Watch those summer tires in the cold!

I drove the 996 to work today, 39 miles of almost all backroads. Temp was probably in the mid 30s this morning. The car was sliding all over the place on one of many twisty roads. Front was washing out as often as the rear was stepping out. Needless to say, Conti DWS won't work very well when the weather turns really cold. It made the cornering experience seem so blah as I had to slow way down to avoid an unscheduled trip into the woods. So as a PSA, be careful out there as the mornings are pretty cold in the Northeast!

That's odd since the DWS are all seasons. I actually switched to those in the detroit winters on my rwd BMW. They did great.

I drove my track car with 100 treadwear R compound tires in the snow. Once. Not because I wanted to. I don't recommend it. It was like driving a car with Zero directional stability. I did not exceed ten miles per hour and still spun several times.

Hmm interesting as those tires are supposed to be decent all-seasons. Did you let them warm up a bit first before hitting the twisties? I'd imagine even all seasons might need to get to temperature if you will corner harder than normal driving. With that, what size tires are you running? There is no all season options out there with stock sizes. I've seen people either run 235/40/18F + 295/30/18R or 225/40/18F + 265/35/18R I believe. Stock size is 225/40/18F and 285/30/18R.

Agreed that with DWS tires, you should be good to go. Perhaps they are older? I ran a set of 6 year old tires in the wet on my SC a few years back and it was like driving on ice.

3 of my tires are brand new, 1 is less than a year old with almost no mileage. Stock size on 18" stock rims. I run 35 - 36 psi in the front and 39 - 40 psi in the rear. I definitely wasn't driving hard and other than traveling about 6 or 7 miles before the twisty road, there was no opportunity to warm up the tires. There could have been a layer of frost on the road as the whole section is shaded with wooded hills on both sides. Lesson learned is to just take it easy in the morning. The trip home will definitely be more fun (unless I get behind a dump truck or logging truck).

Yeah, I have DWS 06 on my BMW and I drive it year round in Chicago with no hesitation. Sounds like something else is going on.

I wonder what the Pirelli P Zeros will be like?

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I got a set of Pirelli SotoZero's (slightly used on winter wheels) that I drove on last winter. They were really nice, and ride softer than the Michelin PSS that I run in the warm weather.

Waiting on a new oil filler tube that I broke, so once I've swapped that and the water pump and thermostat, I'll take it for a drive and see.

FWIW, if you are running Michelin Pilot Super Sports or Pilot Sport 4s's, they are NOT recommended to be run when the temp is 40 degrees F or below. They are summer (spring or fall) tires ONLY. If you need winter tires, pick something else.

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I attempted this for sh*ts and gigs. It's probably not recommended because unless it's a completely flat surface you won't go anywhere, let alone over 5mph.

Good tip ... I took her out the other day and was mindful of this as I was cranking her carefully into the turns even though I have brand new 4s tires all the way around I could feel that I did not have the usual traction underneath me and my car is all wheel drive ........... I ride a sport bike also (pilot sports on it also) and seasonal tire traction becomes second nature on bikes as the repercussions are much more significant and instantaneous when optimal tire performance expectations aren't there ! It's easier to forget this in a car but on a bike you feel it immediately.. Adjusting tire pressure a few psi lower as mentioned does help a bit...

I've got the Continentals on mine and I notice when it gets to be 50F the compound gets real hard. The tires get thumpy and slippery. I can only imagine below 40F. I thought I read somewhere that the tire should not even support any weight below 40F.

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They are made for dry, wet and snow. From Tirerack: The ExtremeContact DWS 06 (DWS for Dry, Wet & Snow) is Continental's Ultra High Performance All-Season radial developed for drivers of sports cars, sports coupes, performance sedans and sport trucks. Designed to satisfy year-round driving needs, ExtremeContact DWS 06 tires blend dry and wet road performance with wintertime slush and snow traction.

My Contis are ExtremeContact Sport, not all seasons. That probably explains the poor performance in cold weather. I just didn't realize the tires would be that slippery!