I was just trying to scare him. I think the op is smart enough not to wreck his nice ride.

 

ive driven year round on summer compound tires the last two Texas winters. We rarely get ice or snow, but do on occasion. the tires don't grip as well in the cold so be careful, but its not like you are going to fly off the road at ludicrous speed the second you hit the gas. Use some common sense, leave TC full on, and you can drive summer tires all you want. I never saw increased wear in the cold from the nitto 555's on my previous car. It was 40 here this morning in Texas and the car handled just fine on factory rubber.

 

I was at MAM by Council Bluffs IA yesterday, and it was about 38 degrees on the first session. Running the stock tires.
On the first lap at turn 5/6, the back end let go with no warning, and I wasn't pushing it hard at all. Luckily easing off the throttle and turning into it kept everything under control. Several people spun or went off track. By lunch time things warmed up and life got better.
I'd guess the stock tires will drive ok on the street in the cold. Just don't try taking freeway cloverleafs at "summer" speeds, and don't expect to stop on a dime either.

 

How did the fronts hold up? Good enough to make it home I see, unless you trailered.

 

Yea, they got me thru the day and drive home. I went to 45 psi hot on the fronts to maybe help reduce shoulder wear. But due to the cold, and my front brakes shuddering, I wasn't driving as hard as I was at MPH Mustang Roundup. Seems like my front rotor transfer layer got all screwed up driving the XP10 pads on the street. The steering wheel shook pretty good during hard braking.
Trailering will be nice next season.

 

Hope they let you run with the windows up and heat on I don't think I could get my hands to stick to the steering at that temp

 

drove around in an inch of snow last night...... got around as expected..... but i dont recommend it for the timmid

 

Scott,
Nope, windows down! Ya gotta be tough to live up here--or crazy.
A little breezy on the front straight at 115 mph! One guy got black flagged on his first lap because he had his windows up.
Some guys were wearing jackets. Heat on a medium fan speed kept things workable.

 

28 degrees on the way in to work this morning. The Boss literally went airborne, barrel rolled and landed in a tree. Fortunately it's going to be 60 by noon so I can make it home tonight.

 

How much damage?

 

Is the tree OK? Ya don't want to p*ss off the enviromentalists.

 

did you scream YEEEEHAAAAA?

 

I'm thinking it should buff right out............

 

I'll go with I would not last an hour up there, not directly from the cold but someone would shoot me in the head to stop the complaining about the cold (You guys are walk around with guns in them red states right ?)

 

Did someone say Ludicrous Speed ?

 

you sir are a fracking genius

 

The BOSS wanted donuts for breakfast this morning....

Scared the ever loving **** out of myself this morning. Luckily, when it happened, my butthole puckered up real good and kept me from crapping my pants.

It's become part of my normal start up routine to hold the brake and press the traction control button for 5 seconds, disabling AdvanceTrac in the BOSS. As second nature as it is to put your seatbelt on, I turn off all traction control for more... 'spirited' driving.

This morning, it just happened to be 30 degrees outside. Dry. But cold. Despite seeing warnings here about these tires in the cold, I disabled the TC and went on about my morning commute.

I had just made a left hand turn onto a 2 lane, same direction, access road alongside the main highway through town. I was in the left lane, attempting to ease ahead of the Ford Ranger to my right so I could merge into his lane before the next off ramp. It seemed like he was toying with me a bit, keeping nose to nose with me, so I put a little more gas into it. And I mean, a little more. I didn't take into consideration where I was in the power band, and again, how crappy the tires are in the cold. Without any effort at all, the rear end of the car shot to the left, front end to the right, I over corrected, and I was in a counter clockwise spin. Oh. ****.
Still got the Ranger in the lane next to me and a pair of vehicles behind us. I know because I saw their headlights. Twice. I have a feeling the hardness of the cold tires allowed me to complete a 720* spin, and I ended up facing forward, which I guess is a bit of a blessing? My forward/rotational movement was finally stopped by the curb. Worst feeling in the world.

After restarting the car, I put on my blinker and made it off the road into the Famous Dave's parking lot, and the driver of the Ranger followed me in. I got out, he rolled down his window, I immediately asked if I had contacted his truck, he said no and asked if I was alright. I said I think I just shat my pants a bit, but I'm ok, and I explained what I was doing and what had happened. He's like wow dude, that thing must have some power behind it. Too much for cold tires. I inspected the car, fully expecting to see thrashed wheels and loose bumper covers and gouged side skirts. (When spinning and being jolted around, your mind thinks the worst.) Much to my relief, everything was intact. The only visible reminder of the incident is about a 1-1.5" bit of curb rash on the extreme outter lip of the driver's side front wheel. Sucks. Sucks major ****. But at the same time, I know I'm lucky that's all that happened. I learned my lesson. Don't disable traction control in the extreme cold. And get winter wheels/tires.

Ironically, this was the exact same section of road where I got loose in the Bullitt a few years ago, and ended up thrashing a wheel on that same section of curb. It was dry then as well, and nowhere near cold. I'm never driving on that road again. Screw that.

 

Glad you are okay...I did the exact same thing in my STI...only I think it was a 360. Just remember why the race cars swerve and warm up the tires before a race Its not for looks and they are usually running in much warmer ambient temps. Winter tires aren't just for snow, its the temp


I would get a set of 18" wheels and Hankook Ice bears or Blizzaks in 245/40 all the way around if you are going to drive below 50 or in the snow

 

double post

 

Bummer, glad to see you're fine and no Bosses were damaged. I notice traction diminishing on the Pirelli's from about 55 degrees and below.