Cold weather tire flat spotting

[Colt]

On the first cold night recently I experienced flat spotting on a new set of Bridgestone Potenza RE960 AS's.
Did some net research and found many low profile performance tires have this problem.Especially the Bridgestone and Yokohama's.Most tires with a nylon belt will flat spot in cold weather.
The flat spotting ride goes away after a couple of miles.

 

[Quattro Pete]

My 235/45/17 Dunlop SP Maxx flatspot quite badly, and they do it year round... a few hours is all it takes for them to become egg-shaped...

http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/s...ge=4#Post761309

 

[Colt]

Interesting thread,thanks.
I've had the Bridgestones on for a few months without any flatspotting except for that first cold night.Looks like it's only the cold that causes the small problem.
Here's a post from another forum on flatspotting.

"Like all performance, speed rated tires, the BFG's have nylon in them. Reason for this is unlike other belt materials, nylon contracts when it heats up. This keeps the carcass from forming areas would cause internal chafing due to the expansion, that would then cause the rubber to loosen from the belts and blowouts. Nylon likes to flatspot. Back in the "Old Days", they made some tires with a rayon carcass that did not flatspot and rode smoother. All cars with tires having at least one nylon belt experience cold tire shake. The stiffer the tire carcass, the more you will feel the clod flatspot. Plus - some cars just do a better job of transmitting the feel to the driver"

 

[Colt]

Interesting thread,thanks.
I've had the Bridgestones on for a few months without any flatspotting except for that first cold night.Looks like it's only the cold that causes the small problem.
Here's a post from another forum on flatspotting.

"Like all performance, speed rated tires, the BFG's have nylon in them. Reason for this is unlike other belt materials, nylon contracts when it heats up. This keeps the carcass from forming areas would cause internal chafing due to the expansion, that would then cause the rubber to loosen from the belts and blowouts. Nylon likes to flatspot. Back in the "Old Days", they made some tires with a rayon carcass that did not flatspot and rode smoother. All cars with tires having at least one nylon belt experience cold tire shake. The stiffer the tire carcass, the more you will feel the clod flatspot. Plus - some cars just do a better job of transmitting the feel to the driver"

 

[Quattro Pete]

Yeah, I have come across this explanation pointing to the nylon belt being responsible for flatspotting. But like I mentioned in the other thread, I previously owned other higher performance tires (ContiSportContact2) that contained nylon and that were not succeptible to flatspotting at all. So I think there is more to it than just the nylon. That poster may be right that the car's steering/suspension may in fact exacerbate the problem.

As for the RE960, my g/f has them on her Jetta and as far as I know, flatspotting is not an issue. Then again, she lives further south than you, and her tire size isn't very sporty/low profile - 195/65/15.

 

[Colt]

Quote:

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Yeah, I have come across this explanation pointing to the nylon belt being responsible for flatspotting. But like I mentioned in the other thread, I previously owned other higher performance tires (ContiSportContact2) that contained nylon and that were not succeptible to flatspotting at all. So I think there is more to it than just the nylon. That poster may be right that the car's steering/suspension may in fact exacerbate the problem.

As for the RE960, my g/f has them on her Jetta and as far as I know, flatspotting is not an issue. Then again, she lives further south than you, and her tire size isn't very sporty/low profile - 195/65/15.

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I have 225/45/17's.
It's funny.I did't feel any vibration in the steering wheel.Felt like it was coming from the back tires.After the first miles or so the bit of vibration became and and then gone in another mile.Temp was around 32 at 12 midnight.

 

[rpn453]

Quote:

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Like all performance, speed rated tires, the BFG's have nylon in them.

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My Michelin Pilots don't! Maybe it's because they're the all-season version. They're still Y-rated though. No flatspotting, anyway.

 

[Titan]

Yokohama Advan 82's do this on my Subaru...takes a few mile on the highway to round out. I don't mind.

 

[rjundi]

My RE960's do it too but its alleviated usually 55/16's).

 

[Hermann]

My Bridgestone Turanza LS-V's flatspot sometimes, but probably no more than once a month. It takes sitting for about 24 hours in cold weather to really have much of a problem. None in warmer weather unless it sits a week or so, like coming home from vacation.