Summer Tires in North Florida Winter

[Pharmer John]

I plan on ordering a GT with the PP sometime in the near future and have a question regarding the stock summer tires. I live in North Florida so snow is unlikely to be an issue (last time it snowed here was 1990). However, looking up the stock Pirelli P Zeros on Tirerack shows that they are not rated to be used in temperatures below 40 degrees F and that due to the composition of the tire they may crack if used in freezing or near-freezing temperatures. This car is going to be my DD and while north Florida winter is generally pretty mild we do on occasion have a hard freeze and sometimes see low temperatures down in the teens.

I'd rather avoid having to buy a second set of 19" rims with all-season tires for the relative handful of times we have a freeze, but I also don't want to get stuck not being able to get to work (about 5 miles from my home) because it's too cold to drive my car without damaging the tires. Anyone have any idea how much of an issue this is likely to be? Is driving these tires in freezing or near-freezing temperatures really likely to do significant damage to them or can I probably get away with driving on my summer tires year-round?

Thanks in advance.

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[sqidd]

I've run P Zeros through Michigan winters and nothing went wrong with the tires. You'll be fine.

 

[eric n]

I've run summer only tires for many years in Bakersfield, CA. We get the occasional cold day (mid 30's for a few minutes). On those days, I drive a bit more cautiously, But by and large have a lot of 45-75 degree days. NO PROBLEM.

I grew up in the Tampa Bay area and have no doubt that summer tires would be NO ISSUE. I don't know where exactly you live, but i imagine that you would likely be perfectly safe.

 

[OppoLock]

They won't stop working at 40 degrees F, you just have to adjust your driving style. Smooth inputs with steering, acceleration, braking, etc. Summer tires are fine year round in the FL state.

 

[tsunami]

Cracked Summer tires in winter.

My salesperson told me a story about his dealership getting a Shelby during the coldest days of the winter...10-20 degrees below zero during the full train ride. The tires had all cracked, so much they were useless. They had to send out four wheels/tires to the train yard so that they could get the car to the dealership.
By the way, I was effectively called a liar by someone on this forum when I first told this story. Subsequently, I have talked to the service department to see about the veracity of this tale. The service manager swore that they were telling the truth. So those of you who have summer tires and decide to come up to northern Minnesota in the winter...good luck...you are going to need it.

 

[sqidd]

My salesperson told me a story about his dealership getting a Shelby during the coldest days of the winter...10-20 degrees below zero during the full train ride. The tires had all cracked, so much they were useless. They had to send out four wheels/tires to the train yard so that they could get the car to the dealership.
By the way, I was effectively called a liar by someone on this forum when I first told this story. Subsequently, I have talked to the service department to see about the veracity of this tale. The service manager swore that they were telling the truth. So those of you who have summer tires and decide to come up to northern Minnesota in the winter...good luck...you are going to need it.

I'm skeptical.

 

[cush]

When Pirelli states in their warranty (available on the Ford site) that these are not recommended for use below 45 degrees fahrenheit, I believe them... they also state the tires may crack.

 

[sqidd]

When Pirelli states in their warranty (available on the Ford site) that these are not recommended for use below 45 degrees fahrenheit, I believe them... they also state the tires may crack.

Ford won't tell you that you can make 600hp on a stock Coyote block either, but you can.

 

[oyitsagreen]

Hah well if they crack ill be in trouble... I remember last winter in charlotte there was a decent span of time where the high was 35 or so...



And everyone's saying this years winter is going to be pretty bad >.< .



Maybe a burnout every morning will keep the cold away.

Sent from my RM-877_nam_att_205 using Tapatalk

 

[Flak]

I'm skeptical.

Eh, I've seen older summers crack in winter, but it usually requires doing something dumb like filling the tires on an abnormally humid day without a moisture trap followed by -30 wind chill. I also kind of doubt new summer tires would do that just during transport unless someone really screwed up at the factory.

 

[tsunami]

Summer Tires used during very cold weather.

For those who are skeptical about summer tires cracking during extremely cold weather...simply Google a major tire manufacturer and summer/winter tires.
After I was told about the Shelby Summer tires cracking, I googled Pirelli...
they have a very nice description of the damage they found in their summer tires while testing them in real winter conditions.
That is why Pirelli has strict warranty conditions about using their summer tires in extended cold weather.
I bet most of the skeptics have not actually been in extended winter conditions with average temperatures hovering at minus 10 to 20 below F or even colder.
Even steel will sometimes crack.

Using summer tires through a harsh winter would be a nice scientific experiment. Leave your new GT out when temps drop to below -10F for a couple of weeks.
Let the forum know how your tires survived the winter.

 

[Flak]

For those who are skeptical about summer tires cracking during extremely cold weather...simply Google a major tire manufacturer and summer/winter tires.
After I was told about the Shelby Summer tires cracking, I googled Pirelli...
they have a very nice description of the damage they found in their summer tires while testing them in real winter conditions.
That is why Pirelli has strict warranty conditions about using their summer tires in extended cold weather.
I bet most of the skeptics have not actually been in extended winter conditions with average temperatures hovering at minus 10 to 20 below F or even colder.
Even steel will sometimes crack.

Using summer tires through a harsh winter would be a nice scientific experiment. Leave your new GT out when temps drop to below -10F for a couple of weeks.
Let the forum know how your tires survived the winter.

My RX8 had Pirelli summers on it and I survived two winters with them in NH. Some weeks in Jan-Feb you are lucky to see above 0 degrees. They were not looking pretty after 2 seasons but luckily I burned most of the tread off by time they probably would have failed on me. Like I said, I've seen it happen... just not to something like new tires during a transit.

 

[stretch]

I've run P Zeros through Michigan winters and nothing went wrong with the tires. You'll be fine.

If you willfully take to the public highway on your summer tires in sub-freexing temps and you are involved in a serious collision and folks are injured, you will have serious liability issues.

 

[Swoope]

I plan on ordering a GT with the PP sometime in the near future and have a question regarding the stock summer tires. I live in North Florida so snow is unlikely to be an issue (last time it snowed here was 1990). However, looking up the stock Pirelli P Zeros on Tirerack shows that they are not rated to be used in temperatures below 40 degrees F and that due to the composition of the tire they may crack if used in freezing or near-freezing temperatures. This car is going to be my DD and while north Florida winter is generally pretty mild we do on occasion have a hard freeze and sometimes see low temperatures down in the teens.

I'd rather avoid having to buy a second set of 19" rims with all-season tires for the relative handful of times we have a freeze, but I also don't want to get stuck not being able to get to work (about 5 miles from my home) because it's too cold to drive my car without damaging the tires. Anyone have any idea how much of an issue this is likely to be? Is driving these tires in freezing or near-freezing temperatures really likely to do significant damage to them or can I probably get away with driving on my summer tires year-round?

Thanks in advance.

if you do not drive north of the fla border you will be fine..

really.

beers

 

[Pharmer John]

Thanks for everyone's replies. Seems that most people think it shouldn't be much of an issue here in north Florida. Generally even when we have cold days here it warms up later in the day. I keep my car in a garage which is generally at least 10 degrees warmer or more in the morning than the outside ambient temperature on cold days so even if it's freezing outside my tires won't be starting out too cold, and by the time I leave work in the afternoon it will likely have warmed up to not be an issue.

I definitely don't have to worry about subzero temps. Last year, which was one of the coldest winters we've had around here, I think the lowest low I saw was 18. Worst case scenario I can borrow my wife's car to get to work. She's a teacher and if it even thinks about snowing around here they will cancel the local schools.

Thanks again, everyone.

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