Quote:
Originally Posted by HighlandPete
There is a lot written by the tire companies and motor industry on summer/winter tire performance.
From Continental, here is just one example with comment and advice.
http://www.conti-online.com/generato...ter-tyres.html
It is clear, if you run two cars (one on summer, one on winter rubber) at low temperature and just feel the rubber, you can detect the summer tire has hardened, whereas the winter tire is very grippy in feel.
As to running temperatures, I've actually used an infra-red thermometer around the tires on a cold damp day and you find there is not much heat in the tread area. It can be just a couple of degrees above ambient. Wet roads and the tread is cooled quite quickly, so the rubber compound is not at the high temperatures we would expect, even after running decent mileage.
Winter driving doesn't typically heat the tires like we'd see in summer driving. Hence why in winter, besides tires with softer rubber compounds, it can be necessary to have a little more setting presssure, as the tires don't heat up to the working pressure we'd ideally be running on. I run 2 - 3psi more in winter, just to get the ideal working pressure.
HighlandPete |
Thanks.
The link you posted reads to me like a mix of marketing and fact. Still, it was useful. The page seems to lament the fact that you don't have a winter tire rule in the UK like many other EU countries do. That's what's called "a marketing opportunity." :-)
As to the facts, it's unusual to see a recommendation to run winter tires year round if you don't switch.
My experience was with Goodyear US customer service; in this country most companies try to say nothing at all when contacted about the technical details of a product for fear of liability litigation. That's probably also why you wouldn't see a page like the one you linked on the US website of a tire company.
In my particular case, I don't intend to drive my ZSL F30 with summer tires in
any kind of inclement weather. I have what we here in Boston call a "wintah beetah," a bad-weather car.
I started the thread to try and understand what risks, if any, I am taking when I take the car out with summer tires on a cold, dry day for my 40 mile round trip commute to work in stop-and-go and highway traffic. IOW, if I lose 10% of grip, I might never notice it since I am driving the car so gently.
OTOH, if going out on a cold, dry winter day when the temperatures in the tires don't reach an optimal temperature (whatever that is, I have no way of knowing), it's the equivalent of racing slicks, I might be driving the beetah more this winter.
My hope was a tire "expert" could detail what optimum tire temperatures are when the are "warm".