I live in New Orleans, and we rarely drive in snow or ice; temp never really gets below 30 degress. People are saying AS are only good for snow driving, and that if you dont get snow, you can use a summer tire if its just rain youre driving through.

 

I wouldnt.

 

summer tires are meant for high temps. 75 degree plus usually.

If temps get below that minimum recommendation, the performance index... aka 'grip'... decreases dramatically from there. just the same, snow tires will wear very bad if you use them in too high of temperatures.

If you drive your car year round, get all seasons. simple as that. or I'll be reading one of those 'so I was taking this off ramp really easily and all of a sudden the back of the car kicked out, I don't know why...' threads. the grip is as good as summer tires usually, the only time they show their rating is during repeated hot lapping or high temps.

 

Tom is more right than I am. I don't drive like an arsehole in the winter so I know the limits of summer tires. I also rarely drive my Z in the winter. Summer tires are good to about 55F, thats my only input. Check the tire manufacturer's recommendation on operating temperature and work your way up from there.

 

Yeah I mean, I drove years on summer UHP tires in my Z, with a Nismo diff with no problem, besides heavy snow. but i don't trust most people do be as gingerly as I was with the throttle and steering input. driving at a constant 15 degree angle isn't exactly 'safe'.

it's definitely doable if you want to risk it though. I ended up buying a second set of rims/tires for the winter.

and thanks raj for the nod

 

No. All-season tires work better than summer performance when temperatures are 40 degrees or less. If you do little driving in these conditions skip it.

 

40 sounds reasonable. where'd you get 75?

 

75 was maybe high, but 55 sounds right for the point at which the traction's temperature degradation becomes a real issue. Summer tires require around a 200 degree (don't quote me) tread temperature for optimum handling and degrade substantially below that. When it is in the fall and winter months, the ground does not retain heat like it would in the summer, especially at night, so those ambient air temperature changes won't be like in the summer... the ground will suck up the heat quicker.

At 70 degrees I always noticed a performance decrease and you can feel the difference markedly every ten degrees after that. Whenever you see 'made for x range' that does not mean it will perform the same over the whole range. And all compounds are different... Some lose grip gradually while some have a sharp edge. Sadly, Tire rack has not done a comparison... the only one was on ice... real useful information that was (rolls eyes)

so, am I wrong about 75 degrees? not really. I wouldn't **** around at air temps below that... especially at night.

*also note: a tire's UGTQ temperature rating does NOT refer to operating temperatures. it has to do with high speed heat buildup.

 

i have had summer tires only on my last 3 cars ive owned, i do not drive my cars in the winter!!!! i have a beater for tha...but anyway here in upstate ny there are nights and mornings it is 40 degrees in the beginning and end of summer that i drive my car and its just fine, its not like its gonna lose traction at 60mph on the highway...dont drive like an *******...i mean yes the traction isnt as good as if it were 90 degrees out but the car drives perfectly fine...if ur gonna deal with snow and insist on driving through winter with the z then get all seasons or a seperate pair of wheels with all seasons or winter tires to change out for a few months..

 

i wouldnt concentrate on temperature as i would if u will be driving in snow or ice..rain doesnt matter either way summer tires are just fine with rain...

 

75 degrees is OK.

When the road temperature is about 80 degrees, soft compound tires stick like glue. Its an opinion based on running autocross in summer and winter with summer tires or all-season. At about 50 degrees I switch to all-season.

 

yeah, 75 I have never had a problem with.

and tylerxfire: rain does indeed matter in colder weather. from the chance of it icing up, lowering the road surface temperature or exacerbating lowered grip situations that I mentioned above at less-than-summery temperatures.

imjustsayin and you can or can not listen to me. I preach caution.

 

yeah if its raining and its icing over then thats dead winter and u should not have summer tires on, i dont think thats very hard to determine and thats different than if its just raining out and 50 degrees out...if its cold enough to be icing over then its cold enough to be snowing and it must be winter and if u feel the need to drive the z through winter then like i said before get all seasons or at least get a pair of winter tires or something on another set of wheels to switch out for a few months for winter, or better yet just get a damn beater and keep the z in the garage for winter

 

Good grief guys, we're talking about New Orleans here. Get summer tires and just don't be stupid on those rare days when temps get down close to 40.

FWIW, I drove my Z with old REO40's on it most of last winter. I live in the PNW where we do get cold days. If was going to get below 40, I would drive the Explorer. Anything else, I was driving the Z.

I've got a spare set of stock rims that I'll put all seasons on as soon as the summer tires on those rims are toast (hence driving on old stock REO40s).

Dave

 

+1 similer conditions here in Vegas and we mostly run summer tires.

 

No kidding! I run BFG KDW2s all year round in Seattle. If it snows, and yes we get that white crap, I just don't drive in it.

New Orleans, I wouldn't even consider AS tires.

 

Is it 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or 50 degrees Fahrenheit?

I point out these inconsistent statements because in fact different roadway surfaces and weather conditions (not solely a result of ambient air temperature) result in significantly varying results when running summer performance tires.

The design- intention with a summer performance tire is that it will run consistently at varying temperatures (low speed to high speed). When you run faster or push the tire in corners; it heats more, but handling and grip remain constant. This is the benefit of using a summer performance tire.

So, as to grip and performance statistics for a summer performance tire… 40 F degrees on a dry roadway may be the same as 50 F degrees on a wet roadway, and neither scenario may be close to “ideal.” If the roadway is cold and it takes too long for the summer performance tire to heat to its optimum “grip temperature,” you’re better-off using an all season tire. Certainly if the roadway becomes near to frozen, summer performance tires are not appropriate. The compound won’t heat adequately and quickly enough to provide safe operation.

Spike

 

well said

 

^^ A sincere thank you for your comment. I respect your opinions and comments.

--Spike

 

I wouldn't say you need a full blooded snow tire down there. An all season would work perfectly fine for your winter climates. A dedicated snow will wear super quick and handle pretty poorly in the heat down there.