I'm thinking about winter/ all-season tires but clearly I need some education on the subject! I've had Michelin Pilot Sports on my 04 SL500 for about 4 years now. It drives fine in sub-40 degree weather (as long as no ice or snow), which for some reason seems to be the cut-off point that a lot of tire guys say you should not drive high performance tires under??? Right now I have Bridgestone REO50A's all around (19") the TT, and frankly I'm afraid to take the car out because it's consistently sub-30! The guys at TireRack say the Michelin PS2's have slightly better grip than both of the above, so when I need tires I will probably upgrade to those. But even they said not to drive PS2 under 40 degrees!! Now what are the advantages/ disadvantages of 19" vs 20" wheels/tires, do most people keep the high-performance on or do they switch to the all season/winter tires? I think it's a real PITA to switch tires out twice a year so I'd prefer to keep the PS2's (or whatever all year round...both Michelin and Bridgestone have "ultra high performance all-season tires") and just not drive so aggressively in the winter....Please advise if wise??!!! How much performance am I really giving up by going to "all season?" Also how can the 295's possibly fit on the rear wheels when the factory is clearly 305. I just bought the HRE P40's 19" and I certainly don't want to go trashing those wheels or my car by putting wrong size tires on...Also any tires better than PS2's, ie Pirelli or other Bridgstones. Sorry for the length but like I said I def need to learn!!! Thanks!!!

 

Is this your daily driver? If so, then you should get a winter set of wheels/tires. You are correct that the summer tires lose a good bit of their grip once it hits 40 or so.

Mine is not my DD so I don't have a winter set up. I do drive the car in lower temps w/ the stock Bridgestone's and just take it a bit easier than I normally would. No problems.

All depends if you think you'll ever find yourself in snow/ice.

 

IMO, get a set of spare winter wheels with proper tires.

 

I currently have PS2 on my Pcar and I drive it year round. It just takes a little bit longer for the rubber to warm up and I don't do anything crazy before than. My PS2 also wears a lot faster in the winter, mainly from losing traction when it's not properly warmed it. Funny, thing is that I have a set of snow tires, but don't want to actually put it on until it does "Snow".

If you have a new set of HREs, I would recommend you get a set of snow tires...The salt will eat up your wheels.

 

Thanks guys! No this is not a daily driver as I have Nissan Pathfinder that I can use for that purpose in the winter and just use the TT as a daily driver in the spring and summer. So it sounds like generally it's OK to drive in sub-40 degree weather as long as there's no snow or ice on the streets with the OEM tires. Like I said I just thinks it's a pain to switch out the tires and wheels, store them, transport them, etc....Thanks again!!!

 

I use my tt as a daily driver and long trips between Sant Fe and Phoenix. My summer tires are PS2's the rears which I just changed had 8500 miles and were down to the cords. The car handles great with these tires. For my trip to Santa Fe a few days ago I put on my winter rims with Pirelli 240 Sottozero's. These are one of two Porsche has on their list for this year the others are Nokian. These tires seem to get a flat spot overnight but it works out in a few miles. Route 40 between Gallop and Grants was very icy a few days ago and the tires did well.