Staying with Summer Tires in Winter?

[DMV_Audi]

I have the Pirelli P-Zero (PZ4) summer tires that came with the car. Where I live (Washington, DC area), we may get snow a couple times a winter, but everything just shuts down and people stay home until it melts a day or two later. It does get below freezing when we have cold spells. I do have another car with all-weather tires I can use if for some reason I need to drive during the rare snowstorm.

Can I just stick with the summer tires for the winter? I looked on Pirelli's site, but I can't find any technical specs about operating limitations.

However, on Tire Rack's site, it states this:

Pirelli's warranty does not cover tires that develop compound cracking due to use in ambient temperatures below 45° Fahrenheit (7° Celsius), so the P Zero (PZ4), like all summer tires, is not intended to be serviced, stored nor driven in near-freezing temperatures, through snow or on ice.

The temperature thing is the issue. I wouldn't drive my RS6 in snow or ice, and I keep it in a garage that will never get below 45F, but it will indeed get below 45F outside when I'm driving. Also let's say I visit a friend overnight and park outside -- it can easily get to slightly below freezing at night.

Am I going to face a real issue, especially safety-wise, if I stay with the summer tires?

[JoshDub]

You have reduced traction below 45° as the compound hardens significantly. You also run the risk of damaging the tire.

[makisupa]

I wouldn’t. You will find the traction significantly reduced and you will chew up/damage the tires. I’d grab a set of decent all seasons to pop on there for the winter, even if you’re not gonna be using/pushing the car much. True winters are really soft and will not be cost effective in your case.


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[Rcalcaide]

having on the right tires during a specific season is like wearing the right pair of shoes. You wouldn't wear sandals in the winter months or during inclement weather nor would you wear winter boots in the summer to the beach lol.

Get the right type of tires during the winter months: A nice set of performance winter tires. Your RS6 will be fully capable in any weather and the piece of mind will go a long long way.

[gpoulos]

As others have said. Winter tires have less to do with snow and more to do with rubber compliance at specific temperatures which correlates to traction.


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[nimprojects]

Yep, as everyone else said… If you're driving below around 7℃ you shouldn't be on summer tires, and exposing summer tires to temps close to or below 0℃ runs the risk of them cracking. Winters look great on the RS6, suits the character of the car:

[DMV_Audi]

Thanks for the advice. My alternative is to switch to all-weather tires permanently. I don't want to be swapping tires twice a year and it's just not that common around here. The Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus seems like the best option.

Anyone want to buy some P-Zero's with under 8k miles on them?

[Roman8er]

Thanks for the advice. My alternative is to switch to all-weather tires permanently. I don't want to be swapping tires twice a year and it's just not that common around here. The Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus seems like the best option.

When I was a teen working at a service station (we provided service, not just gasoline) I remember doing a lot of tire changing in November. Most couldn't afford a spare set of wheels, so onto the Coats machine and off came the summer tires. Don't know how many still swap, but it would be interesting to see if accidents are up in the winter because of poor traction for braking, etc.

[FBAnder]

Late to the party but my vote is also that this is a bad idea. I am scheduled to get my winters put on Wednesday and haven't been driving the car since its been well below 40F. Finally took it out today to just drive it a bit (been over a week) but temps were 39/40F which is still less than ideal.

[cgk360]

I run A/S year round. The continentals I use are speed rated/ high performance and are good for my daily and occasional spirited driving.

[Group_B]

If you do happen to go somewhere when it's dry and then the weather changes while you are busy, my much younger self can attest that summer tires are like slicks in any sort of winter weather.

[Stankia]

lol, gets a $100k+ high performance car, can't be bothered to switch the tires twice a year. Americans don't deserve the RS6.

[FBAnder]

If you do happen to go somewhere when it's dry and then the weather changes while you are busy, my much younger self can attest that summer tires are like slicks in any sort of winter weather.

Responding for a friend who can second this notion.

[cgk360]

lol, gets a $100k+ high performance car, can't be bothered to switch the tires twice a year. Americans don't deserve the RS6.

Let's give the benefit of the doubt here. It just might be the OP's first performance car. Audi would do itself a favor to give tire options when ordering. I took delivery of my RS6 on Jan 2, 2021 and promptly replaced the stock summer performance Pirelli tires for Continental high performance A/S tires. But that's because I knew from experience not to run summer performance tires in the cold. Also the stock 22's don't have sufficient sidewall for winter potholes. They look great, but it is a significant risk for me in the NY Metro area as I've posted elsewhere.

[gpoulos]

Late to the party but my vote is also that this is a bad idea. I am scheduled to get my winters put on Wednesday and haven't been driving the car since its been well below 40F. Finally took it out today to just drive it a bit (been over a week) but temps were 39/40F which is still less than ideal.

Buy a quickjack and change them yourself.


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[DMV_Audi]

I made an appointment and will be getting all-weather tires installed this coming week.

I've lived in colder climates where everyone has winter and summer tires, and I had 2 sets of tires for all my vehicles but that's just not common in the DC area as most vehicles have all-weather tires.

I also own other performance cars, that do have summer tires, but I just don't drive them when it's cold outside and they are in a heated garage. This is my first performance car with summer tires that I also use as a daily driver.

[FBAnder]

Buy a quickjack and change them yourself.


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RS6 is my first Audi that I opted on not doing the winter/summer swaps myself. The 22s are heavy as shit and I would have to haul them up and down a flight of stairs. The 21s for winters are not that much lighter. After doing this once with the 22s after taking delivery and needing to pull the 22s out of the car and bring them down to store for the rest of the winter, I decided I'll spend the money to have them stored at my indie and let them do the swaps in this case.

[KJ-RS]

Yeah, these 22's are no joke for weight. Plus, loading them in the car, I'm always worried about damaging my wheels or the car.

My friend owns a mobile wheel change business and he comes to my house to do the swap.

I literally just call/email/whatsapp him, he comes and does everything and I pay. I don't lift a single thing and I don't even need to leave my house!

[dab]

RS6 is my first Audi that I opted on not doing the winter/summer swaps myself. The 22s are heavy as shit and I would have to haul them up and down a flight of stairs. The 21s for winters are not that much lighter. After doing this once with the 22s after taking delivery and needing to pull the 22s out of the car and bring them down to store for the rest of the winter, I decided I'll spend the money to have them stored at my indie and let them do the swaps in this case.

I use belle tire to swap my tires and for 100 bucks they will clean them, tag and bag them and ship them to michigan to store is a climate controlled environment.

[FBAnder]

I use belle tire to swap my tires and for 100 bucks they will clean them, tag and bag them and ship them to michigan to store is a climate controlled environment.

Nice! That is pretty cheap for cleaning and shipping. I have been doing business with my indie for a long, long time so I am happy to pay their storage fee (they don't even offer this to everyone) and for the twice a year swap. It is a very reasonable charge, IMHO.