pnw122

Has anyone driven their 911 with their summers (P Zero, G F1) in near 0 / 32 degrees farenheit or colder temps? I drove to get a service today and it was 32 Degrees, the service guy told me i risk cracking my tires and that i should park the car for the winter if i dont want to get winter tires. I live in Vancouver for context and the winters arent actually too cold here. Rarely drops below freezing.

Wilder

I used to live in Vancouver. You have to stay on top of quickly changing temps. Summer tire grip degrades very quickly as temps drop. Not a good idea, especially given how much it rains. The options offered are correct.

alin2

I would be very wary of summer performance tires in any weather <40 F degrees (<4 C). The loss of grip can be quite abrupt and is not progressive. In addition, any snow or wet conditions, the grip of summer performance tires is really impaired to almost be un-drivable.

If you want to drive your 992 year round, it's best to get winter tires for winter conditions. Some people report that high performance all-seasons can work, but I suspect it's a compromise in both summer and winter.

FWIW, I put winters on my sports cars in Chicagoland as soon as temps get consistent to <40. Then, I have no issues driving except in high snow accumulation days.

gellie

Like driving on hockey pucks.

dudeoverthere

That's what I've heard too. Personally put winter tires on once morning temps are routinely under 40. Was 80 a few days ago. 5" of snow in the forecast.

Master Deep

It’s not worth totaling your six figure car because you had the wrong tires on. These tires get slick under 50 degrees in my experience and I’m in Florida. I don’t even bother driving the car when it’s under 50 out in Jan/Feb which only lasts a few days. No way I’d drive on them up north.

jlegelis

Woah people, as with most things context means everything, IOW, 'it depends': Is the car a daily driver, or a sunny day second (or third car)? If the former, then of course you'd want a compound designed for unpredictable conditions. If it's the latter and you can 'choose your days' than perhaps not. For 20 years here in Boston I had a 986 Boxster S that was a weekend fun car on Michelins - totally fine year round as long as 'you pick your days' and be mindful that grip definitely decreases with temperature. Sure, the car was parked for most of January and February, but plenty of warmish days in December and March where I was super glad I wasn't on snow tires, and all the more so with the shorter winters theses days. YMMV.
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Wilder

In Vancouver, temps can drop quickly and put you in a situation, especially during shoulder months. Been there done that. In fact, one day I was driving back form the track and temps dropped quickly and it started to hail. Guess how much fun that was on R comps.

remington

I used to live in Vancouver, last 25 years in California. You do not need winters, that is way overkill for Vancouver. But I would not run ultra high performance summers all year there, it gets below 40 degrees and they're rock hard. Run a good all season. Some here wring hands at the thought of anything less than ultra HP summers on their 911, in reality it would take a skilled driver on the street to exceed the performance envelope of a good high performance all season, and they will give you traction at the near-freezing temps you sometimes get in Van city. I wouldn't plow snow with them but it snows so rarely there it's not worth considering. It's all about the compound, it needs to stay flexible down to 30 degrees or so, UHP summers are hockey pucks below about 42.

jlegelis

>> In Vancouver, temps can drop quickly and put you in a situation,
Even spent any time in Boston? In the words of Mark Twain, "If you don't like the weather in New England now, just wait a few minutes.”

MingusDew

Try to avoid it, but if it happens, drive it like you’re in a Corolla with old crap tires and not a 911 with UHP tires and you’ll be fine. Try and be Patrick Long and you’ll have a bad day.

3rdpedal

Two things.
1. If you drive summer performance tires in conditions below 40 or even 45, not only can you lose grip, but the colder it gets the potential to damage the tire because it develops cracks in it. Do you really want to drive it 100+ the next summer or a couple years later and have it blow out at that speed because of a condition you caused.
2. Yes. You can park it and only drive it in winter on the nicer days or spring for winters or I guess all seasons and drive it year round.

I have a set of Michelin Alpin PA5s for winter. I swap them on my oem wheels in late October (Denver here) and back to summers in April or so. I have a C2S not a 4S and as everyone can tell you a RWD w Winter rubber is quite capable in snow. Plus the peace of mind you have the right grip in winter and are not damaging your summer tires. Added benefit is your summers will last longer as they get less of your mileage.

2019 I had a Jaguar XKR rwd and took my kids to an indoor pool not knowing any snow was coming. It was October. Nice day. Came out and it was white out. White knuckle drive home. Car slid all over the place and slipped sideways trying to climb hills.

m732sg

How realistic is it to swap tires vs entire wheel setups?

ImpeachS

+1. Having a new Cab 4S delivered in early December and now wondering if I need to spend another 5-6K on a winter wheel set-up?

Also, are the winter wheel and tire packages from Suncoast OEM wheels. The picture for the Carrera S wheels looks more gray than the OEM wheels but just going off pictures.

Weather dependent I would like to do some weekend driving in eastern PA over the winter at least to break in the engine.

detansinn

If you own a six figure car, you should have appropriate rubber for the seasons. Winter performance tires aren't about driving in the snow. It's all about cold weather grip. These cars are a lot more fun when you can push them and drive them like they're supposed to driven for all four seasons. As others noted above, you can do damage to the structure of modern summer tires that's not readily visible.

As for swapping tires onto your summer wheels, there's much to be said for a proper winter wheel setup. Porsche's winter wheels have different offsets to move them slightly inboard to reduce help protect the flanks of the cars. Most dealers will store your wheels and tires for a modest fee -- so, you don't even have to lose garage space or worry about transporting them if that's your concern. Personally, between potholes, stone, etc, I've always approached my winter wheel sets as sacrificial and don't get hung up on the imperfections that they get, because they allow my summer wheels to be pristine.

Having bought and sold a couple sets of Porsche Winter Wheels/Tires, they are not hard to sell on the used market, because people wait too long into the season and learn that they can be near impossible to obtain in season. If you're worried that you'll only have the car for a couple of years and be stuck with a set, I would not sweat it at all given the market demand.