if the outdoor air is cold, does it ever become dangerous to drive? no rain or snow, just cold road.

 

Put the proper tires on the car and nothing is too cold. There's lots of us driving in very cold weather with no problems.

As for using UHP tires in the cold, the thing to remember is to slow down. Make smooth inputs - no hacking allowed. I haven't run them below 0F but have spent time well under freezing with no problems other than the need to drive appropriately. You can lose grip that much faster at low temps so you can't be aggressive. I compare the difference to be similar to driving on UHP tires and then switching to all-seasons. The A/S tires will generally work better at low temperatures so it would be worthwhile to investigate those. I happen to prefer the Pirelli P-Zero Nero A/S tires for low temps as well as snow although snow tires are obviously the best for snow traction...

 

Just for a simple answer, 8 degrees celcius is where it starts to become dangerous for OEM/performance/non-MS tires. It's the point at which oem/performance/non-ms tires begin to harden and thus loose grip.

 

I believe 40F is the lower limit thrown out there by the tire companies. Although driving carefully while temps are below 40F may seem to work most of the time, it is not safe. Emergencies require abrupt inputs sometimes (like stopping quickly). So you put yourself at a significant disadvantage with summer tires on your car when it's cold out, not to mention the person you are going to hit with your car.

 

Tires are definitely the issue, dyhppy. Stock S02s (and S03s) turn into bricks when temps drop into the 40s. Not sure about the RE050s, but likely the same thing.

With proper winter tires, you'll have no problems. However, be aware that the grip level on winter tires is less than the summer performance (stock) tires.

 

when I leave out for work in the morning, The coldest temps are like 33Fand the hottest to 100F and my commute is very short, but there is one winding road that I like to drive spiritedly on in the morning.

 

I daily drive my car and have had no problem with the RE050s when temps dip to even mid 20F. HOWEVER, my commute is only 5-7 miles per way, and I don't drive like my pants are on fire in these conditions. I felt the rear tires today after parking and they seemed fairly warm - the air temp today was around 30F. In conclusion, its doable at least over short distances. Be extremely cautious - the rear will break loose without a moments notice if you try to hustle the car through a corner.

And don't even THINK about driving it through the snow on the stock tires

 

Top down this morning Vish?

 

So, you're suggesting driving aggressively to warm up the tires? I think that's what's known as a chicken-and-egg problem.

Just don't do it. If you get caught out in cold temps with your stockers, drive like your feet hands are feathers. Trying to warm up the tires by driving hard will put you in a ditch before you have the chance.

 

Don't do it.

In late fall a couple of years ago, before changing over to winter tires for the season, I took my car to a deserted parking lot for a little experiment. The temperature was around freezing. I drove around aggressively and intentionally ham-handedly and was very surprised (shocked even) at how little traction I had. I was sliding all over the place.