Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
My brother-in-law is working in the Northwest Territories in Canada and swears by his R2's. He claims to have tried every snow tire on the market and these are the best. I emailed him tonight and he said he runs them at 32 psi on his Subaru Forester. On really hot days when it gets up to freezing he bumps them up to 35 psi but only on long trips. He checks the tire temps with an IR gun and says running lower pressures does not help traction on snow and the tire temps just begin to start going up. He said it not the absolute temp that bothers him but the trend toward raising temperature that concerns him. He tells me it's details that can up there, make life a lot safer.
I'm curious what those tire temps are.
You'll never see a Temperature A Winter tire (unless someone comes up with some new technology), because Winter tires are made to hoard heat, not shed it. Heat helps Winter tires with traction, just like track racers warm up their tires for a few laps before going full speed.
Fortunately there's a self-leveling mechanism in Winter-time. As the outside temps go down, so does your tire pressure. Running at real cold temps brings tire temperature up which brings air pressure up. Once you make the initial Summer to Winter tire pressure adjustment, you really don't need to tweak them for every 20 or 30 degree F temp swing. He's got this all figured out and is fine-tuning that whole dynamic, to which I give him the BITOG OCD nod of approval!
Your BIL is also dead right on the details. The more extreme the weather, the more often we should check the basics: fluid levels, tread wear, tire pressure, battery condition. In rural areas without cell coverage, it can mean life or death. Even in developed areas, it can save you a whole lot of hassle!