Northern Virginia - When do you plan to switch to Summers?

[Luminary]

As the title says, when do you all plan to switch to Summer Tires? I am itching to switch mine out (and to my new wheels that are collecting dust atm) but do not want to do it to soon.

I currently have a set of good winters on my babe, and have the stock summers I plan to mount on my new wheels. I was thinking the first week in April. Does that sound to soon?

Thanks guys!

 

[NoVAGT2]

Good question! I was thinking early April as well, but the itch isn't as strong as I have A/S. What wheels did you get?

 

[MerlintheMad]

Look at that forecast. What are you waiting for?

I already put my Michelins back on. Our temperatures are similar to yours.

 

[Luminary]

What wheels did you get?

I bought these from a Stinger group on Facebook. He had them on his GT2 and went with a complete different set up, so I got the four for a really decent price.





I was able to buy some OEM TPMS valves from Amazon for less then $90. I am soooo itching to get these on my Stinger!

 

[MerlintheMad]

I admire, but do not comprehend, your patience.

I am soooo itching to get these on my Stinger!

 

[NoVAGT2]

I bought these from a Stinger group on Facebook.

Nice!

I admire, but do not comprehend, your patience.

It was 29F when I woke up this morning. Hopefully, this weekend is the last of the freezing weather!

 

[GRStinger]

Planning to swap out my winter wheel/tire set this weekend. After a pretty nasty winter, it's been decent the last week or two, and the snow is 2/3 gone. Re-learning how to drive on clear/dry roads again. The current 10-day has no snow in the forecast (of course, they were calling for light rain this evening, and now there's 3 inches of white stuff in my yard!) If the forecast holds I'll do it on Saturday or Sunday. As dry as it's been, I don't want to run the soft rubber on my winter's much longer. My OEM's are A/S so, I should be fine even if we get some nasty stuff in early spring.

 

[MerlintheMad]

It was 29F when I woke up this morning. Hopefully, this weekend is the last of the freezing weather!

Yes, but how much of the day is freezing or below this time of year? That's what I'm getting at. It doesn't make summer tires unsafe to drive on them even at freezing or a little below; they just get a bit hard and won't stick in the corners as well as they are designed for. All through the day, now, it is above freezing, even above 40F, which is the recommended minimum temperature for Pilot Sport optimal performance.

 

[NoVAGT2]

Yes, but how much of the day is freezing or below this time of year?

Around here many people leave for work when it is still dark to avoid rush hour traffic.

 

[Luminary]

Around here many people leave for work when it is still dark

Yup, I leave my house about 4:45 every weekday morning just so I can get to Route 66 before HOV goes into effect.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Yes, but how much of the day is freezing or below this time of year?

Around here many people leave for work when it is still dark to avoid rush hour traffic.

Yup, I leave my house about 4:45 every weekday morning just so I can get to Route 66 before HOV goes into effect.

Are you leery of driving at or below freezing? Don't be. The condition of the road surface is the key factor in dangerous driving with summer tires. If it was above freezing all day, it only dipped to freezing shortly before you got up and hit the road. How "frozen" can a warmed highway be, even if the air is freezing? Probably the road surface is not even frozen most mornings this time of year.

If you get a cold snap that lasts for several days, with daytime temps barely rising above freezing, or possibly not even getting that "warm", then the road surface will be pretty matched to the air temperature; and if you toss in some late season snow or freezing rain, then for sure, summer tires are going to be out of their element. But you'll know about it. You won't get ambushed. How often does this kind of freak weather event happen? Around here it almost never happens: even when we get a late season snow storm that lays down several heavy inches, it's all gone from the roads (if it sticks at all) the same day.

I drove with the OE Pilot Sports last April on snowy/slushy roads a couple or three times and the car felt fine. Of course, I was driving the conditions, not playing around to see what my car can do.

 

[NoVAGT2]

Are you leery of driving at or below freezing? Don't be.

TireRack disagrees. Do you happen to know the glass transition temperature for these tires? I haven't had any luck.

P.S. -- The plural of anecdote isn't data.

 

[MerlintheMad]

TireRack disagrees. Do you happen to know the glass transition temperature for these tires? I haven't had any luck.

P.S. -- The plural of anecdote isn't data.

I don't know what temperature the compound turns to "glass" either. But you can test it by driving it. There was a video a few months back (near the beginning of winter), where some hot shoe drove his Michelin summer tires in air temperatures well down into the 20s. He had his camera going as he tested cornering and braking. And he did this to "prove" that the fears of driving under 40F with Pilot Sport tires are unjustified. Was the traction optimal? Of course not. But it was up to anything he wanted to do on a public road.

For what it's worth, my latest professional wheel and tire gurus (Wheel Werks in SLC) said that the tires are not going to get destroyed or fail by driving them below freezing. We are talking about tires in good condition not worn tires. They told me that all I have to anticipate is less performance out of them the colder it gets. We were talking about dry roads, not winter weather. And our conversation was not about harsh freezing, but the kind that happens late at night in late winter, early spring; i.e. the kind that yous are commuting in, in the morning.

 

[Luminary]

I am off tomorrow, and very tempted to do it while I have the free time. Right now it is in the twenties outside. The temps stayed in the fourties all day...
Uggg decisions, decisions!

 

[SnazZ]

I am off tomorrow, and very tempted to do it while I have the free time. Right now it is in the twenties outside. The temps stayed in the fourties all day...
Uggg decisions, decisions!

Lows around 30 a couple days next week. Waiting sucks, but better safe than sorry.

 

[MerlintheMad]

How quickly does it warm above freezing? Around here, the few days we've had in the last couple of weeks, it gets above freezing by c. eight, nine o'clock.

The only way to eradicate uncertainty and trepidation is to try it out, gingerly. Go to a safe place and test how the car feels on "frozen" tires. I think that the fears generated are exaggerated. The reality is that a high performance tire works much like an A/S tire when cold. But if you say, "Hey, I have UHP tires on this babe, watch this!", then proceed to peel out and put high G forces on the tires, of course you're being an idiot and will be taking cracked and chipped tire pics later to add to the mix online (that we have seen examples of here). But if you treat your ride carefully, and drive the damned car, "don't stand it on its bloody ear", a "glass" tire isn't going to skitter into the gutter or fly to pieces. The sidewalls are not going to crack. Experience is the teacher of wisdom.

 

[SnazZ]

How quickly does it warm above freezing? Around here, the few days we've had in the last couple of weeks, it gets above freezing by c. eight, nine o'clock.

The only way to eradicate uncertainty and trepidation is to try it out, gingerly. Go to a safe place and test how the car feels on "frozen" tires. I think that the fears generated are exaggerated. The reality is that a high performance tire works much like an A/S tire when cold. But if you say, "Hey, I have UHP tires on this babe, watch this!", then proceed to peel out and put high G forces on the tires, of course you're being an idiot and will be taking cracked and chipped tire pics later to add to the mix online (that we have seen examples of here). But if you treat your ride carefully, and drive the damned car, "don't stand it on its bloody ear", a "glass" tire isn't going to skitter into the gutter or fly to pieces. The sidewalls are not going to crack. Experience is the teacher of wisdom.

Yup, all that. Or just wait a week.

 

[eflyguy]

If the Michelin Pilot 4 has been below 20º, the vehicle is not even supposed to be moved (i.e. no flexing of the tire carcass) until they have been above 40º for 24hrs.

There is no other limitation stated, i.e. if they are at or below freezing (but not down to 20º), it implies you can drive on them as usual. Obviously it's not going to mean they will instantly fail at 20º, but that's what the manufacturer specifies.

Most owners have no knowledge of these kinds of restrictions, and drive anyway.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Most owners have no knowledge of these kinds of restrictions, and drive anyway.

Winter of 2018, GT trims sold with 19" rims had Michelin Pilot Sport tires. This year, they are selling them with A/S tires. I don't know which brand though. So at least the dealerships know around here and have switched to A/S.