Summer Tires - temps

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I have NT05 and Invo series (Nitto) tires on my car. Summer tires. I've read lots of bad things about driving on summer tires when temps are cold even if the road is clear and dry.

At what air temperature do you really need to consider not driving the car on these tires?
 
I think winter is going to be interesting on these tires. I can tell a difference even in the summer from pulling it out from the garage to fully hot after 30 minutes of driving.
 
I've heard summer tires, because the tread gets rock hard in cold temps, can get pretty squirrely on you in a major hurry.. Just wanted to get an idea of how far into the fall season I can drive the car before I need to think about parking it in the garage and leaving it there until summer.
 
You can still drive it, but you must wait for the tires to warm up from driving.

Trade the Nittos for a set of Toyo Proxes 4 and get summer tire 'stick' in an all season tire!
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
You can still drive it, but you must wait for the tires to warm up from driving.

Trade the Nittos for a set of Toyo Proxes 4 and get summer tire 'stick' in an all season tire!


Those won't come close to the NT05.
 
NT05's are a max/extreme performance summer tire. not just your average Yokohama s.drive or kumho whatever

Anything below 40-45 will be like driving on 4 HARD Plastic tires.
 
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Your real danger will be running summers in cold temps in the WET. Really sticky summer will still do "OK" in cold and dry, but you're notice a dramatic decrease in grip and increase in wear.

In the wet you'll suddenly be in a spin and wonder why. That nice, progressive roll off of traction at the limit with lots of communication is simply not there when it's cold and wet. You're stuck, then you're not.

This was my experience with some Yoko high perf all seasons, Bridgestone S-02 Pole Positions, Dunlop SP2000Es, Toyo T1-S, Toyo T1R and a little less with my current Michelin PS2s.

All of the marketing material indicates 7C to be the time to switchover to winter tires for compound/traction reasons. So that's what? 45*F?
 
Originally Posted By: BuickGN
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
You can still drive it, but you must wait for the tires to warm up from driving.

Trade the Nittos for a set of Toyo Proxes 4 and get summer tire 'stick' in an all season tire!


Those won't come close to the NT05.


Spoken like someone who doesn't own any.

My last track day I set hot lap on an all season tire. Think about that!

The proxes 4 are awesome in any weather/temp, and never get greasy at the track. Tread is a bit noisy, and they wear pretty good.

Nittos might work well for you, but I'm no fan.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: BuickGN
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
You can still drive it, but you must wait for the tires to warm up from driving.

Trade the Nittos for a set of Toyo Proxes 4 and get summer tire 'stick' in an all season tire!


Those won't come close to the NT05.


Spoken like someone who doesn't own any.



How many sets of NT05s have you run?

So you're saying your all seasons are going to outrun a max performance summer tire that gives up almost nothing to an R compound, huh?
 
No offense taken. We're typing, not talking, so I am not too quick to infer too much...

The only experience I have with Nittos is on my series of C5's, where they performed in what I would call mediocre fashion. Great straight line launch but poor rain and cornering performance when compared with the Pilots/F1's that were on the cars when I got them.

I am drawing on the experience of my fellow SRT8 owners, most of it from a guy who road races his Magnum constantly and a guy in Arizona with over 150K miles on one of these platforms. In a 4400-4600 pound car (inc. driver)the tire life can be rather short if driven aggressively!

The Toyo is completely unique among any all seasons I have ever owned. I normally do not buy this type of tire, but I am amazed at the level of performance. It truly drives just like an F1 without the compromise of needing temp to get sticky.

I run 245/45/20 front and 275/40/20 rear on stock 20 X 9 rims.
 
Thanks for the info guys. The car sits in the garage if it hits below 40. And if it's under 50 I drive the car slowly and cautiously especially around corners.
 
Originally Posted By: Riptide
Thanks for the info guys. The car sits in the garage if it hits below 40. And if it's under 50 I drive the car slowly and cautiously especially around corners.


So, might I go out on a limb and say this is a "fun" car that should actually be stored and you're only taking it out in the winter because you think it's good for it?

You may actually be better off fully storing it (fogging oil in the cylinders, battery on a trickle charger etc...) than coming up with excuses to tippy-toe around in it.
 
Originally Posted By: Craig in Canada
Originally Posted By: Riptide
Thanks for the info guys. The car sits in the garage if it hits below 40. And if it's under 50 I drive the car slowly and cautiously especially around corners.


So, might I go out on a limb and say this is a "fun" car that should actually be stored and you're only taking it out in the winter because you think it's good for it?

You may actually be better off fully storing it (fogging oil in the cylinders, battery on a trickle charger etc...) than coming up with excuses to tippy-toe around in it.


I would think that a trickle charge, full tank (with a fuel stabilizer) and a 10 minute idle every 2 weeks might be enough. It might not do things like redistribute the bearing grease or transmission fluid, but I thought most transmissions are bather in fluid. Also turn on the A/C (most defrost settings turn on the A/C) for a minute and then let it air out for the remainder. I've heard that this will redistribute the A/C oil and help keep the seals from shrinking.
 
Originally Posted By: y_p_w
Originally Posted By: Craig in Canada
Originally Posted By: Riptide
Thanks for the info guys. The car sits in the garage if it hits below 40. And if it's under 50 I drive the car slowly and cautiously especially around corners.


So, might I go out on a limb and say this is a "fun" car that should actually be stored and you're only taking it out in the winter because you think it's good for it?

You may actually be better off fully storing it (fogging oil in the cylinders, battery on a trickle charger etc...) than coming up with excuses to tippy-toe around in it.


I would think that a trickle charge, full tank (with a fuel stabilizer) and a 10 minute idle every 2 weeks might be enough. It might not do things like redistribute the bearing grease or transmission fluid, but I thought most transmissions are bather in fluid. Also turn on the A/C (most defrost settings turn on the A/C) for a minute and then let it air out for the remainder. I've heard that this will redistribute the A/C oil and help keep the seals from shrinking.


The "10 minute" idle is exactly what you should avoid.

Do proper storage prep and leave the thing alone until it's driving season again.
 
Originally Posted By: Riptide
Thanks for the info guys. The car sits in the garage if it hits below 40. And if it's under 50 I drive the car slowly and cautiously especially around corners.


So far so good on the NT05s and semi-cold weather. Haven't had anything colder than 50 degrees but I had a clearing and was able to take a 50mph corner very hard with the tires stone cold and while traction is reduced, it's no worse than any other tire I've run. However it's interesting that this car is pretty neutral but will oversteer a little when pushed with warm tires ended up understeering when dead cold.
 
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