[desmodeanna]

Thx for the opinions. Aside from potentially trashing the winter tires early if they’re ‘unavoidably‘ used in warmer conditions until I can switch to summer’s what are ppl’s thoughts on the safety of using winters when it’s, say, 20C out? Obviously they’re not going to corner well or stop as quickly as they would in the conditions they’re meant for, but how serious do we think that is?

 

[ccraig13]

I punish mine in the corners and take them to triple digit speeds during the warmer periods and yes, I did notice they don't perform as well as the summers, but they are perfectly safe. Obviously, I don't recommend taking them to the track, but for normal driving you mainly just feel like everything is a bit softer ("Comfort Plus" haha). Hey you can drive with winters all year round if someone felt so moved (my dad use to with his '84 Volvo 240 DL wagon ), though definitely a waste of tread and horrible rain traction.

 

[e85sbm]

It is no big deal to run the winter tires a few extra weeks. The +20C temps aren't great as the winters do have a softer, more pliable rubber, however, they are designed in such a way that they will not wear excessively in these high temps, unless you are doing something to really build up the heat in the tires.

Overall, stopping distances will be decreased, but not substantially and of course cornering will not be as good a s a summer tire, but I would say they would perform to 75% of the summers. Best to be safe as there is always a chance of a late season snow storm and getting stuck on summers is scary......been there, done that on a previously owned BMW M3 and I'd rather change out my winters a half or full season early than deal with body shop repair bills.

 

[sergeyb]

@desmodeanna, my understanding always was (per my experienced SA) that it is not about the outside temp but rather the surface temp of 7C (45F) or above for Summer tires. Therefore, I have had no issue using Summers when it gets as you say about -5C overnight (assuming no ice/snow) as long as the daytime is +7C allowing the road surface to warm up during the day. I was just in the Mountains of North Carolina and it was 10C during the day and sunny but then dropped to -7C overnight with some flurries at 4,000ft where we were staying and the Summers had no issue coming down the mountain to 2,000ft on a steep but dry surface and then going on moderate hills up/down and sharp climbs and turns at speed. So I am typically very comfortable riding on Summers long into the Fall/Winter as long as there is no snow/ice and then putting them back early Spring when I see temps consistently above 7C during the day given very predictable weather around here (Indiana/Kentucky/North Carolina). However, I do travel a great deal to Denver where the weather is absolutely unpredictable so my approach will certainly not work there. I do this for Macan and Cayenne with both having OEMs 21 inch Summer set and 20 inch Winter set and the tires perform as designed with no excessive wear.

 

[desmodeanna]

Best to be safe as there is always a chance of a late season snow storm and getting stuck on summers is scary......been there, done that on a previously owned BMW M3 and I'd rather change out my winters a half or full season early than deal with body shop repair bills.

Yeah, I’m embarrassed to say this but I didn’t realize that our GTS came w summer tires (our last Macan had AS’s) but figured it out the 1st time the temp dropped to about 0C and I just kinda drifted across the road in front my house into the curb at 3km/h (ironically a day before my scheduled winter wheel swap-over). Yay for rim damage insurance!

 

[desmodeanna]

@desmodeanna, my understanding always was (per my experienced SA) that it is not about the outside temp but rather the surface temp of 7C (45F) or above for Summer tires. Therefore, I have had no issue using Summers when it gets as you say about -5C overnight (assuming no ice/snow) as long as the daytime is +7C allowing the road surface to warm up during the day. I was just in the Mountains of North Carolina and it was 10C during the day and sunny but then dropped to -7C overnight with some flurries at 4,000ft where we were staying and the Summers had no issue coming down the mountain to 2,000ft on a steep but dry surface and then going on moderate hills up/down and sharp climbs and turns at speed. So I am typically very comfortable riding on Summers long into the Fall/Winter as long as there is no snow/ice and then putting them back early Spring when I see temps consistently above 7C during the day given very predictable weather around here (Indiana/Kentucky/North Carolina). However, I do travel a great deal to Denver where the weather is absolutely unpredictable so my approach will certainly not work there. I do this for Macan and Cayenne with both having OEMs 21 inch Summer set and 20 inch Winter set and the tires perform as designed with no excessive wear.

Yeah I think my problem in spring is that the ground under the road is still literally frozen even as ambient temps get to +10C or more so the roads are cold. You should see me on my motorcycles in those conditions, taking corners while keeping the bike completely perpendicular to the road

 

[[email protected]>@W]

Merging with another winter tire thread, specifically getting them off in the Spring...

 

[desmodeanna]

Merging with another winter tire thread, specifically getting them off in the Spring...

Thx

 

[santastico]

After 5 years running winter tires for 6 months this past winter I decided to run my regular all seasons with Spyder wheels this winter. It was fantastic. I hate the way the winter set (tires and 18"wheels) looks on the Macan.

 

[Masscan]

After 5 years running winter tires for 6 months this past winter I decided to run my regular all seasons with Spyder wheels this winter. It was fantastic. I hate the way the winter set (tires and 18"wheels) looks on the Macan.

A/S tires is all I've run on my Macans in the Winter, and those stock Pirelli tires did fine up here in New England.

Next week though I'm hoping to make the switch over to my black 20" Spyders with Summer tires....

 

[Glock19]

I have used the 18 inch Perelli Verde all weather tires on my four-cylinder Macan in snow and ice in Colorado, some people on this site really hate these tires, I never had an issue with them in ridiculously bad blizzard conditions, and when it was too deep for the Porsche, I took a lifted Toyota out that had dedicated snow tires.

Most of my experiences with using snow tires in warm conditions have to do with large and heavy vehicles. I would say that snow tires don’t have any serious performance drawbacks unless you’re driving like a psychopath, and the biggest downside of using them in warm temperatures is simply that you will wear them out prematurely.

 

[Blarghicide]

If you flexible on when your ski days are, base your decisions on road conditions, you can probably get by with good M+S A/S tires. If you are travelling on set days with no flex, or going for pow days at Baker/Snowqualmie/Stephen's Pass, get winter tires.

 

[wwahl]

If you flexible on when your ski days are, base your decisions on road conditions, you can probably get by with good M+S A/S tires. If you are travelling on set days with no flex, or going for pow days at Baker/Snowqualmie/Stephen's Pass, get winter tires.

I live in this area. I made an appointment to switch for summer wheel/tires for today at Discount Tire. One wheel had to go to Sound Wheel for a curb kiss fix, but they told me they close at 4:00. Argh! The Discount guys came to the rescue and it was like an Indy pit stop. I was in and out of there within 30 minutes. Thumbs up for this group.