Firebrian

Rudy, is there any significant difference in those 3 tires in traction/cornering in cold weather (30-45 deg F) on clear roads? Winter temps vary widely around the country yet this isn't really addressed in the tire specs/performance. Or, if one is considering doing significant driving in cold but clear weather does that imply an all season tire is needed? I drive quite a bit in late March, April, October, November and early December as long as the roads are clear and dry.

Flaring Afro

Tires are made to be sticky at certain temps. For example, Formula One tires need to be very hot to stick. Summer tires are made with summer temperatures in mind so they harden up and become slicker in the cold.

Firebrian

Some of these "summer" tires have tremendous wet grip and even acceptable snow grip. No doubt some of them have a decent cold grip as well. There's so much overlap in many of these tires there's no real way to know other than a review by someone who has tried several them on their cars in those particular climates/conditions. 40-45 degrees might be the limit for one tire while 30-35 degrees might be the limit on a comparably rated one.

Summer extreme performance tires get a special review on Tire Rack about winter storage <20 deg F or driving them at <40 deg F. Don't see that kind of concern being discussed there for the max or ultra grades.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=220

This page of links seems to offer some information on summer tires in cold-clear road driving. 45 deg F seems to be the number that comes up the most for the limit on summer tires before traction begins to be compromised. Some reviewers say they let their tires warm up in winter. That seems difficult to me if the road is 20-35 deg regardless of air temp.

https://www.google.com/search?q=best...en-US:official

Flaring Afro

If you're going to be driving it in cold weather 40% of the time, it's still worth all seasons. Some people will say that their summer tires work ok in the winter, but they mean that they aren't sliding everywhere. A lot of people on here will also claim that certain track tires are "fine" in the rain but also say that they slow down a lot and are very cautious - because they know they don't have very good grip compared to Pilot Sports, etc. Buying tires that have excellent grip in the cold will make you enjoy your car a lot more 40% of the time. If you were saying 10%, then I'd say most summer tires would be a better option.

Firebrian

Appreciate that input Flaring Afro. Last night, I dug into my oil change records for the past 2 years and figured out my summer/cold weather split is more like 75/25%....putting me on the borderline. And in looking at the all season tire options in this same price range of $130-$160/tire I can't say there are any that I really like. My cold weather driving is not all that spirited with half of that 25% being simple 30 minute maintenance drives. In a couple dozen winter drives in 30-40 deg weather I never once broke the tires free, even in moderately spirited driving....and that's on >14 yr old GY Eagle F1 GS's. One would think new Comp 2's or DW's could do no worse. Fwiw, I never push the car past 2,500-3,000 rpm until 6-10 miles when all the fluids (and tires) have had a chance to warmup a bit. Brings me back to the summer tires.

One retailer offers $70 off this month on BFG/Michelin while BFG offers a Master Card $70 "rewards" card starting next week....that's up to an additional $140 in "cash" that I don't see being matched on any other comparable tires in this price range. Most major tire dealers have $50-$80 once or twice per year. I can get a set of 275-40-ZR17 BFG comp out the door for a net $525.....$131/per tire. There are no "cash" coupons on the Continentals (just hotel discounts) plus they cost $70 more per set to start with. While I would probably prefer the Conti DW....at $150+ more per set it's hard to justify that.

Update 6/17: purchased a set of BFG Comp 2's. Until the tires are broken in it will be difficult to fully evaluate them. In just easy driving so far I don't see any issues.

Aclark2009

Lots of good information in this thread.

Any updates on how the BFG comp 2's handled? I need new tires and prefer an all season but Michelin discontinued the 17 inch Pilot sports I don’t know what to get now!

dailydriver

^^^The Pilot Sports are ALSO a pure summer tire.

The Pilot Sport ALL SEASON 3 is the all season version which will be decent in the cold, DRY weather.
This tire is NOT made in the 275/40-17 size, but, BOTH of the much more affordable BFG ultra high performance all seasons ARE made in this size (as well as the 245/50-16 sizes if anyone needs those).
I believe that some of the construction AND compounding tech (as well as the tread pattern on the BFG g force COMP2 ALL SEASON) for these tires was shared with the more expensive Michelins since they are the same company now.

Also note that ANY/ALL PURE summer/max performance tires will turn to blocks of ice in ambient temps below 45*F, REGARDLESS of that some on here will say that they "did fine" on them in winter temps.
They can become outright DANGEROUS (like NO grip whatsoever, depending on the tire and it's compounding) in temps below 20*F, and you risk 'freezing' their compounds and destroying their grip for the warm summer if they are left in those temps at all.