Summer Tires in the Cold

[15wile]

So... winter will be coming soonish. In Florida, this means nothing, generally, as it's still plenty warm enough for summer tires.

But probably 4 or 5 days in winter will get genuinely cold here, and approach freezing (like 40-ish or high 30s). I sure as hell don't want to change my tires for 5 days worth of driving. Think I'd be okay driving like a grandma on those days?

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[daltron]

Yes, you will be fine. No sudden stabs of the throttle or brakes and you're GTG.

 

[Evil Minion]

What he said ^

Also LOL at 40-ish being "genuinely cold". My last few 15-ish degree day winters would like to have a word with you

 

[kz]

You'll be fine - as I wrote at least couple of times - my work parking neighbor drove all winter on stock PP summer P-Zeros and temperature here were in single digits.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I'd drive fairly gently (and avoid potholes and sharp bumps) until you've warmed them up a bit. Tires can and still do flat-spot, and if you notice that these tires do, when the thumping smooths out the tires have warmed up some.

I've driven - fairly gently - on MPSS tires a bit below the temperatures you mentioned, and even driven track day sessions with temperatures in the low 40°'s. It takes decidedly longer at 40°F to get them past what's good enough for street driving up to any serious performance temperature, but it does happen after two or three laps (4 to 7 miles) of gradually driving harder.


Norm

 

[Varekai]

I drive Mickey Thompson Street comps in our 'winter' and they're fine. Just let them warm up a bit. Only time it get's tricky is late night early morning when it hits around 35 and is damp outside.

 

[Need4SpeedMotors]

Just dont floor it and be safe. If it is very cold outside inspect the tires before driving to ensure you have no fractures on the compound from the cold temps.

 

[shawndean22]

You will be fine, I drove PP summer tires last winter in NJ and will this year as well. Just cant do any spirited driving or any high revs as tires will be cold and cannot warm up.

 

[wildcatgoal]

I drove through a NW snow storm on OEM PZeros straight from the dealership in Baltimore to Atlanta and lived to tell the tale.

 

[VinnAY]

Yes, you will be fine. No sudden stabs of the throttle or brakes and you're GTG.

That's my approach last year with summer PZero's, drove them just fine in 30-40 degrees with a little caution and sensibility.

 

[15wile]

Excellent. Would have been irritating as hell to swap 'em just because of a few days.

 

[Cobra Jet]

You will be fine, I drove PP summer tires last winter in NJ and will this year as well. Just cant do any spirited driving or any high revs as tires will be cold and cannot warm up.

Same here... No issues with the factory PP Pirellis. Even read all of the scary "beware" threads and didn't have any tires shattering as if they were dunked in dry ice...

Obviously a performance tire rated for hot or summer weather will not perform the same through 4"+ of snow and ice like BFG 33" Mudders - but if you have common sense, you can safely drive anywhere in any weather condition with a performance car.

 

[hemanmech]

yes, I drove in summer tires last winter in Charlotte area and there was ice/snow only for a couple days. other than few fish tails and couple skids, drive was alright. if you would like to be more cautious just add some weight in your turnk (I read in one of the forums that a guy had put 4 mud/cement bags to add about 80 pounds in the rear ;) )

 

[Need4SpeedMotors]

Just be careful thats all.

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