JYT

TrackJunke

Daily driver = Yes. If you have another vehicle when its snowy/wet then I don't think its necessary. I drove through the many winters in Virginia without them and was fine on Summer tires....CAVEAT, if you are careful and realize their limitations.

Dennis C

ClassJ

None of the summer tires like cold weather. So if you are driving in the cold you need something like an all season or winter tire. If you are driving in the snow, just buy the winter tires.

My experience with putting winter tires on the Cayman was that it just not make sense for most winters here in NJ. I have another daily driver. I don't drive the Porsche in the snow or salt.

The first winter I ran them it worked out OK. The winter was mild. There were lots of great weeks with no salt on the ground and good timing for rain to wash it away after storms. I used the car a decent amount and it never saw salt.

The next winter, I mounted them and used the car into November. From late November to April it literally it felt like there was salt and slush on the ground all winter. The car sat.

The next winter was the same. I think I used the car once on winter tires.

I finally gave up and stopped mounting them.

For my Carrera T I am not buying the winter tire setup.

I will note that on my 3 series, I have had very good luck with the Michelin AS/3 running all year. I would be curious to see what they would feel like on a 911 as an all year tire.

911boy

My 911.2 breaks loose in second gear in 40 degrees and colder....no traction. My winter tires will go on any day now. I Would'nt consider driving in winter on summer tires.

Needsdecaf

I lived in FFX and had a RWD BMW 535i Sport Package that came with summer tires. It was my daily driver. I found that switching to a high performance all season worked fine. I used the Conti DWS (now replaced by the even better DWS 06) and put them on just in time for Snowmageddon in 2011. Got me through fine, and the rest of the time it worked great in the cold and rain. You're not going out in the snow anyway, NOVA and DC doesn't know **** about snow plowing, lol.

Conversely my boss had an Audi A6 with summers that he ran all winter and drove in the snow, and didn't crash....although he did get arrested for DWI, lol.

If you're going to use it on a frequent basis, the high performance AS's are fine. Since you won't be taking it in snow, you're mainly looking for tires with a rubber compound more suitable to cold temps. You're not looking for hardcore snow / ice performance so you don't need aggressive siping and a rubber compound made to work in snow and grip on ice, and with tread blocks designed to grab snow. Odds are that you can survive fine with the summers, but do you want to take that chance on a $100k car? I wouldn't. I knew a guy in Ellicott City that had summer compounds and they became skateboards on a wet 40 degree night and he flew off the highway into a signpost and totaled the car. $1k for a good set of A/S's plus mounting and balancing is money well spent.

I'd recommend the DWS 06's. I have them fitted to both our DD's now and they are fantastic tires. Reasonably priced and excellent performance for what they are.

Al.Fresco

If you want to drive it like a 911 at those temps, get winter tires. I can easily do 1.0g+ corners at those temps with my winter tires, but I would not ever recommend doing that at those temps with the summer tires. If you want to take it out at those temps and have as much fun as you do in the summer, get the winter tires.

good2go

waiting for PDK

Even if you don't trust some stranger over the internet, your first drive under about 42 degrees will convince you. The thumping of unhappy tires is impossible to miss.

JYT

PorscheFrank

Good call.

911boy

Great call. You're going to go through at least 2 sets of tires in the next few years so I think you're doing the right thing by making one set Winters. As I mentioned above, mine is all over the place on summers and its only 40-50 degrees.

oolor13

I'm slightly further north than you in the MD suburbs, but I already notice a loss of traction on my summer tires with temps in the 50s. Getting a little loose around some turns and wheel spin when I give it some throttle off the line. Winter tires are definitely worth the peace of mind.

Cyberbug

Cyberbug