Hey, I looked all over, but I couldn't seem to find this anywhere...

At what temperature (F) do summer tires start losing traction?

 

When summer is over

 

When it get's into the 30's they suck really bad.

 

i would +1 to that.


they arent undriveable though, ive done it tons of times. Once they warm up they aren't so bad but you need to take it easy.


and I'm talking dry weather. 30's and Wet or messy stuff and you have a death wish

 

Even in the 40's they start turning into bricks, not something I would risk

 

as long as it's dry out you're fine. I have 5 years experience on potenzas on my Z(in the northeast) and ive driven it in pretty much every single condition


I wouldnt reccomend it but i just drove my car a few days ago on nearly bald potenzas in 45ish degree light rain and didnt have a problem. You just need to exercise caution.

 

I know winter tires here in New Orleans are overkill...

In the long run, my thoughts would be to have good all season tires mounted on the stock rims and buy aftermarket ones with summer tires. Then I'd be able to swap to the original rims in Nov-Feb or on occasion for traveling north in cooler weather. (I have relatives near DC and reasons to travel to MI and OH...)

 

lol sorry, I had too

 

Agree. I like summer tires best when the road surface is 80 degrees. Anything less and performance deteriorates.

There is a significant loss of traction when the road surface is 40 degrees or less.

 

75 degrees and above is optimal.


I have experience using summer tires year round in the north east (goodyear eagle GSD3) and I can say they have NO traction when it's 50 and below. add wetness in there and if you are an idiot you are a crashed idiot. snow isn't fun either but doable in low speeds... like 20 and less for a inch or so.

 

Tire Rack recommends, and keep in mind they want to sell tires, but they recommend all season tires in climates that receive no snow but still have colder temps and rain. You'd be okay if you never switched but if you do a lot of driving it may be a good idea. Common sense in your driving style is the biggest issue and since you have a Z you must be smart

 

I need to order a set of all season tires a.s.a.p..

 

I recommend Continental Conti-Extremes for light winter use. Has very good wet, deep snow and light snow ratings for an all season tire. Pretty affordable too in 17" and 18" sizes.

 

For whatever it's worth a few days ago here in southeast PA it was in the mid-30's and rainy and I got around just fine on 19" Toyo T1-R's (245 front, 275 rear). Obviously you shouldn't be scooting around corners at 40 mph but as far as normal, civil driving goes I thought they did a hell of a job. We had some weird rain/slush/snow precipitation (nothing that really stuck to the road) but the roads were soaked with it and it was only a few degrees above freezing, and I'm here to tell the tale.

I did notice that the ride got stiffer overall when the temperature dipped below 40 or so. I might change to my winter tires this weekend (depending on temperature) just to regain some ride quality.

 

Ive done a few 180's in the past when its around 35 degrees and the tires are not warmed up from running them. Just be easy and your ok though ice is a big problem with summer tires though.

 

Never thought about this. Leaving snow/ice/water out of the equation, I'd think that once the tires warm up through contact with the road cold weather itself would not be an issue.

 

In areas of the country where ice & snow are not an issue I'd say common sense plays the biggest part. The lack of it is usually what causes most accidents anyways. Where I live, I see more SUV's than cars either in a ditch or flipped over due to poor road conditions. People think because they have AWD and knobbies for tires they can continue to travel at summer speeds.

 

Below 50 degrees is bad for summer tires. 70+ is optimal.

 

I also usually hold out as far into the cold season as possible to swap on my winter tires because as far as driving feel goes I would much rather drive on cold summer tires than warm winter tires. For instance last year I put my snows on in mid-december and then it was like 40+ degrees (F) for the next couple of weeks so I felt like I was driving on molasses.

 

****. The high today was 75º here in NOVA, and its almost December. I think I will be running the same tires year round, and adjust my driving to the conditions. And if I feel they are too bad, I'm lucky enough to have alternate transportation 99% of the time.