Wondering on when to put on snow tires

[Coldpants]

I have a set of snow tires and rims for the winter and I was wondering when I should put them on. I understand the Pirellis are not good for below 40F but it has been 30 and 70 for the past month. Should I wait till it is cold all day or put them on now?

[strobi]

check out tirerack...snow tires are specially formatted to have better grip in cold weather, more so than the all season tires. BUT since they are a softer more plyable rubber compound, they will wear faster on bare roads and warmer temps...have them handy...put em on when you really ned them

[metaphysician]

I'm having my Pirelli Scorpions installed this week. We had a 70 degree day yesterday but still want them on when the cold weather does come in.

[67 Convertible]

Originally Posted by Coldpants

I understand the Pirellis are not good for below 40F.

I have seen this stated on other threads here and wonder how true this statement is? Does anyone have proof that the Pirelli "summer" tires are dangerous under 40 degs.? Where is it written that the mfr. suggests this?

There have been a few mornings I've driven to work when it was 28-29 degs. I intentionally drove my car hard a few times when there was no traffic , just to test the performance of my tires in under 40 deg. temps. I have noticed no performance loss in starting, stopping or cornering with the summer tires. I understand that with light snow or ice they would be useless, but on a cold dry road, I can't detect an issue. Is it me, or has this been blown out of proportion? I'd like to see some proof.

[Laserjen]

Originally Posted by 67 Convertible

I have seen this stated on other threads here and wonder how true this statement is? Does anyone have proof that the Pirelli "summer" tires are dangerous under 40 degs.? Where is it written that the mfr. suggests this?

There have been a few mornings I've driven to work when it was 28-29 degs. I intentionally drove my car hard a few times when there was no traffic , just to test the performance of my tires in under 40 deg. temps. I have noticed no performance loss in starting, stopping or cornering with the summer tires. I understand that with light snow or ice they would be useless, but on a cold dry road, I can't detect an issue. Is it me, or has this been blown out of proportion? I'd like to see some proof.

Whenever the temp got below 40, I noticed a lot of vibration...it felt like I was driving on rocks. This was apparently caused by the summer tires flattening a bit sitting in the cold. Although the vibration went away after a mile or so, I also started having issues with the tires spinning. I have to turn left onto a road with a blind curve to the right, so I take off pretty fast because cars coming flying around the curve...never had problems with the tires spinning until the temps got below 40. I just had winter tires put on a few days ago and no more tire spinning.