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Summer tires, winter weather...a cautionary tale.

1504 Views 10 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  M5CCIE, 
K
The Beast (aka Maggie) is my daily driver which in Colorado Springs requires full winter tires during the winter months. Going into my first winter I was really worried about this but it proved to be unfounded. With a proper set of tires the M5 does remarkably well in most reasonable snow and icy conditions that we encounter here. There were days when she didn't leave the house but fortunately I can work from home when I need to...it wasn't more than about 3-4 days anyway.

I stilled missed the PS2's though as in the intervening warm dry days that we get, the grip was noticably less and the look of the narrower tires definately takes away from the "Beastliness" of the car. This week I couldn't wait any longer and had the PS2's put back on.

During the first couple of warm days it was wonderful to have them back but it can still get quite cold around here and I simply didn't think about that last night. Leaving our favorite sushi restaurant I went ahead and put her into Sport/DSC off but was engaged in conversation. By the time I made my way to the exit onto the streets I wasn't thinking about sprited driving but in Sport mode it becomes a given. When the light turned green I pushed on the gas, started to make my left turn and :eek:oohhh:....where the hell is the backend going!?!?!

We fishtailed around to the left then over-corrected back to the right, then back to the left where the center median/planter/tree/certain front end damage loomed ominously into view (right, right, right, right I'm thinking)...back to the right, into the lane and back under control...

Next I felt something hit me in the back of the head...at first I was wondering what was flying around back there but a look at my wifes face in the passenger seat cleared up that mystery.

Now I went into diagnosis mode to figure out what had caused this and a quick look at the dash revealed an ever so slighty above freezing outside temperature. Performance tires don't like to be cold and apparently hate being near frozen.

I should have known better and the more experienced of you are probably having a good laugh but I thought I would take the time to remind the rest of you to mind the cold when you return to your proper shoes as things warm up.

Cheers!
Knave
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#9 ·
...with DSC off I've had the rear end go on me in a turn, even when it's warm -she got the powa...:7:

The type of tread isn't the only difference between summer and snow tires..

...once you get below 45f the summer rubber compound just doesn't perform well, it gets harder/slippery. :eek:oohhh:

I don't drive below that temp with summer tires - - under a German law, the driver is responsible to be prepared for conditions, meaning all season, snow tires if below 8c I think (46f) for the above reasons, so if you are in an accident, or block the road as a result, you can be fined, and it could have an insurance impact etc...

No worries, spring is almost here :applause:
 
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