A Public Service Announcement regarding Summer tires in Winter

[JFP in PA]

Sorry to hear that you "bent" your baby, but I’m sure she is fixable. This is why I put mine into hibernation when the air temps drop below 45F……………

[tnoice]

My sister in law just wrecked her chrysler crossfire yesterday because she all of a sudden lost grip and slid around (it was very cold yesterday). She has summer tires on her car that are about the same as the boxster. Road was slightly damp. I have also noticed that the tires on the porsche get a little skiddish when it gets colder.

Sorry to hear about your accident.

[timothy]

Agreed that when the temperatures dip, summer tires can lose grip before you know what happened. I has the world's slowest spin on an icy Dallas highway three years ago. Going no more than 15mph in a straight line when the back end came around, and around, and around. Luckily in my case it was purely drama and no damage, but the lesson is the same. Be careful out there.

[crios]

That sucks! Sorry.

I too went sideways yesterday, accelerating out of second gear. I hate this weather! Keep us posted on how the repairs go.

[blinkwatt]

Glad to hear your alright.

I've posted multiple times about how horrible of a tire my HRTZ IIIs are in cold and rainy weather. I don't even answer my phone when it's raining and I drive the car,I have little trust in performance tires in cold and wet weather.

I lost my 99' just switching freeways, not speeding or doing anything stupid,it was just the 1st rain of the year and cold. The car had P Zero Rossos.

[boxsternut]

Sorry to hear about your boxster! As we north of the border mostly know, when the outside temperature dips below 7C or approx. 45F, all-season and summer tires lose a lot of their grip...that's why Quebec (our neighbouring province) made winter tires mandatory by law! The road may LOOK fine, but it is starting to freeze, just like your tires! Good luck with the repairs.

[katanihouse@shaw.ca]

What is a good all season tire for the Boxster any suggestions? Just bought a 2001 S and it has all season's on the front but I believe summer tires on the back. Thanks in advance.

[JTP]

Originally Posted by katanihouse@shaw.ca

What is a good all season tire for the Boxster any suggestions? Just bought a 2001 S and it has all season's on the front but I believe summer tires on the back. Thanks in advance.

If you're going to use the car during winter months, it's better to mount dedicated snow tires on narrower rims. Personally, I wouldn't be worried about looks or handling performance, just traction. Even all season tires become useless when there's freezing rain(frequent in the Northeast) and the road is iced over, hard packed snow, or sub-zero temps. Blizzaks have surprisingly good traction even on ice and remain soft even down to -50F.

[Boxtaboy]

I'm sorry to hear about that man, but be glad that you are not hurt. I actually had been running summer tires on my 01 Boxster all year long for 7 yrs up here in the Northeast, and never had any issues, but I was very careful to not push it when the weather was cold until the tires warmed up. Just last week, however, I decided to mount snow tires to my car because I recently started driving the car to work (before it was just a weekend car). I normally run 18 inch wheels, but had my old 17s around, so I bought these Hankook IceBear snow tires from Discount Tire for only $548 for the set of 4 tires, and had them mounted on my 17s: http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/searchTireMatchingPairs.do?mps=-50&yr=2001&ar=40&rd=17&vid=011386&sw=true&cs=255

The first day I put the snow tires on, my wife asks me to go out and pick up dinner, and so happens, it started to snow hard… so I took my car out for a test drive in the snow, and the tires were GREAT! On the snowy roads, I could accelerate briskly at 3/4 throttle in 1st gear (I only tested that with no other cars around me btw) without the rear tires letting go at all. I know it's too late to tell you this now, but for those looking for an economical snow tire combo, (although these winter tires are not Porsche approved), they are really pretty good.

Here's a pic I took while driving in the falling snow that day. The road was pretty bad, but the tires held the road great.

[Bob O]

Sorry to hear about your incident and I'm glad you're ok. You, unfortunately, found out why all the tire makers put out that warning out about not driving summer tires in near freezing weather. They get hard and slippery when the temps drop and, as you unfortunately found out, will break lose pretty quickly. (Go take a look at Tire Rack. IIRC almost all the summer tires have the warning that they're not intended to be driven in freezing or near freezing weather). I had mine on the road the first winter I owned it with summer tires still on it. The weather turned cold and it was just downright scary. I immediately bought a set of used wheels and new winter tires (Dunlop somethings.. I forget which ones at the moment) to avoid having to mount/dismount, balance, etc every spring and fall. The thing goes like a goat now! It's great in the snow.


I hope you're able to get everything put back together properly, and soon. Then go out and get some wheels and tires and drive it!!!

Damm I hate winter. 4-6" of that white stuff predicted for tonight. ugh .

Bob

[cfos]

Wow. Hope all turns out well. Had the 2nd snow day with my Nokians. Been impressed with them and with the 911. Though I may imagine this, I think I prefer'd the boxster to the 911 in the snow. Boxster seemed more nimble (had blizzaks at the time). Though these winter tires set me back a bit, would never drive without them (this time of year).

[941MXVET]

Glad to hear your OK, and it sounds as if the car can be fixed.

Here's a pic from last spring, I too found that summer tires have their limitations!