Question for you guys who live in a blizzard..

[vobro]

The weather is killing me here in Wisconsin. Overnight lows of -10 degrees, and daily highs in the single digits.

I have my new Volkswagen Tiguan out in the driveway, along with my wife's new Chrysler Pacifica. Our garage is filled with stuff since our move, so the vehicles live outside 24/7 for now.

Yesterday, I tried to leave in the Tiguan. Hit an icy spot and slid (slowly) into the rear quarter of the Pacifica. Scuff marks on both vehicles from the impact.

So, I'm out there with a cup of warm water and a Magic Eraser pad in -2 degree temps, seeing if the ME will remove the scuff (which was likely ice, wax, sealant, and salt). Managed to clear off almost everything in 30 seconds - right before the water froze on the vehicle and my hands went numb.

Now I can sleep at night - as I know I can use a little polish in the spring to clean things up better.

That’s some dedication right there

[Klasse Act]

Keep us posted

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[acuRAS82]

To those people in the northernmost areas where winter is the coldest, how the heck do you keep your tires - even winter/snow tires with the softer compounds from freezing

Not sure you meant “freezing” but I had 3-4 coats of M37 Tire Coating put on my winter tires before mounting in December. They still look great after I just did a trek to Boston and back in a snow/ice storm. I had used the coating in the summer and it looks good for 2-3 months in northeast summer, but more impressive is how it looks after 2 months in salty/snowy climate.

[bob m]

Not sure you meant “freezing” but I had 3-4 coats of M37 Tire Coating put on my winter tires before mounting in December. They still look great after I just did a trek to Boston and back in a snow/ice storm. I had used the coating in the summer and it looks good for 2-3 months in northeast summer, but more impressive is how it looks after 2 months in salty/snowy climate.

Yes, I was actually referring to "freezing" or hardening of the compounds in the tires that would make them hard as hockey pucks.

[Klasse Act]

I'm not sure how much abuse designated winter tires can take but they are mandated in Canada for half the year and based on that alone I think you'll be fine in the rubber hardening department

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[PaulMys]

Yes, I was actually referring to "freezing" or hardening of the compounds in the tires that would make them hard as hockey pucks.

I've never seen any modern tire compound do that in our climate, Bob.

Glen Ridge is just about due west of me out here on LI just outside NYC, so we see basically the same exact weather.

[Desertnate]

High performance summer tires will harden to hockey pucks when temperatures drop into the 30's and they get brittle in the 20's and lower. Corvettes often aren't shipped with the summer tires because early in the C7 generation a truck load of Vettes delivered to a northern tier dealership with Michellin Pilot Super Sports all had the side walls crack and every car was sitting on the wheels by the time they got to the distant end. I've driven on those tires in temps in the lower 20's and I can tell you they have NO grip whatsoever and even touching them you can feel they are rock hard.

All seasons I've found fair a little better. On my last set of all season Continentals (DWS O6's), they were pretty pliable until temps hit the 20's or I started driving in ice and snow. They would start to harden up and you could feel the lower grip on dry pavement. Those tires you could also hear the difference. When they got really cold and hard, the tire noise on dry pavement was far lounder than in warmer temperatures.

Winter tires are by their nature VERY soft in warm temps and will slowly harden as things get colder. At very cold temps they are like normal tires in warm temps. That is how they are designed and they should be fine well below zero. As the temps get colder I can actually feel my tires ride better. When temps are above the 40's the tread blocks are soft and the handling gets squirmy. When it is in the 20's or colder the grip is great and they are very stable. All of the squirm is gone and they actually grip better than some all season tires in warmer temps.

Tires like Nokians and Bridgestone Blizzaks are used and tested in some of the coldest places on earth. They should be just fine. My Pirelli Sottozero 3's were just fine at -3 last weekend.

[dgage]

When I lived in Fairbanks AK, our tires would get a flat spot when it dropped below -30, which it routinely did and -55 hit a couple times a winter. When first driving a car, it would bump, bump, bump until the tires warmed up and the flat spots went away. This was 30 years ago so I don’t know which tires this happened to but it happened to all of ours.

[bob m]

High performance summer tires will harden to hockey pucks when temperatures drop into the 30's and they get brittle in the 20's and lower. Corvettes often aren't shipped with the summer tires because early in the C7 generation a truck load of Vettes delivered to a northern tier dealership with Michellin Pilot Super Sports all had the side walls crack and every car was sitting on the wheels by the time they got to the distant end. I've driven on those tires in temps in the lower 20's and I can tell you they have NO grip whatsoever and even touching them you can feel they are rock hard.

All seasons I've found fair a little better. On my last set of all season Continentals (DWS O6's), they were pretty pliable until temps hit the 20's or I started driving in ice and snow. They would start to harden up and you could feel the lower grip on dry pavement. Those tires you could also hear the difference. When they got really cold and hard, the tire noise on dry pavement was far lounder than in warmer temperatures.

Winter tires are by their nature VERY soft in warm temps and will slowly harden as things get colder. At very cold temps they are like normal tires in warm temps. That is how they are designed and they should be fine well below zero. As the temps get colder I can actually feel my tires ride better. When temps are above the 40's the tread blocks are soft and the handling gets squirmy. When it is in the 20's or colder the grip is great and they are very stable. All of the squirm is gone and they actually grip better than some all season tires in warmer temps.

Tires like Nokians and Bridgestone Blizzaks are used and tested in some of the coldest places on earth. They should be just fine. My Pirelli Sottozero 3's were just fine at -3 last weekend.

Yep, as you mention summer tires are a big no-no when temps hit that level - maybe even 40's. I am in amazement that any tires could function in temps so far below 0, but glad they obviously do. I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to tires. The tires are a way too often overlooked part of the pie, but that is literally where the rubber meets the road.

I did run Blizzaks on my Outback and Audi Allroad, but last year I was too lazy to have them swapped out with the AS's. I did check the forecast and if a storm/storms were coming I would have had them swapped with the Blizzaks. I did sell the OEM Pirelli's on my Allroad the first time I felt the car hydroplane. Replaced with Michelin Pilot Sports AS/3 and the improved handling was immediately felt.

This year, I decided to go a different route - with highly rated ALL WEATHER Snow Rated tires. I swapped out the underperforming OEM's on my 2021 CX-5 and 2021 Crosstek with an ALL WEATHER Snow Rated tires - Vredestein Quatrac Pros and Michelin Crossclimate 2's. Their handling so far is superb, but I guess I will find out tomorrow when we get our next storm.

[dgage]

I have yo-yo'd between high performance all-weather and high performance summer tires and I can definitely tell the summers get slick when it gets in the 30s. This time I went with Conti DWS-06 all-weather tires and so far they are handling the below 30 very well while having very good dry and wet (most important to me) handling. I'm in TN so no real need for winter tires though they MIGHT get some use once or twice a year.