and highway driving won’t get them anywhere close to warm enough to have the grip they were manufactured for. So yes, I do have some experience and it was not pleasant. I now put my winter tires on a little sooner and leave them on a little longer.

 

[MAGS1]

OP you havent said what you consider cold temps. I've ran them at freezing temps but not much lower. Didn't have any issues but i wouldnt make a habit out of it.

East Central IL (per his profile) will get below freezing. That’s a couple hours south of me

 

[GrabberBargeCaptain]

In that case i would definitely not run them year round unless you're rich and don't mind replacing them after they crack on you

 

[308 Cal. Bullitt]

Are those who have personally experienced cracks on these summer only tires, (in cold weather) observing them on the wear surface only?
On the sidewalls only?
Or both surfaces?

Have never gotten clarity on these "micro-crack" locations.

I do not consider this question hijacking, (even though I am responding w/o personal experience as requested)
since the ??? is asking for clarity of where exactly the 'cracking or micro-cracking', its observed on the tire.

Is this issue observed on all 4 tires when seen?
Are fronts - rears, on RWD cars - more severely cracked?

Both sides, driver/passenger, also seen as equally cracked?

 

[MAGS1]

Are those who have personally experienced cracks on these summer only tires, (in cold weather) observing them on the wear surface only?
On the sidewalls only?
Or both surfaces?

Have never gotten clarity on these "micro-crack" locations.

I do not consider this question hijacking, (even though I am responding w/o personal experience as requested)
since the ??? is asking for clarity of where exactly the 'cracking or micro-cracking', its observed on the tire.

Is this issue observed on all 4 tires when seen?
Are fronts - rears, on RWD cars - more severely cracked?

Both sides, driver/passenger, also seen as equally cracked?

I have seen the cracking on both the tread and sidewall (not my tires since I take them off, but have seen it on other’s cars). My understanding is it’s the hardening of the compound in the cold temps then them getting warm(er) in a garage. Basically, freeze and thaw repeatedly is the biggest culprit causing the cracking.

I have direct experience with leaving the tires on a little too long one season and driving them in temps right around freezing in the morning (it did warm up to the low 50’s during the day, better but still not ideal). It was only for about 25 minutes but those tires stiffened up a lot more than I initially thought. Throttle control will help but it’s still like driving on a slick surface. If you need to do it for a quick trip, just be careful but I wouldn’t recommend doing it repeatedly. Besides the potential for cracking it’s just not safe IMO.

 

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

I owned a 2018 Mustang GT premium PP1 with A10 and MagneRide, oem PS4S 275 rear and 255 fronts. Located in Idaho so we have real winters. The PS4S suck in the cold. No other way to put it. I once did a u turn at about 5 mph and slid (massive understeer). No grip for straight line traction, no braking grip, no turning grip. No way to do a drastic emergency maneuver if needed. I’d say they were not safe in cold weather. Not to mention the cracking possibility at sub freezing temps. I replaced them with Michelin pilot sport A/S 3 and was much happier.

I’d rate them this way:
80+ deg F: good to go of course
65 deg F: easy to get some heat in them and then they’re fine but not great for a few minutes
50-55 F: careful, but after 10-15 mins they aren’t as dangerous but still not great, high perf all season will be better unless the PS4S have sustained spirited driving and have heat in them
40 F: they suck and never have full grip
30 F: horrible and dangerous
Below 30 F: don’t even think about it

 

[Son of SVO]

I have direct experience with the PS4S.
Like others here I heed the manufacturer warnings and have a separate set of winter wheels and tires I swap to since this is my DD. Since this is the case I have never had cracking issues. I have driven them in near freezing temps and like any tire in this class they get hard and slippery even on dry roads. Forget wet roads at these temps the car wanted to fishtail with any decent throttle. Best above steady 50 degree temps for sure. I will note they are somewhat better at lower temps than the incredibly bad Pirelli Pzero Corsa 4s the car came with.
My recommendation: Don't do it!

 

[LowPSI]

I drove on MPS4S occasionally last season here in Colorado. As long as it was over 32 degrees I felt ok driving on them (as long as there's no snow or ice) however below 40 and they're very hard and don't have a lot of grip. Easy to do burnouts from a light though, haha.

Absolutely terrifying/useless in snow. I waited 3 weeks for the roads to clear up before I moved it across town from a friends garage to my garage. Still got stuck in a dusting on my driveway.

I'm actually about to put her up for the winter here. I've got other cars for the cold and snow.

 

[luca1290]

I have driven them in near freezing temps and like any tire in this class they get hard and slippery even on dry roads. Forget wet roads at these temps the car wanted to fishtail with any decent throttle.

I too have direct experience with these tires: my car did oversteer way more than I anticipated on a wet day, 45 F, but with otherwise very decent tarmac. I only gave it a liiitle bit of throttle more.
I've been able to recover from the oversteer but I had no signs of it coming, tires were not supposed to be dead cold because I was just out of the highway.

Don't do it.

 

[RedTetsu13]

Out here in SE Michigan (raised in Chicago-land, western suburbs), I call this time of year and spring the grey zone for those of us that DD our cars. It will greatly depend on temperature and the level of moisture that lands on the ground for you. It can be done and for reference I'm running Extreme Contact Sport's for my summer and VikingContact 7's as my current winter rubber.

I have run UHP A/S and Summer's in the grey zone I reference and UHP A/S and Snow Tires in full winter time as well.

About two yrs ago now I drove back to Chicago on UHP A/S right after an Ice Storm ripped through right before Easter. My car almost spun itself into the wall on I-94 (this is what caused me to get snow/nordic tires) as I felt I had zero control in that moment (Definitely a code brown moment thankfully nothing happened).

My advice is as follows:

If you see any snow and have consistent 45 degree or lower temps, you should opt to get an off-season set of rims and tires in either the Snow/Nordic Tire or Winter Performance Tire category.

If you rarely see snow and have consistent 45 degree or lower temps, opt for winter performance tires or get UHP A/S tires.

If your winters are in the a grey area where you have temps that rarely drop down to freezing and stay in the 35-50 range, you should more or less be fine with UHP A/S.

I would not recommend keeping your summer tires on if your temps drop below 40 degrees consistently (you will not have any grip whatsoever if it does drop and it happens to be slick out there). If your temps rarely go below 40 then I'd say you can run your summer tires but keep in mind below 45 they can start to have serious damage to the meat of the tire as they were never designed to operate in those temps (but given you have PS4S's you should be alright if the time spent is limited).

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