Summer Tires and Snow

[glennc]

If you are just talking about occasional snow and don't have hills to climb I would just drive very carefully and be aware of the need to compensate for increased risk.

Is there any truth to the notion that street tires could be permanently impaired by cold use?

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: glennc
.......

Is there any truth to the notion that street tires could be permanently impaired by cold use?


There is an element of truth in that. Extremely cold weather makes the rubber lose its elasticity and cracks can develop. This is fairly rare, but it does happen. Needless to say this is highly dependent on the type of rubber. I would think that high performance tires would be more prone to this - all seasons less so - winter tires almost immune.

 

[glennc]

Wouldn't you think that good quality street tires would be compounded to resist that? No doubt the manufacturers know many summer tires will end up seeing cold weather during their lives.

Maybe it is a potential problem on cheap tires more so? And true racing tires, I imagine?

In Colorado if I wanted to avoid cold and snow altogether I'd only be able to use my summer tires three months out of the year. Maybe not even that.

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: glennc
Wouldn't you think that good quality street tires would be compounded to resist that?.......


And, yes they do - up to a point.

Quote:
..... No doubt the manufacturers know many summer tires will end up seeing cold weather during their lives.....


Yeah, but we are talking really, really cold - like -20F. And anyone out on high performance tires in that temperature ..... well, do we need to say more?

Quote:
.......Maybe it is a potential problem on cheap tires more so? And true racing tires, I imagine?....


Maybe. It's more a case of the type of rubber being used - and I'm not sure the cost is a factor. Rubber prices go up and down quite frequently and balancing rubber content is a very inexact process.

Quote:
......In Colorado if I wanted to avoid cold and snow altogether I'd only be able to use my summer tires three months out of the year. Maybe not even that.


Just to be clear. The issue of "cold weather" in this context means really cold weather. We don't experience that kind of weather in the US except in MN, and ND. (OK, AK, too!) Canada is much more an area where this is an issue and something to be concerned about.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Quote:
..... No doubt the manufacturers know many summer tires will end up seeing cold weather during their lives.....


Yeah, but we are talking really, really cold - like -20F. And anyone out on high performance tires in that temperature ..... well, do we need to say more?

Maybe not necessarily on the car, but off the car - for example, when summer tires are stored during the winter in an unheated garage.

 

[glennc]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Just to be clear. The issue of "cold weather" in this context means really cold weather. We don't experience that kind of weather in the US except in MN, and ND. (OK, AK, too!) Canada is much more an area where this is an issue and something to be concerned about.


So Capri what you are saying is that there isn't anything to the idea that cold will permanently affect the tire unless extreme cold is what is involved. So for a person driving summer tires in ordinary winter conditions a few times a year (even down to perhaps 10F, say), or storing them in around freezing temps, it is not an issue after all.

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: glennc

So Capri what you are saying is that there isn't anything to the idea that cold will permanently affect the tire unless extreme cold is what is involved. So for a person driving summer tires in ordinary winter conditions a few times a year (even down to perhaps 10F, say), or storing them in around freezing temps, it is not an issue after all.


Yes, that is precisely it. And I might add that the tire has to be tensioned or flexed. That means storing a tire in a garage that gets to -20F is not a good idea in that the tire is tensioned by the inflation pressure. But nevertheless, this is a fairly rare phenomenon.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: glennc
Maybe it is a potential problem on cheap tires more so? And true racing tires, I imagine?


Most racing tires are rendered TOTALLY useless by constant exposure to only as low as 35* F.
Again, as Capri Racer has stated, this does depend on the racing tire's exact compound, with those compounded to be sticky in warm/hot weather fairing the worst.
Whereas the cut slicks used by WRC rally competitors on the dry (but sometimes VERY cold) mountain stages of the Monte Carlo Rally obviously CAN take these temps and stick/function very well indeed!

 

[wantin150]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?...re1=yes&place=5

Just to throw this one in for the sake of argument. This Mfg specifies the storage/useage temps. How nice of them.

I've used my summer tires (Eagle F1's) in snow/ice one time. As long as I drove with a bit of sense, I had no problems. ABS kicked in only one time in 9 miles. Granted, this wasn't any depth, more of a dusting and black ice in spots.

 

[glennc]

That's very useful IMO. Mostly if not completely consistent with what Capri has said, especially if you assume they are being somewhat conservative. I would imagine that for street tires we could reasonably consider this the extreme limit in terms of summer/winter trade-offs.

 

[FrozenPilot]

My one day experience on summer tires in high 30's temps and rain was interesting. I definitely noticed reduced traction compared to the all seasons I was about to swap over to the new used wheels I bought. After the swap, the difference was immediate. Though I lost some steering response, the grip was much, much better.