Summer tires, winter weather

[lumper]

I’m not worried about wearing out the summer tires prematurely, if they go bad fine, I’ll buy new ones. I’m really asking if I’m screwed if I see any bit of snow. All the cars I’ve had in the past all came with all seasons. I also kinda don’t want the hassle of changing tires every winter. Yes that’s me being extremely lazy.

Yes, these tires do not perform well in the cold never mind the cold wet or snow, they are terrible.
Either grab some dedicated snow tires for best winter performance, or get a decent all season.
I went with Continental DWS 06+ 275/35/19 on stock wheels, they grip very well, look excellent and due to the size offer a more compliant ride.

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[ITSandMR2]

Just drove in 1-2 inches of unplowed roads this morning on the DWS's and didn't even slip a tire. If anyone has not looked recently Michelin has the Pilot Alpin 5 available in our factory size now. Here is a link to it on their site granted I am pretty sure they are all sold out for the season. Anything more than about 4 inches and I am just going to use one of my many vacation days and not go anywhere.

 

[bdisco]

https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-garage/can-i-drive-summer-performance-tires-in-cold-temperatures

 

[Ktrw]

I think it's foolish to drive through snow, or even those temperatures on PS4S since the temperature limit is 45F, and they're clearly not designed for winter weather with traction being significantly worse. You could also risk damaging the compound/sidewall as temperatures decrease beyond that.

I bit the bullet and got 265/35/19 PSAS4s for use until the temperatures are consistently above 45 again. Also anecdotally, my AS4s have more grip in straight line acceleration in cold and cold/wet conditions. I drove my PS4S briefly in ~45F weather waiting for the tires to come in and I was able to spin them in conditions that the AS4s do not.

Ultimately we all bought the car knowing it comes with straight-up summer tires so if you want to drive it in winter conditions you either accept the risks (potentially to other people around you if you crash), don't drive the car, or buy tires to swap to. It is obviously not a good idea to drive summer tires in the winter though.

 

[us17094]

Not to pile on here (and not sure this point has been made) but another cynical reason for going with AS or winter tires in the cold is the potential that your insurance company would deny covering damage sustained when driving in the winter on summer tires.

 

[SomethingSomething]

I too am annoyed that there is not a low/no cost option for an all season tire like Conti dws06+, as I definitely would have opted for it. I live in the Midwest, don't track my car and those would have been fine. But in buying the car I committed to the expense and hassle of getting dedicated winter tires. It sucks to store and swap them, but when you have to drive in snow, it all seems worth it. I know I could have just immediately swapped the tires for dws06+ and sold the Michelins, but I think I kind of wanted the peace of mind the winter tires provide when you really need them.

I wonder if you went out trying to drive today and that changed your mind at all.

When the summers wear out, I'll probably get dws06+ and still run the winters during the winter.

 

[Type SSSHHH]

Well, the car cover for sure did its job protecting me from the snow. I was able to dig my way out of the snow surrounding my car. My issue now is getting the city to plow the snow out of my hood. There’s just so much. There’s no way I’d make it outta my driveway lol

 

[Type SSSHHH]

Well, I was able to get outta my driveway and took A quick trip around the block. Wasn’t terrible at low speeds. Have an appointment Thursday for PS4 A/S in 265/35/19. That was all they had available. Gonna take it easy driving to work next the few nights going to work. Thanks for everyone’s help, suggestions and feedback.

 

[s219]

I have several cars with summer tires and don't really worry down to about 35-40F as long as the roads are dry. A key factor is how the car is stored; mine are kept inside a garage that stays 55-60F so the tires start out warm and will stay fairly warm (my BMW M2 Comp TPMS reports temperature so I have watched it to confirm). If I am driving my daughter to school and then come back home, the tire internal temperature stays in a safe zone for the 50 minute round trip. That doesn't say anything about the tread temperature on cold roads, but the mass of air inside the tire is a very good overall indicator of equilibrium temperature if you think about the physics.

If the roads are wet, snowy, icy, all bets are off. You may as well be rolling on cue balls at that point since the summer tires will be so worthless. But in that case I'd rather not be driving a nice car anyhow, and default to my pickup truck or wife's car.

I am tentatively planning to purchase a second set of wheels and go with the Conti DWS 06+ in the OEM size. I want to live with the car a few months to make sure I will keep it long term before investing the ~ $3K it will cost.

You can deviate from OEM size and not affect the speedo too much (265/35 will be off about 3.3 mph in 6th gear at 3000rpm compared to OEM 265/30). The impact I'd want to assess would be how it affects the rev-match system in lower gears. I don't know how sophisticated the software is, but if they are using a simple speed-rpm map of the gears based on the assumption of OEM tire size, then rev matching will be off about 200rpm for a 3-2 downshift (that may be no big deal, since I doubt a typical driver can do it any better).

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