Irritated

[eflyguy]

Planned all week to take my baby to the hills and enjoy beating on her, and woke up to 21º. Forecast when I made my plans was for low temps around freezing. My bad for not keeping a closer eye on the forecast.

According to the manufacturer, if exposed to ~20º or less, the loaded Pilot 4S should not even be moved until it's been above 40º for 24hrs.

It's come up once or twice here, but it seems like most don't worry or care about this. I personally don't want to be throwing 4200lbs around mountain roads on tires with compromised structure. To be clear, I drive *hard* at times, and especially on those roads. It's the main reason I bought the Stinger.

Am I alone?

I will most likely get some performance A/S tires this summer when the Pilots wear out (don't expect to get much over 6-7k out of them). The OEM ones on my daughters challenger are really good for that kind of driving, except for very low mileage due to how we drive - but I get them at Costco and they honor the manufacturers mileage warranty. Last set only cost me $200 as a result.

 

[DiabloStinger]

Just driving there will warm them up! DO IT!

 

[eflyguy]

Just driving there will warm them up! DO IT!

You missed the part about not even moving the vehicle, let along driving on them to warm them up, as the compound is not designed to be flexed at all when they've been exposed to those temps.

But you illustrate my point, seems like most people ignore those warnings and just drive on them anyway.

 

[DiabloStinger]

While it might be a disclaimer it makes no sense not to drive it. I really think that is just one of the legal statements to protect them in the event of failure lawsuits.

 

[nhcowboy28]

Planned all week to take my baby to the hills and enjoy beating on her, and woke up to 21º. Forecast when I made my plans was for low temps around freezing. My bad for not keeping a closer eye on the forecast.

According to the manufacturer, if exposed to ~20º or less, the loaded Pilot 4S should not even be moved until it's been above 40º for 24hrs.

It's come up once or twice here, but it seems like most don't worry or care about this. I personally don't want to be throwing 4200lbs around mountain roads on tires with compromised structure. To be clear, I drive *hard* at times, and especially on those roads. It's the main reason I bought the Stinger.

Am I alone?

I will most likely get some performance A/S tires this summer when the Pilots wear out (don't expect to get much over 6-7k out of them). The OEM ones on my daughters challenger are really good for that kind of driving, except for very low mileage due to how we drive - but I get them at Costco and they honor the manufacturers mileage warranty. Last set only cost me $200 as a result.

Hey.

I had the same concerns (and actually just wanted to keep the summer tires prestige for summer rather than wear them down unnecessarily.

I got a set of winter performance (not all season, not snow/ice).

Nice balance between those two.

Great in wet, great in dry cold... better than A/S if we happen to get the very rare snow/ice like in years past. Cheap insurance in case we do have weather that would make the PS4 tires hockey pucks.

 

[SKStinger]

Don’t risk driving in those conditions. Summer tires turn to hockey pucks in those temperatures. You may be able to keep it on the road but stopping or turning will be disastrous.

Even all season tires lose traction below 40.

I’ve personally lost control with my Audi A5 on summer tires when we had a freak bout of freezing rain in mid-October. I did a 360 turning out of my parents bay and then slid like a curling rock trying to stop at a 4 way. Thankfully there was no traffic and I made it to my destination but never again.

 

[eflyguy]

I got a set of winter performance (not all season, not snow/ice).

Yeah, I've considered those too. Was originally thinking I'd get different wheels for different tires. After a day at the Dragon in the aforementioned Challenger on OEM A/S tires, I don't think it's worth the expense - if I was going to track this against a clock, the Pilots might make a measurable difference, but I'm not racing anyone (except on the strip).

I also have two other (4-wheel) vehicles to drive so it's not like I'm stranded.

 

[CaliSting]

Yeah there is a reason they are called summer tires. I’ve driven mine in near freezing with no issue but 21 is getting down there.

 

[MerlintheMad]

After what I have read on this subject on this forum, there is no way that I'd risk driving on summer tires well below freezing. If the weather has been mild, well above freezing, for days/weeks, and a sudden cold snap comes, I wouldn't worry about it. But even then, unless the tires began in a garage that is above freezing, I would still be concerned to start rolling on sidewalls that are frozen and brittle. The road surface itself could be ambient temperatures above the freezing (cold snapped) air, and the sidewalls if they had spent the night outside, would be just as frozen: the tread would pick up the warmer road temperature. But the sidewalls could be compromised long before they too warmed up.

 

[POS VETT]

There are actually certain tires that have that kind behavior in cold weather; the rubber compound hardens and cracks. I didn't realize that the Pilot Sport 4 came with such warning, but it's something I would heed. Apart from structural integrity, the compound might actually lose grip substantially in very low temperature range.

 

[GRStinger]

I have the 18" AWD with A/S - and now winter tires - but just my 2 cents... Besides the potential safety issue, with that rubber compound you could do serious damage to the tire when driving in sub-freezing temps. At c. $275/per, seems like it'd be well worth it in the long run to invest in something like a performance A/S for winter/cold weather driving.

 

[Marc Collins]

Planned all week to take my baby to the hills and enjoy beating on her, and woke up to 21º. Forecast when I made my plans was for low temps around freezing. My bad for not keeping a closer eye on the forecast.

According to the manufacturer, if exposed to ~20º or less, the loaded Pilot 4S should not even be moved until it's been above 40º for 24hrs.

It's come up once or twice here, but it seems like most don't worry or care about this. I personally don't want to be throwing 4200lbs around mountain roads on tires with compromised structure. To be clear, I drive *hard* at times, and especially on those roads. It's the main reason I bought the Stinger.

Am I alone?

I will most likely get some performance A/S tires this summer when the Pilots wear out (don't expect to get much over 6-7k out of them). The OEM ones on my daughters challenger are really good for that kind of driving, except for very low mileage due to how we drive - but I get them at Costco and they honor the manufacturers mileage warranty. Last set only cost me $200 as a result.

I can assure you the PS 4's (not 4 S) do not turn into hockey pucks at low temps that you will experience in Georgia (Saskatchewan is another story). The tires have excellent grip on dry warm pavement and they still have great grip on cold dry pavement (down to at least 0º F). Less grip than when warm, but still above the level of a typical all-season tire that most cars are equipped with. You will never experience cold low enough to be concerned. In fact, these tires harden less in cold than UHP all seasons I had on my previous cars. And they do not flat spot when sitting for a while, which many UHP all season tires do (e.g., Continental ExtremeContact DWS and DWS 06).

Now for the bad news: if you mix the cold with some precipitation, there will be a much steeper drop-off in grip compared to a good quality all-season or winter tire. If it's the sloppy, super slippery snow that occasionally falls in your region, the grip could be an issue. On "crunchy" snow the the tread pattern is adequate to drive with care. With slush or slop, the ribs, grooves and sipes fill so quickly that the wide tires can easily ride on top of the snow/slush instead of digging into it. At that point, extreme care must be taken. The AWD gives great traction to go, but turning and braking are not improved.

However, with AWD or RWD with nannies, and summer tires, there is still more grip than on cars from years past (for those old enough to remember bias ply tires!). I would not even consider getting other tires if I lived in GA. The PS 4's are somewhere in between a summer and all-season tire. They are NOT traditional UHP summer tires, though perform almost as well as those in the summer. Impressive, actually.

However, none of this is advice. You should only drive on what you feel safe and can trust.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I can assure you the PS 4's (not 4 S) do not turn into hockey pucks at low temps that you will experience in Georgia (Saskatchewan is another story). The tires have excellent grip on dry warm pavement and they still have great grip on cold dry pavement (down to at least 0º F).

Fascinating. Not all summers are created unequal, then. I'll pay more attention.

 

[eflyguy]

I can assure you the PS 4's (not 4 S) do not turn into hockey pucks at low temps that you will experience in Georgia.

TY for the detailed response. I'm not concerned about grip, but physical damage to the compound that could result in tire failure. I've driven plenty in temps around freezing after the tires had been above 40º for a day.

Besides the potential safety issue, with that rubber compound you could do serious damage to the tire when driving in sub-freezing temps. At c. $275/per, seems like it'd be well worth it in the long run to invest in something like a performance A/S for winter/cold weather driving.

.. which will be my plan when these are done.

Our "mountain" roads typically have no barriers, a failure could result in a long flight down to where you may not be seen again. We lost a rider on a group ride a couple of years ago, had to go back and check the last few curves since he had been seen, and peer over the edge. He was only about 20-30' down off the edge of the road, but could not be seen from it. Thankfully a tree broke his fall otherwise he would have been much further down and possibly out of sight completely.

They are a lot of fun, however! Dozens and dozens of miles of roads like Mulholland, for those that know..

 

[Waynerm002]

Be careful man. I'd hate to see another one of us lose our ride or worse in this crazy weather.

 

[Doel]

The Stinger is my only ride and I'm on the stock PS4's. I also have ONE PS4S on the passenger front. How did I get that one PS4S you ask? I hit a bad pothole going about 15 mph on a turn when it was 30 out and it popped. Not sure if the temperature was a factor, might have popped regardless, that sob was bad.

I'll be driving them regardless of the temps all winter, if I have any issues I'll make a post on here.

 

[MerlintheMad]

The Stinger is my only ride and I'm on the stock PS4's. I also have ONE PS4S on the passenger front. How did I get that one PS4S you ask? I hit a bad pothole going about 15 mph on a turn when it was 30 out and it popped. Not sure if the temperature was a factor, might have popped regardless, that sob was bad.

I'll be driving them regardless of the temps all winter, if I have any issues I'll make a post on here.

If your car was out all night in sub freezing air, and you hit that pothole early in your ride, I'm guessing the temperature had something to do with a busted sidewall. But also, if your road surfaces are above freezing because of days on days of ambient above freezing temperatures, there is no way that you are taking any sort of great risk driving on Pilot Summers. Just treat the tires well and everything should go along swimmingly.