SamFromTX

Glad to hear you're converted! Congrats.

Manifold

You're right, and I'm glad you brought that up, I meant to say something about that and forgot.

I've driven R-comp tires on the road and track many miles at temps down to about 25 F without issues, but have always been increasingly careful with my driving as temps dropped to and below 40. I'm not sure what the lower limit of temp is that the tires can be exposed to without cracking or other damage, but I'm thinking/guessing that I won't let these tires out of the garage unless the temp is above 20 or 25 F. I hope that's conservative enough, but I'm not sure, and have no prior experience with these MSPC2 tires.

Part of my dilemma, which is self-imposed, is that I have a track event scheduled in 6 weeks, so I need to put miles on the car to get it broken in before then. Since the car looks like a keeper, I suppose I should go ahead and get another set of wheels and mount winter tires on them. Certainly, the best option in terms of both safety and performance is winter tires in the winter and summer tires in the summer.

RossL

Great write-ups everyone! The east coast has been horrible for driving the last few weeks with all the rain, snow, cold, and salt everywhere. I'm planning to drive mine this weekend and finally put a few hundred miles on it. I think I'm sitting at 110 miles which is basically drive home dealership and drive back and forth to detailer... I can't wait and reading this gets me even more excited!

Sloopy

I am coming up on oneK now and with each mile I like the car more!

<3mph

Congratulations Manifold! I'm glad to hear you're loving your new GT3. Your positive and detailed review is even that much more impressive and believable to me since I remember how vehemently skeptical you were before. Thanks for your willingness and bravery to post such a remarkable about-face review. Enjoy! PS, there are indeed women who own the GT3. Leilani (one of the early cars, and perhaps first silver wheels) and Lisa (of orange and blue car fame) spring to mind.

LAGinz

Glad you're loving your GT3 Manifold! Even more glad though that I didn't cancel my allocation based on your initial impression several months ago, which I thought about doing because of the same concerns. Took delivery on mine last month, and it is just epic!!

Manifold

Sorry if I mislead anyone with my previous review. I tried to qualify the limitations of my review, and fortunately plenty of people chimed in with their impressions based on more seat time in the car, driving broken-in cars, tracking the car, etc.

And I should note that even now, since I'm following the break-in rules, that not only limits my experience of the car, but also creates stress which taints the experience of the car somewhat. I'm itching to flog it - must resist ...

Will be interesting to see how my impressions evolve as I drive the car more, and compare it directly with other cars.

NateOZ

Congratulations on getting the car!

Michelin recommended storing the tires above 40F and not driving below 45F to avoid cracking on the MPSC. I've not seen the same technical document on the MPSC2, but I would expect it to be similar if not a higher temperature given the improvements in the compound.

Your call if you want to drive them - just hope you don't cause an injury to someone else. The biggest issue is there isn't a progressive loss of traction at the lower temperatures, it's an all or nothing gamble.

neanicu

I also think it depends on how fast you're going Nate. If you're just driving around to put some break-in miles like Manifold does,you should be fine.

NateOZ

Your guys call and your life, assets and family you're putting at risk.

vf430

Manifold , I saw you dont have the front axle lift , how manageable has it been so far ?

U OLD DOG

Mine has the “truck-like” sound at idle as well; as of a heat shield is vibrating. My brakes squeal insistently.

bigkraig

The rattle can at idle sound is exactly like my old car with a lightweight flywheel

Manifold

I hear you and share your concerns. But I do wonder how conservative those recommendations are, to protect against liability. A few factors suggesting that they're quite conservative:

- I've seen lots of cars doing track days at temps down to the 30s and sometimes 20s, many/most of the cars on summer tires, R-comps, etc. And even with trailered cars with track-only tires, the tires are usually exposed to the cold on the trailer and in the paddock, even if they're not driven on until it warms up. There's rarely any caution against doing so, other than the occasional 'it's cold out there, so take it easy', and I haven't seen any tire failures clearly attributable to cold weather (I've heard of one, but I believe the tire was stored at a temp well below 20).

- Think of how many cars with summer or R-comp tires sit on dealer lots for weeks or months during the winter. Many are test driven in the cold, many are bought during the winter and driven on those tires in the winter, yet we don't seem to hear about incidents resulting from doing that. If this was really a big risk, I'd expect more guidance from dealers, and making these the standard tires on so many cars, often bought by people unaware of these tire considerations, would seem questionable. As far as grip, I've personally had no problems with sliding around when using these tires in the winter (except that they're a total no-go with any amount of snow or ice), but I'm careful and I think track experience helps.

- Based on a quick Google search, here's one article suggesting a lower limit of 20 F, referencing a bulletin from GM: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/n...king/index.htm

I'm going to look into this further to try to find out what the real temp limits for these tires are. But, depending on climate, I still recommend winter tires in the winter, and summer tires in the summer, and I expect to be on winter tires next winter, if not for the remaining weeks of this winter.

Bottom of the splitter has gently scraped a couple of times. Not a big deal as long as it doesn't tear off, and even then I hear that Suncoast offers the replacement for around $175. Speed bumps have been fine, and I can handle the end of my fairly steep driveway without scraping if I go very slow and at an angle.

bronson7

Good analogy regarding summer tires on cars at dealer parking lots sitting outside during the winter. Trust me, it's crossed my mind more than once.