2003 Porsche Boxster (986) Oversteering

[Phil Buxton]

I've experienced this also. Only in the winter. I can also attest to the lack of warning, which gets your attention fast! Thankfully I never went 180 degrees, and was always able to bring it back in line pretty quick. First couple of times it happened I thought there might be something wrong with the car, as I had driven it much more aggressively during the summer with nothing but fantastic grip in the corners. My tires were brand new, so it wasn't tire wear. I came to believe it was due to the low winter temps causing the Z rated tires to be pretty hard. I take those immediate turns from a stop more slowly in the winter now. Eventually I'd like to get some wheels with winter tires.

[rdancd816]

As someone mentioned, most performance tires are very dangerous when the temps are below freezing. Mine is an every day driver and I get the Blizzaks on when the temps start down. Then I have to adjust to the fact grip is much less with the Winter rubber and they can break loose quite easily if not carefull. Having driven 911's in the cold I would say the Boxster is MUCH better in winter conditions but it's definately not like warm weather driving.

[Sammy]

I will also add that I don't have experience with Avon, but by replacing them with Michelins (unless the Avon's are worn out) it will only move the driving limit slightly (unless you are going from a tread rating of 400 to 200). Do you really need to get a little more grip for everyday driving or would it make more sense to simply slow down a little bit?

My Goodyears were a huge improvement over my Michelins but it was because the Michelins were worn out. Yes, even Michelins get crappy when they have a lot of miles on them. With the worn out Michelins I had to adjust my driving because of the problem you experienced with the car wanting to spin.

All this goes out the window if you track the car or do autocrosses. If you do these types of events buy a second set of wheels/tires as wearing out a $1000k set of regular tires seems a little silly when you can buy 17" race tires for $500 and throw them on $500 worth of old rims.