Thread: X drive ftw
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      02-04-2013, 10:21 AM   #79
bananachipz
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Drives: F30 Mineral Gray 335i
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Canada

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tsuyoi View Post
It's a pretty chilly 24F here right now. But my 18'' ContiSportContact SSRs don't seem to have hardened all that much. Yes, they'll perform better in the summer. But to say that just because it's under 44F these tires lose so much grip that the car becomes a hazard (as some here claim) is just nonsense.
Actually, it's science, not nonsense....

People love to polarize the issues... it's not black or white. It's not "they grip or they don't"... It's percentages...

The fact is that in an emergency stop in cold temps, the winter tires will stop at a shorter distance. There's no disputing that, as many independent third-parties have tested and verified that.

Now... If you keep your distance in winter, don't emergency stop, and drive more carefully, will you be ok on Summers? Sure.. why not... the problem is that you don't have control of all the variables, and there may be one time you need to emergency stop. The extra couple feet of stopping distance can mean the difference between a crash or not. The extra bit of grip can mean the difference between DSC being effective and saving you or not.

For me? that extra bit of insurance is worth the small cost of Winter tires. Especially because my son travels with me in the car. Is it fool proof? No, but it gives you that extra margin of safety. Kinda like wearing a seatbelt.
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