Summer tires below 40 deg

[DougS550]

I assume all the front tires wear on the inside? I just have the base stock setup so I wouldn't expect too much camber. Or maybe my alignment is way off. I only have 16k miles on the car.

If I was you, I would get a four wheel alignment for it seems to be off. As far as running summer only tires in the winter, NEVER!! at least now after my old Cadillac STS which had Summer tires only and drove it to work one day when temps were below 40f, it was like driving in the rain with a great set of Maypops. Dangerous.

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[Hack]

If I was you, I would get a four wheel alignment for it seems to be off. As far as running summer only tires in the winter, NEVER!! at least now after my old Cadillac STS which had Summer tires only and drove it to work one day when temps were below 40f, it was like driving in the rain with a great set of Maypops. Dangerous.

What brand and model of summer tires were on the Caddy that caused you an issue? I believe the STS came with Michelin all-seasons based on C&D.
Cadillac STS Features and Specs (caranddriver.com)

 

[NightmareMoon]

Well MP4S wear the inside edge like crazy, regardless of what you do. I don't see reports nearly as bad for other tires, BUT if your front toe is a little off you'll wear any tire on the inside edge. If you're toe in or out, that scrubs down tires all the time as you drive. Camber isn't a big deal, but toe is a real killer. Perfect front toe will give you the most live you can get out of an MP4S but they'll still die there first.

As for temps, if you run a summer tire below about 40 you can get little cracks in the tread. A little driving below that temp isn't a big deal, but its not what they're intended for, and I don't actually know when the cracks become a big problem. I've had some degree of cracking on most of my daily summer tire sets (I drive summers year round in Texas because we have very few days below 32). I've never had to throw out a summer set early due to the cracking, but its not a good thing. Best to switch to an all season if you can.

IIRC its the rapid swings in temps, like being stored outside in very cold and then going for a spirited drive that heats them up, or taking a set out of a warm garage and driving on 20 degree roads. That kind of thing. Driving casually on a cold set of tires on a cold day shouldn't be a huge deal. Performance in the cold isn't too bad as long as you don't get caught in a cold rain, but getting caught in snow is real bad. I totaled a car once on summer tires in a snow.

Sooo, for me I take my chances with the summer tires year round in TX, but I have another daily vehicle which I can drive if its going to precipitate or going to be below freezing.

 

[smithhead]

Thanks everyone. I'll go ahead and do both summers and all-seasons. I'll just have to make room in the garage.

 

[K4fxd]

The HP all seasons are very close to summer only tires. Unless you are racing friends on mountain roads you would not notice any difference.

In many cases summer only tires are for the look at me factor. YMMV

I use summer only for track, HPA/S for the street. I've never felt like I didn't have enough street tire.

 

[smithhead]

The HP all seasons are very close to summer only tires. Unless you are racing friends on mountain roads you would not notice any difference.

In many cases summer only tires are for the look at me factor. YMMV

I use summer only for track, HPA/S for the street. I've never felt like I didn't have enough street tire.

Ok I assumed they were probably better than my current tires but wasn't sure. Thanks. I'll look into them more.

 

[Bullitt$Bill]

I'm in northern Nevada, so our weather is similar to yours. My recommendation is to save money, time and storage space. Get yourself a set of good all season tires (Michelin AS4 or Continental DWS06+) and a proper alignment and you won't be sorry. I did this (and new wheels) when mine had only 100 miles on it, and it's been over 20,000 miles of nothing but happy motoring since then.

I'd totally agree with @Farkel.

I just replaced my Pilot Sport 4S with the Continental DWS06+. Tire Rack did a comparison test of the ultra-high performance all seasons. I think they used a BRZ. The Contis were generating 0.96g on the skid pad. Pretty sticky.

The Pilot Sport 4S is a great tire. But they were terrible below 45 degrees. And if I'm going to work in the dark the sun's not warming up the road.

 

[Bob Lob Law]

Every season this gets brought up. Kinda humorous! Sold my all season winter set as I decided that I'll never just switch them from certain time to certain time. Sure wasn't about to put them on when weather hits either. So I just run the Indy 500s year round with 0 issues, even when it gets down below 0.

 

[S550HPP]

This early am was at 7300 ft and 24F in the mountains on excellent smooth paved wet roads did a couple brake checks with Falken FK 510 and they were fine.

 

[smithhead]

I went ahead and got the Conti EC DWS yesterday and just put them on the stock wheel. My wife didn't want to spend the money for new wheels right now, we've had a lot of other unexpected expenses. But I went with 255 instead of 235. If they aren't grippy enough I'll get a wider set of wheels and summer tires next year.

 

[MAGS1]

I’m switching over to my winter set this weekend. We’re firmly in the 50’s during the day now and it’s been dropping to the 30’s and 40’s at night. Early morning when I take my daughter to school I feel the slickness of the ECS being cold. Doesn’t feel dangerous at mid 40’s degrees but it’s a noticeable difference. The tires do not warm up enough street driving to get the full grip they have in summer temps. Car is garage kept as well so they stay warm overnight.

Anything close to or below freezing, no thanks. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Especially when there are better options for those temperatures out there. I run Blizzaks in the cold months here and they’re great. Blizzaks would be overkill for OP though, a good all season is plenty good enough. Good choice on the DWS, OP. Fantastic all season tire.

 

[S550HPP]

I've had no issues with Falken FK 510 at 25F wet roads....tough to find summer tire that's good for shoulder seasons. Euros get different tread compounds that work and FK 510 seems to be global tire.

 

[Arknsawchuck]

I assume all the front tires wear on the inside? I just have the base stock setup so I wouldn't expect too much camber. Or maybe my alignment is way off. I only have 16k miles on the car.

Id say your alignment is off. Most likely toe. There's not enough camber on stock to wear them.

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