I searched and couldn't find a dedicated topic for this specific question. Generally speaking, are summer tires reasonably safe and suitable for cold pavement under DRY conditions?

That is to say, if I do drive my S2000 regularly in the midwest but will have a second vehicle for any days where there might be ice/snow (or even the threat of it) will something like Pilot Super Sports hold up fine under 0F to 40F air temperatures and typical, safe, non-aggressive highway and surface street driving?

 

I run my summer tires all year long, just as long as there is no snow on the ground they handle fine.

 

There is a sizable difference in compounds/heat ranges that are effective or safe between MAX summer and Extreme summer. Extreme will not serve you as well, most of these are unsafe bellow 50 degrees. I have a 4x4 that I run in the shit weather as well, and do drive my car with extreme comp tires in the dry when its bellow 50 degrees and its dicey, as long as you are smart, you will account for it. If your not a good/smart driver you might find yourself in the ditch and that would be a shame.

 

You're probably being too specific in your search. All I can say is that my Star Specs noticeably lose grip under 50 degrees until they start warming up. Whether it's safe or not isn't just a matter of the tires but the driver as well. Whether it's reasonable or not depends on whether you think going against recommendations is reasonable versus running the proper tires for the season.

Whether you think you can account for running summer tires in the cold or not stuff happens and you can't plan for everything. It's your call as to whether you want to be straddling the limits of traction when you find yourself in a situation where you need to avoid an accident, etc.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=220

 

As stated, you have to look to see what the minimum temperature for driving is for your tire. I drive mine year round and take it easy on cold days until I feel that the tires are warmed up and can take what I push.

 

Drive smart and you'll be fine with most any tire in the cold. You need to get a feel for exactly how much grip is available before you start to push it in ANY condition. You will have less grip in the cold and will need to accommodate for that.

 

I ran the dragon on kumho xs in 34 degree weather while it was flurrying and didn't have an issue. Sure there wasn't as much grip, but if you don't act like an a$$ hat, you'll be fine

 

These are what I run on, and in my experience one of the most sensitive to cold temp for a non R comp rated tire. They have a narrower optimum heat range over say the more popular Starspecs which are a little broader. The XS kick ass like no other when up to ideal temp however, which is what I like about them.

 

Thanks for the replies. For me, this is about simple highway driving at posted or lower speeds in a safe manner; I have a decent feel for the car and how it behaves, after 150k miles plus some eight winters including some white knuckle driving in snow storms.

I kind of wish cars had tire temp sensors of some kind...

 

I wouldn't drive summer high performance tires in the super cold.

I lived in boston with my s2000 with the original bridgestone re-050 tires. When the temps dropped below 35, my traction was horrible. For example, I once tried to make a left turn from a stop. Slow acceleration, but hit a very small patch of black ice. I ended up sliding sideways for about 10 feet at 10mph through the intersection before traction came back and I was able to complete my turn.

Small things like that happened all the time.

Think about what would happen if you were in cold dry conditions and then suddenly had to swerve to avoid hitting something like an oncoming car or debris on the road. No immediate and predictable traction.