Same question. My car is finally in but looking at the weather, the temperature will range from 35 to 40 degrees. Driving the car from Michigan to New York State, a seven hour drive.

 

i wouldn't, one little blip on the radar and you'll be out of control.

 

In an AWD car for normal driving I don't consider too low of a temperature. This changes if there is moisture (snow or ice) or if you have an RWD car. I didn't drive my Viper in less than 50 degrees with summer tires or it was death.

 

This is terrible advice. AWD doesn't help when your stopping distance, and that's the only metric that matters when it comes to tires being safe for certain conditions. Anybody can drive any car on any tires in any condition and be fine if they were the only person on the road, but you never are. Other people are dumbasses, so when you need to emergency stop is the only thing that is out of your control as a driver. My winter car is a Miata, and I never had any problems, even in sub-zero (F) temperatures, but the one time I took the Focus out on a 40 degree day on the stock tires I decided to park it until I could get winter tires on it. I couldn't slow down to avoid a driver that decided to run a red light and didn't T-bone him only because I had already started to turn left before I hit the brakes.

You have the proper wheels and tires. It's not worth risking totaling your car just to save the 20 minutes that it takes to swap them over.

 

i have driven is sub zero temp with summer tires, its not the end of the world if you understand that you wont be setting any g-force records or stopping distances. anytime temps dip below 40* degrees there is a chance of frozen precipitation. leave your driveway and get caught in a squall and you will reget it

 

Once under 40 deg I can tell that the cornering grip is reduced, ride quality worsens slightly but tire wear increases too....rubber gets hard and high G loads will take its toll.

 

Here's the latest cold weather information from Tire Rack. It's slightly more forgiving temperature wise than last years recommendations, but the warm up is important.

Note: Tires exposed to temperatures of 20 degrees F (-7 degrees C) or lower must be permitted to gradually return to temperatures of at least 40 degrees F (5 degrees C) for at least 24 hours before they are flexed in any manner, such as by adjusting inflation pressures, mounting them on wheels or using them to support, roll or drive a vehicle.

Flexing of the specialized rubber compounds used in Max Performance Summer tires during cold-weather use can result in irreversible compound cracking. Compound cracking is not a warrantable condition because it occurs as the result of improper use or storage, tires exhibiting compound cracking must be replaced.

 

Yes, this happens. I can confirm it. When I bought my Focus ST, I didn't even think about it until the first cold snap. Then I started looking for a Winter set, but couldn't afford it for a few weeks. During those few weeks I had some truly scary moments. And while I was lucky that my tires didn't get destroyed, I DID see cracks appear later in their life. The cold snaps and driving definitely damaged them and reduced their grip and life.

 

This constantly comes up.

The PSS have a glass temperature of around 10 to 15°F. At 10°F and below the tires essentially turn into Tonka truck plastic tires and your available traction becomes zero. They become so inflexible that they will flat spot overnight.

So 20°F is really the minimum temp you can drive them in. If the roads are dry and clear, then yes, you CAN drive on them. Only IF you treat them like driving on slicks in the rain. You need to allow 4-5 times the stopping distance, that means bus lengths between you and the car in front of you.

If you get ANY snow. ANY Ice, then forget it. You WILL not be able to safely drive on these tires. Your grip will be a 1/10th of what it is normally and if you are lucky you won't slide off the road just due to the crown. You will be putting not only your lives at risk, but other drivers as well. Once you hit snow/ice on summer tires then you are screwed.

Last christmas my Mother asked me to drive her to the airport. I had my winter tires in storage at a friends house who was blowing me off, so I couldn't get them on the car, I am no longer friends with this person due to this, I asked for them in November, I didn't get them until mid January.

My Mom wanted me to drive her to the airport and I agreed that I could as long as the roads were clear and the temps were warm. About 4 days before I looked at the weather, and called my Mom to tell her to take a Taxi instead. This is because I saw a hint of snow, and very cold temps and I was not comfortable driving my Mother around on plastic tires. I was driving on them because I had no other ride to drive, and I had to drive to work everyday.

Summer tires are basically 3 season tires. Spring to Fall is all they are good for in most places. AWD will not fix their winter deficiencies.

You can drive on them easily in 35-40° weather as long as the roads remain clear. This is because as you drive, the tire will warm up to around 50-60°. While its not optimal traction, its well within the temperature range. On Cold 15° days, the summer tires will NEVER get near operating temperatures, and so will remain glass.

Buy a set of the PS Alpin 4 tires, or another winter tire set. Yes, it seems a lot of money. But you will go from having less grip than the idiots on all seasons, to having almost 85% of your summer grip in the dead of winter. You will have more grip in every category than any all season car, and with AWD you will be able to out accelerate everyone. The sure footedness of a AWD drivetrain on Winter tires is not something I'll EVER give up. Stopping, Turning, Accelerating. AWD and Winter tires are full God mode cheats compared to the regular bunch on the roads.

 

I put my Forged wheels back on with cup2s since it started getting into the high 70's.

It was 25* this morning driving into work. Drove like a sane person and everything was fine.

Not optimal, but with careful driving it can be done.

 

Below 40 degress, the PSS's become unpredictable. It is a gamble, and you are gambling that you won't have to do any emergency maneuvering. If you do, you're done.

Rear end came around on me in the fall during a slow sweeping turn with no warning, and I switched to winters that night. I don't gamble.

 

I had two scary moments when I first got my ST that reinforced me never driving on summer tires during cold weather. Even though I knew better I was still impatient and took it out on some risky days. The first was a day in the 20s and I was going around a slow curve right next to my office. Except the car didn't want to turn and I slowly went straight. Bumped a snow drift with no damage. The second time was a warmer day in the upper 30s and was supposed to get to mid 40s. Thought it would be the perfect day to get my new car out. However the weather changed during the day and it began snowing. Absolutely no traction. It took a good minute of spinning just to get above 10mph and that was about as fast as I would want to go. Thankfully I knew a bunch of side streets I could take home with no traffic. Took me two hours on my normally 15 minute commute to get home safely. Car was parked until spring.

And now I have my RS, purchased around the same time as I did my ST. And you know what? I'm parking it until the weather gets nicer. I've driven it home from the Dealership and I can't wait to get in it again but I ignored common sense last time and got lucky.

To answer the question, I am really only considering taking it out once the weather hits 40+ again.

 

As long as it's dry I'll do sub-freezing on PSS without issue. I have driven many miles on my Viper in sub-freezing temperatures on PS2 and now P-Zero tires. Only with my 3.55 gears last year did it become a little scary. The RS thus far has been similar (all 300 miles so far), no issues in 20-25 degrees. Now of course with the snow in the northeast it's hiding in a parking garage until the roads are clear again.

It DOES require constant awareness of how warm your tires are and a driving style to match. If you don't trust yourself to do that then leave it at home. And to be redundant - Any hint of precipitation on top of cold puts me in one of my snow tire equipped vehicles.

 

In my case, this would be my first time behind the wjeel of the RS and a drive that takes me through potential snow. Too much of a risk. As much as it kills me, I am inclined to leave it at the dealer for the next two to three weeks. Alternately, I have a crazy idea. My Volvo has the same bolt pattern and I have all seasons for it. Might take the wheels off the Volvo to get the RS home.

 

You might want to double check that those Volvo wheels would fit over the front brakes. I have heard that Volvo spares don't fit.

 

It was 14 degrees F this AM with some snow on the roads. I drove on my PSS tires without any issues... I was actually surprised at how well they did. Of course I didn't get on it and gave ample space for stopping. As long as you drive reasonably you will be fine. My first test drive was in January and it was actually snowing during the drive... thought the sales guy was gonna lose it when I was driving it!!
With all that being said, I'm definitely getting winter tires next season. We just had a very light season this year.