How cold is too cold...

I have a set of Sumi HTR Z III's that I put on my '99 C2 this past summer. I plan to park her in about 3 weeks for the winter months in the garage at our family's lakehouse about 150 miles north. How cold is too cold to safely drive on these tires? The drive north will be almost 100% highway and will not be an aggressive drive (I obviously will not make the drive if there is any snow or other inclement weather). Thanks, Yank. PS - Please no comments that I need to get another set of wheels for the winter months and to drive it year-round. That's not an option at this point.

Many will post don't drive them under 40 degrees F. I have in the past, and had zero problems. That being said, for the last couple of years I drive with Blizzaks for the winter months.

I believe the manufacturer recommends 40�F, but I push it to 32F, expecially on those days where it's cold in the morning when I leave for work, but warmer in the afternoon. Below freezing, I leave it in the garage. Never had any issues, but I'm cautious until the day (and the tires) warm up.

You guys crack me up. What is going to happen if you drive Z rated summer tires in cold weather? They're going to have less stick. BFD. Don't expect them to have the grip they would on a summer day and use common sense and you'll be fine.

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Agreed! I went to the gym this morning and the temperature gauge told me it was 25 degrees. I ONLY keep summer tires on my car and I made it there and back without a problem. Now if it snows that is a different story but for regular commuting it's no big deal.

Drove to work on a cold morning last year. Whipped around a slow moving car, then braked for the turn into my building. Normally, this would be no big deal, but ABS chattered like crazy, and almost didn't make the turn. Of course I should have been taking it easy, but it can really surprise you sometimes how much less grip you have. Ambient temp was low 40s.

You certainly can drive on them in cold weather. They are round and they will roll. The rubber compound used for summer tires is different than winter tires. Summer tires get quite hard in colder weather, and they do lose quite a bit of compliance to the road surface and ultimately grip. This is true even on dry pavement. If you're careful and you plan for decreased grip, you should be fine. Give yourself more following distance and stopping distance when driving. If there's any precipitation (even rain), then increase the following and stopping distances even more. It's not an ideal scenario, but you should be fine if you're careful.

I drive year round in Boston on summer tires. No big deal, but there is a definite loss in grip. As long as there's no snow and you don't push yourself around corners, they work fine.

Thanks for the feedback, exactly what I was looking for. I have driven in to work the past several mornings with the temp around 25-30 and have not noticed a difference (but I was not pushing it around any corners). Getting ready to do my first oil change on the PCar this weekend.

Kudos to all the heroes who never have a problem, but that doesn't mean this isn't a risky choice. The thing with performance rubber is not only that it loses adhesion when it gets cold, but that it loses a lot of adhesion and does it abruptly. I actually have experienced a problem in this situation, on dry pavement. It was avoidable, but it was a good lesson in how much margin is gone when temps get below 5C or so, never mind precipitation. If you can't afford winter tires, then, yeah, be careful. Just know that you're not really driving a Porsche anymore. If you can swing the cost of winter rubber, I can't recommend it strongly enough.

Don't know about the Sumis, but we've only ever had PS2s on ours and I've driven on them down to sub 10f. Even in the C4 you have to watch them until they get warmed up and I wouldn't recommend pushing them near the limits, but any sane street driving should be fine. Even had them in the snow with no issues. Just have to understand they aren't the best tool for the job and drive accordingly.

As long as you are not faced with a panic situation go ahead and save some cash. Good luck if you need to make a panic stop, been there and winters now go on when temps hit the mid 30's.

No real problems if you don't push them hard and no panic stops and absolutely no snow or freezing rain. If you caught with snow or freezing rain good lick, it will be like driving on ice. The rubber on the summer tires will be like hickey pucks in low temps. I remember the first year I bought my car (in August). Everything was fine until one day in December when it started to snow. I tried to drive to my accountants and is was absolutely scary. I could accelerate, but turning or stopping was very hard to do.

They turn to hockey pucks but if you let them warm up, they won't be as bad. Normal driving will not have any issues but in an emergency stop, it could be a problem. Drive it to the storage location an be careful.

I will tell you a couple of years ago I had a meeting in Atlanta that I drove to. During my trip there a freak ice storm hit and my car was on ice skates the whole time. I was able to control it for the most part until I pulled into the parking garage at my hotel. At that point the road was completely iced over but thankfully the ABS and PSM kept me from crashing into the concrete support pillar. Yes summer tires are awful in inclement weather but with dry and cold conditions I've been pretty luck so far.

I agree with Doug...Easily the most dangerous drive I"ve ever had was one day after a trip - arrived home by air and it had snowed...damn near never got out of the parkade....had the highway had snow on it I may have parked there the whole winter!

you guys are crazy. If you have to stop in a hurry, you're not going to. Yeah you can putt around town and not wrap the car around a tree, but if you're on the highway or even a B road and have to slam on the brakes, you're ****ed. Period. Also, depends on the laws where you live...but IF you get in an accident cause you couldn't stop or avoid a collision and the insurance company finds out you were on summer tires, forget about getting paid. It's a negligent act. If it's 36, probably not a problem. If it's 20, you're taking a big risk. Be smart.

My recommendation is to buy winter tires. The OP doesn't want to talk about winter tires. I got caught in a snow storm on my Pirelli P-Zeros once and it was not good at all. It was very scary, actually. Can it be done? Yes. Are there increased risks? Yes. It's up to you as the owner/driver to decide what you are comfortable with in terms of risk.

Winter tires are better than summer tires in the winter. Don't take that as a winter tire is going to perform anywhere near what you can do in summer with any type of tires. Unless you are wearing studs on black ice you might as well be riding on cardboard down a hill It was cold today and is quite cold right now. It's 66 F brrrrrrr.

^ You better have winter swim trunks Pac996.

All good points about the downside of driving summer tires belo 40 deg. And if the OP was going to drive it through the winter, snow tires are a must (I use blizzaks from november on), but for a carefully planned, one way trip to the lake house for winter storage, he should be ok. Just realize, performance will be considerably diminished....if there is snow or ice, don't take the trip, and be very careful....slow down, extend acceleration, braking, and cornering zones.

Just DO IT! Whats the worst that can happen??

Thanks again. I have a couple day window for the drive north and will make sure I only make the drive if I think it is safe. I would love to get a set of winter wheels but my wife doesn't want a third car in the driveway all winter that she needs to pull around in the snow. I was fortunate to get approval on the PCar purchase to begin with!

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If it's hwy all the way the tires should be up to a reasonably good temp after a while. I'd estimate city and slow driving to dooming the tires to sub par performance since the longer cold exposure without rotation to flex the rubber and give heat. The tires aren't going to turn to ice slick unless you haven't warmed them up and try hotrodding them. Full length sand camo wetsuite Suddenly I remember all these islands are piled high lava ash prone to falling in the ocean like the norhtern area did a long time ago leaving the cliffs. You can see the old part of the island of Oahu spread for hundreds of miles out to sea. There is always a miserable chance during a life time and certain to happen again sometime. Good thing I have dry and wet tires on

If i were in your shoes: If it was snowing i wouldnt drive the car but if it was dry id go no problem, keeping in mind the potential for black ice. Curves would be taken at a much slower speed and passing may or may not happen depending on road conditions.