When to switch back to summer tires
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When to switch back to summer tires
For those of you that switch to winter or all-season tires in the winter, when do you go back to your summer tires? I'm hearing people talking about the importance of the right temperature for the summer compound being as big an issue as ability to displace snow and mush -- do you look for temps to get above X degrees or just wing it? I've always had all-season tires before and I'm itching to get back to the summers but don't want to get hung out to dry while the average temperature remains in the high 30's... What's your sad story from switching too soon/late?
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Tires are supposed to last long enough to switch?
My experience with Blizzaks is the "winter" part is gone after one season, leaving a rather squishy all-season underneath. Supposedly you can buy new Blizzaks every winter and ride on their all-season part the rest of the year, but I've always just tossed them by then for summer tires.
My experience with Blizzaks is the "winter" part is gone after one season, leaving a rather squishy all-season underneath. Supposedly you can buy new Blizzaks every winter and ride on their all-season part the rest of the year, but I've always just tossed them by then for summer tires.
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Boston = April Switch...
Most good summer tires require temps>45degF to work well, otherwise they are rocks. I switched to my stock runflat summer performance (hah!) tires at the end of March last year, and there were a couple of days in the 20's that really beat the tar out of my mini! Plus I was spinning the tires left and right on DRY pavement! (Not in the fun way either!).
I personally wait until I see a week where the MAJORITY of the days are forecast above 45-50 before I switch. My winter tires are Dunlop Winter SPort M3's which are not too bad on pavement so I am not TOO nervous driving them about (other than spinning tires in 1rst, 2nd, and 3rd commonly!).
It's going to be esp. hard this year since my new wheel/tires have just arrived! As soon as they are mounted I am going to have to really be patient, otherwise I'll just put them on and slide all over the damn place!
RM2k5~out
I personally wait until I see a week where the MAJORITY of the days are forecast above 45-50 before I switch. My winter tires are Dunlop Winter SPort M3's which are not too bad on pavement so I am not TOO nervous driving them about (other than spinning tires in 1rst, 2nd, and 3rd commonly!).
It's going to be esp. hard this year since my new wheel/tires have just arrived! As soon as they are mounted I am going to have to really be patient, otherwise I'll just put them on and slide all over the damn place!
RM2k5~out
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We just received the year's single biggest snowfall of the season, with a mix of sleet too. Most cars around here have winter tires, so no issue for them. Saw a lot of cars (FWD and especially RWD) just spinning their wheels in the stuff, and some barely able to climb on-ramps, including a new Golf w/o winter tires that couldn't. Heard about a lot of wrecks coming into work today too. I'll probably switch back in early April once the temps drive completely out of the freezing range. I'm eager to get my real rubber back on, but I can be patient and wait for the right time.
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My experience with Blizzaks is the "winter" part is gone after one season, leaving a rather squishy all-season underneath. Supposedly you can buy new Blizzaks every winter and ride on their all-season part the rest of the year, but I've always just tossed them by then for summer tires.
#22
This dilemma is exactly why I never use winter tires: I am certain that three days after I put the summer tires back on, we would get a major snowstorm, and I don't want to be responsible for that.
Also, it would drive me crazy trying to decide when to put them on - same reasoning - the minute the winter tires went on, it would become unseasonably warm, and I'm darned if I want to be held responsible for the weather...
6^)
Also, it would drive me crazy trying to decide when to put them on - same reasoning - the minute the winter tires went on, it would become unseasonably warm, and I'm darned if I want to be held responsible for the weather...
6^)
#23
Tire manufacturers recommend summer performance tires, when temperatures maintain minimum 45-50 degrees. Otherwise they get hard and slick. You can wait another month, after March Madness is over.
You wouldn't enjoy wearing a winter coat, gloves and a hat in the middle of summer; the Mini is not going to get the best performance out of those summer performance tires till it gets consistently warmer.
And you wouldn't want to accidently curb your nice wheels on a suddenly cold and slick evening twisty. Happy Motoring.
You wouldn't enjoy wearing a winter coat, gloves and a hat in the middle of summer; the Mini is not going to get the best performance out of those summer performance tires till it gets consistently warmer.
And you wouldn't want to accidently curb your nice wheels on a suddenly cold and slick evening twisty. Happy Motoring.
#24
Originally Posted by OldRick
This dilemma is exactly why I never use winter tires: I am certain that three days after I put the summer tires back on, we would get a major snowstorm, and I don't want to be responsible for that.
Also, it would drive me crazy trying to decide when to put them on - same reasoning - the minute the winter tires went on, it would become unseasonably warm, and I'm darned if I want to be held responsible for the weather...
6^)
Also, it would drive me crazy trying to decide when to put them on - same reasoning - the minute the winter tires went on, it would become unseasonably warm, and I'm darned if I want to be held responsible for the weather...
6^)
I've found that different summer tires can perform very differently when the temps start to drop. The Falken Azenis I used to run would start to noticeably lose grip below 40-45° but the Toyo T1R tires I use on my MC now have maintained very good grip as low as 20-25°, unfortunately they don't grip in the warm weather nearly as well as the Azenis did :(
-Keith
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You miss my point - I use high-performance summer tires all year `round.
We seldom see snow here, so I enjoy the summer tires almost as much in winter as in summer - they drift and slide beautifully when they get harder in cold weather, and it's really good training for much higher speeds on them in the summer.
We seldom see snow here, so I enjoy the summer tires almost as much in winter as in summer - they drift and slide beautifully when they get harder in cold weather, and it's really good training for much higher speeds on them in the summer.