Marine Blue

Driving winter tires in temps above 50F is bad enough, I can't imagine how bad they would be on a 90F day. I would think they would chunk and blow apart on a Porsche.

jumper5836

No they are very hard they are not soft and they wear longer then longer summer tires.

user 72902

I can't believe a track would allow anyone to run on winter tires. I've done a lot of track time at both Porsche and non-Porsche sanctioned events and they all have been hyper sensitive about tires.

I run winter tires on my SLK and on warm winter days they slide all over the place because they are too soft.

Marine Blue

Maybe I have it backwards. I do remember that the Blizzaks I had felt extremely mushy and slick as soon as temperatures went above 50. When temperatures were below 50 they seemed to harden up and the handling improved overall.

SecretAsianMan

Why would you bother owning a Porsche if you're going to ruin the driving experience with winter tires on dry roads>

gray911

Why not continental extreme contact dws? Winter tire like performance, and almost as good as summer tires on the street. They are cheaper that dedicated winters.

Dave R.

Yes, of course you can.

I've been running Michelin Alpins year-round in the Seattle area for the last 2.5 years on my 997.1 daily driver - about 25k miles so far and I still have with significant tread remaining. Temps here can go into the 40s and below 8 months out of the year while summer season here is moderate. They have provided peace of mind in inclement weather and tire wear has been surprisingly good.

I like them - they work just fine. Go ahead and try it if you are of a mind to.

Alpins are a high performance winter tire, but not as aggressive as Blizzaks or Michelin X-Ice, and therefore a better compromise for year-round while still being significantly better near freezing than all-seasons and summers. I had a set of Michelin X-ice on a 964 here for several years previously (year-round), they worked fine too although they felt like they had taller tread blocks and softer compound - slip angle was greater - but those were 16" rims while the 997 had 18" rims so the lower profile with the newer car may contribute to comparatively lower slip angles.

Besides which, I'd wager to say that most us here wouldn't know how to handle the car properly at the limits shod with summers (in summer), the limits are too high/things happen too quickly - so what if winters have somewhat lower limits, that's not necessarily a bad thing, and the car is still a 911 - on winters in warm summer (80s) it should still out-handle most things on the road anyway.

alexb76

Basically the answer is no... you're looking for all-season from how it sounds like, it's an all compromise tire, decent performance in dry, wet and ok in mild snow, freezing weather, but won't excel at either end.

I always swap summer/winter wheels to have best of both worlds, however, if the cost or inconvinience is not something you can live with, and you must drive all-around the year, then just look for a good Ultre High Performance all-season. There is one Continental All-season (cannot remember the exact model) that has decent snow rating (read up on Tirerack reviews) and that could do that job fairly well and significantly better than any winter could/would do in Summer. Do NOT use Winter tires in summer months.

Dave R.

Oh? Why? Facts, experience?

One thing I can tell you is that I did run all-seasons here in Seattle area on a daily driver 964 (Michelin Pilot Sport All-Seasons) right up until we had some snow storms where snow kept falling as evening conditions went from melting to freezing and roads turned into oiled sheets. In my white-knuckled experience the all-seasons didn't cut it, not by a long shot.

Danger is considerably worse in winter - compromising some summer performance is a legitimate option.

ab996

Nokian WR might be the answer and according to this and other reports, these tires are actually useful as all-season tires:
http://www.hendonpub.com/law_and_ord...l_season_tires
• Severe Service Emblem - Only four-season family of tires that carries the Severe Service Emblem exceeding new government snow condition regulations

These tires are available on Porsche sizes and N-specification 235/35R19($299) and 295/30R19($357)
Since I'm in Vancouver most of the year, the summer tires I got in LA are not safe for the Whistler trips during the winter season.
As always, I'm only reporting on my online findings because I want to start using one tire for the whole year, and not on personal experience, and I'm sure there are people that would like to disagree with the Nokian engineers.
Peace everybody

997_rich

If you're just looking to wait a few months for a great tire to come into stock or a wheels to become available, I say go ahead and do it.

It's certainly going to wear like hell and I wouldn't use it for anything but going to the grocery. Your stopping, acceleration and turning will be greatly comprimised. It not going to be worse than any other unmaintaned 20 year old PoS you see on the american roads with bald tires. Obviously if you show up to the track like this they'll catch you at tech inspection. Seriously just keep it to 65 and under and you'll be fine and if it gets up to higher temps I think it's a really bad idea.

It's not going to be enjoyable but I highly doubt it's going to result in an accident etc. If there's a good reason for it, I'd go ahead.

blake

OF COURSE you can run winter tires all year long. On a 911, I am not sure WHY you would want to though...

I run Blizzak's on my 6000lb Land Rover year round (35k miles per year I might add), and that includes trips to Vegas in July/Auguts to Vegas in 120 degree weather. I install them on November 1st (just before snow season) so that they have most tread for winter, and rotate every three months front to back. This is the 12th winter that I have done this btw... The DOWNSIDE is that they get loud as the tread wears down, and they are not as sharp as an all-season in corners.

I run 18" snows on my C2S Cab in the winter, and they are great. After two winters of trial and error - I went NARROWER than Porsche suggested b/c we get deep stuff (350 inches per winter), and swear by Blizzaks. This winter the car has been a dream. With that said - they will be swapped for my summer wheels/tires (19s) come May 1st...

All those that say winter tires can't be run in summer have never done it before. Pure hogwash.

-B

Macster

It is not that it can't be done, but that just because it can be done doesn't mean it should be done.

I live in area where the weather is mild and then can get quite warm to hot. N-rated high performance tires work very well for me. I can't imagine ever running true winter tires where I live in the summer. I can get by quite well and with a suitable margin of safety running summer tires year 'round. I arrange to have at least one car with new tires on it come the rainy season to give me an extra margin of safety.

If I lived in an area with longer periods of colder and inclement weather I might explore running some other tires if the weather conditions were such the high performance tires were too risky to use.

But I would never run true winter tires in the summer unless my summers were spent at the north pole.

Running true winter tires in the summer in most places would be nearly as bad as driving around in the dead of winter in freezing temps with snow and ice and slush on the roads with summer tires on the car. I've done this and while I got away with it I would never ever advise anyone to repeat this.

wwest

Were I still living in MT (WY climate-like) my C4 would spend the entire winter period parked in a nice warm garage shod with the quietest most comfortably riding summer tires. My '93 Ranger PU RWD would be shod appropriate to winter use and with a few sandbags in the bed nearest the rear wheels.

The C4 aspect of your Porsche is NOT about the ability for/of wintertime use. Plus which if prior to 997.2 the front drive aspects are practically non-existent. Even with the 997.2 you would likely need a DIY modification in order to make it wintertime capable at the LOWEST level.

If you can afford a C4 you can likely afford to buy a used 4WD vehicle of some type.

wwest

That all depends on actual wintertime roadbed conditions. On ice or hardpacked snow almost any summer tire with more contact surface CSA will outperform even the BEST wintertime specialty tire. Wintertime specialty tires are appropriate ONLY for freshly fallen or a loose snow base...or in MUD.

If your really wish some way to drive a C4 in wintertime go to studded tires.

Personally I always keep at least one set of chains onboard my wintertime DD RX300 (shod with the quietest and most comfortably riding SUMMER tires I could find) two during the winter period.