This winter will be my first winter with the p car and wondering what is the temperature that others use as a guide at which one should stop driving with summer tires.

I am in NJ.

thank you in advance

R

 

When it's below 40 degrees F, I prefer to have winter tires in place. I'm going to make the switch this weekend.

 

Philly says Thanksgiving. Approx.

Some thanxgivings it will snow here, but rare. Shortly thereafter you can have snow. I just say Thanksgiving and keep and eye out on the temps and weather. Off March 15. Again, just an estimate given my safety/risk thresholds and 15 years of Porsches here.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

 

My toronto date is early November.
Are you putting them on yourself?
I lean towards warmer weather so I'm not freezing my fingers off.
If your taking your car into the dealer or your indy. Book a date now.
It's only 30 days out.
Better a little early, than upside down... too late.

 

Your tires should tell you @ what temp they should not be used. My assorted summer tires usually were not intended for use below 40 F... but I've seen some lower. Temps alone are a guide... as summer tires can be really bad in cold temps.

Now, as for snow accumulating on roads, that becomes much more likely by mid-December.

But winter tires work better in cold, whether it's snowing or not... they're still the better tire.

Cold nights below 40 are business as usual by November. Any rain will freeze overnight... the news will be full of black ice accidents by Thanksgiving. All the people be like, "Hey, I can blast right through this wet ro---- OMG.... it's ice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

Welcome to the NE USA.

 

Forty. Below that and I've always felt like I'm driving on hockey pucks.

 

Agree with below 40 degree threshold.

Living in NJ also, I just do not drive mine from November until later March. The roads in the Metro NY/NJ area become a mine field of potholes and debris. And the crap that comes off cars in front of me (and sometimes along side on the Turnpike) does a number on the paint/glass.

 

Do you guys typically just put winter rubber on your existing wheels (i'm assuming most/many of you have 19's too), or get a dedicated set of 18's for winter?

In either case, I would be grateful for any recommendations (besides the "hey, stupid, have you done a search because this has been discussed 1000 times already." I am doing that search...)

Cheers.

 

For me, it's easier to have dedicated winter wheels setup. I just swap them out myself instead of bringing it to a shop. I bought a 19" wheel and winter tires setup for $800, seller was local so it was even better. I was able to inspect them prior to purchase.

My tire shop mentioned something about the bead on the tire might get damaged with constant install/reinstall. Not sure if that is true.

 

I did both approaches.... getting a second set is way better for many reasons.

Cost: Depends if your second set of wheels are new Porsche (toooo expensive), Porsche take offs, used, or aftermarket. I won't go into all of this, but in short, if you do your homework, you can get a really good deal on Porsche wheels used via these boards, CL, etc. etc. For whatever wheels you buy, the payback schedule changes. The smaller wheel option such as 18" on a 997.2 is usually cheaper than 19" 'cause everyone want bigger wheels (not me!).

If you want to swap tires on same wheels because you want to keep total cost down, remember the cost of the winter tires is $0. Yes, because you are wearing them instead of your summer, and over time, you use up the same amount of tires therefore winter tire cost is $0 (incrementally). So the cost of a winter set up is really just the wheels.

But after I wrote all of this, it is irrelevant because:

Convenience: Believe me, having a 2nd set of rims and tires is just faster. If you DIY, you can swap these wheels in your own driveway way faster than going to a shop and you have them to clean them .... If a shop swaps, then you will have to transport them..... or, your shop may store them for you (fee?) but even then you need an appointment and have to wait. If they are swapping tires on the wheels, it will take a long time.

Negative to DIY, is you need to do the work of course, but you need to store the wheels/tires at your home.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

 

Early to mid November for me but sometimes as late as Thanksgiving. After the crew does the final Fall yard cleanup I'll reorganize the garage, put bicycles away, pull out the snow blower and test it, swap wheels and put away the track stuff!

 

I always have a rim and snow tire set up for my cars. Way easier to do it in my driveway.
Go to shop, 30 min, wait two hours, or go to work 30 min, back to pick up car 30 min, then go home 30 min. 2 hours per car. $120 fall + $120 spring, 1200 in five years. Which is the cost of a set of rims.
I can do them in my driveway in 20 minutes, plus 20 minutes of wheel cleaning.

Malexcab - I suppose these is always a chance of damaging the rim face with any tire in stall. You're only as good as the installer and the equipment they have. I believe what your installer meant to convey, is they stretch the tire bead to get it on the rim. The bead is a rubber and steel band. My brother had a tire bead break on a snow tire install. Had to by a new tire, plus a matching one. Don't remember the shop. 15+ years ago. I'm sure a 30 or 35 aspect ratio tire is a bitch to get on a 11" rim. I've seem 2-3 people on one tire/rim wrestling match.