Summer tires and winter storage

[Sketcham]

I am considering buying a set of 2024 take-offs for my mustang. The tires are the summer only Pirelli P Zeros. I store my car in an attached but unheated garage from roughly November-April, depending on the year. The manufacturer says these tires can’t even be stored in sub 40F temperatures. We routinely see sub 0F in our winters and sometimes have weeks of subfreezing temperatures. Will I do damage to these tires parking my car for the winter? Thank for your thoughts.

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[kz]

No.

 

[SheepDog]

I am considering buying a set of 2024 take-offs for my mustang. The tires are the summer only Pirelli P Zeros. I store my car in an attached but unheated garage from roughly November-April, depending on the year. The manufacturer says these tires can’t even be stored in sub 40F temperatures. We routinely see sub 0F in our winters and sometimes have weeks of subfreezing temperatures. Will I do damage to these tires parking my car for the winter? Thank for your thoughts.

Hopefully you are getting a great deal, because those Pirelli's are complete trash. I've had all-seasons that provide better dry traction and handling

 

[GTP]

Over-pressure your tires to 45psi for storage. Summer tires can be stored in cold temps, but driving on them flexes the sidewalls and that is what leads to cracking.

 

[EFI]

The manufacturer says these tires can’t even be stored in sub 40F temperatures. We routinely see sub 0F in our winters and sometimes have weeks of subfreezing temperatures. Will I do damage to these tires parking my car for the winter? Thank for your thoughts.

I guarantee you that in the entire life of that tire (from production, shipment, mounting to wheels, vehicle shipment, vehicle storage) that those tires have seen sub 40* temperatures. I doubt Pirelli makes Ford keep their vehicles equipped with those tires 100% in climate controlled environments. I also doubt Ford ships cars with such tires in climate controlled train cars and I doubt they make their dealers store them inside their climate controlled show rooms at all times once they hit their lots.

I would be weary of such temps with high performance R compound track tires. The Pirellis that come on millions of road cars, I wouldn't even think about it.

 

[Bikeman315]

I'm sorry but I tend to err on the side of caution. I've seen tires that have come apart due to cold temperatures. Once the damage is done it cannot be undone. You may not see the damage, put them on your car and drive on them. Then the worst happens. Sorry, it's not worth taking the chance. Do yourself a favor and tune out the "sure you can" responses and give it some real thought. I'd suggest not doing it but then again it's JMHO!

By the way the latest version of the Pirelli P Zero's are really pretty decent. The older ones were garbage.

 

[Bob Lob Law]

Literally drive mine year round with Firehawk Daytona 500s(summer only tire) with 0 issues! It was 3 degrees F the other morning and barely hitting low 30s for a couple of weeks. Never seen a tire come apart because of low temps. For those that don't drive enough to replace tires every year or so, I'd be more worried about dry rotting than temps. I know some on here will say that I'm being dangerous, but, I'll laugh and take it with a grain of salt and continue. Been doing this for the 29 years that I've been driving and never had a problem.

 

[Bikeman315]

Literally drive mine year round with Firehawk Daytona 500s(summer only tire) with 0 issues! It was 3 degrees F the other morning and barely hitting low 30s for a couple of weeks. Never seen a tire come apart because of low temps. For those that don't drive enough to replace tires every year or so, I'd be more worried about dry rotting than temps. I know some on here will say that I'm being dangerous, but, I'll laugh and take it with a grain of salt and continue. Been doing this for the 29 years that I've been driving and never had a problem.

I commend you for your luck over 29 years, but all that could end in a millisecond. It's fine to do whatever you want but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone else.

 

[xcm77]

moral of the story: drive more so you have to replace your tires yearly

But in all seriousness, I don't think it's an issue bar the tires being 8y old or stored in water or something that highly accelerates their wear and tear

 

[Massman]

I use the honey comb rubber mats used by bars. The are about an inch thick and keep the tires off the cold cement floor. Plus air can circulate with the honey comb design.

 

[Garfy]

Hopefully you are getting a great deal, because those Pirelli's are complete trash. I've had all-seasons that provide better dry traction and handling

I agree. My OEM Pirellis weren't bad during warm weather but I wouldn't say they were good. I did take it out once when it was about 40 F just to see if what I read was true and it is. I pulled out from a stop and turned onto the highway and went half-throttle and I could feel the rear end slipping and swaying a bit. Needless to say, it doesn't do that when it was over 90 F. Anyway, it's in the 20's now so the car is parked in the garage with about 42 psi in them. I'll drop the pressure and take the car out again once we get some warmer temperatures (and once they're half-worn, I'll put some Continentals on them).

 

[Hack]

I store my car through the winter with the factory summer only Pirellis on it. They are terrible tires, but they do hold up to sitting in the cold with the car's weight on them. I have a set of PS4s that I use for actual summer driving. I don't usually drive on the Pirellis at all unless the temperatures are still marginal for summer tires. Once it's warm enough I use the Michelins only.

I bought the car in 2020, so the Pirellis have been just fine sitting in below zero temperatures with the car's weight on them for multiple years.

 

[MAGS1]

you can store them in cold temperatures, not recommended to drive on them in the cold though. If storing them in the cold, just let them warm up gradually when you’re getting close to driving weather. It’s the extreme temperature fluctuations that really hurts these tires and causes them to crack and degrade early. I’ve seen tire covers and blankets that might help when storing. Putting an old piece of carpet or using flat savers can help too, anything to provide a barrier between a cold garage floor and the actual tire.

I’ve driven on Conti Extreme Contact Sports in sub-40F temps a few times and it was an adventure. They get firm and the friction between the tires and the pavement is not enough to get them up to proper temps just driving normally. I now change them out earlier in the fall and later in the spring because of that. Day time highs consistently above 50F is what I look for. To each their own but that’s the approach I take.

edit: my summer set comes off the car for winter and are stored in my basement which is generally around 70F.

 

[ihasnostang]

not sure how much your take offs will cost. what about hub stands? makes it hard to steal that way

 

[cerbomark]

Decades of summer tires. Cold weather , stored some, driven some. Never had an issue.

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