I have an '05 with the 19" wheels and stock tires. Is driving around in the cold doing anything bad to my tires? What's the worst that could happen?

Thanks!

 

First of all, how cold? Summer tires (like the stock OEM 19s) are made of a rubber compound that is meant for hotter temps, so it softens up more. Winter tires are made of a another compound the is better suited for the cold weather. I dont think running summer tires in cold weather is necesarily bad for the tires, but you will certainly loose traction since the summer tires arent heating up as much, and cant become as sticky. That, and if it snows at all you are totally screwed. Youll never be able to move.

 

You will wear your tires faster, if IIRC. When it's cold, the rubber hardens. And in that hardened state, it wears faster. That's how it was explained to me anyways.

And how cold are you talking about? My car had next to no traction when it was <50 degrees out. When I took it out in a llight mist when it was 45 degrees out, I had almost zero traction. I was fishtailing everywhere.

FWIW, Tirerack explained to me that "summer" is defined as ambient temps > 60 degrees F by the tire companies.

 

Is that < 50 degrees F or C? I've been running OEM 19's and I have full traction even at like 26 degrees F like today.

Although, as it is already known how bad the tires are in the snow, I didn't realize how bad until today I was just trying to park when a little patch of snow in front of the parking spot made my rear shift to the right.

 

50 degrees F Are the 19's still Pilot Sports? (I have an 04 with the 18's).

I assure you, the Pilot Sports suck in the cold, (especially when wet). Perhaps I have a lead foot, I don't know. But I doubt I should be fishtailing every single time I take off in those conditions. When I installed Pilot Sport All Season tires, that problem went away.

 

Heh...well, I have the RE050A's. It's probably your lead foot....lol.

 

Summers are only good to about 50 degrees...after that, the rubber won't have any pliability to grip very well.
So it won't hurt them, but more importantly, they won't help you either.
C.

 

This is why I got the 17 inch wheels, for the all season tires.

I've been driving around on snowy roads (about 3 inches fell here), and I've had no problem (tossed a couple of sandbags in the trunk).

Ultra high performance all season tires are the way to go. Too bad Infiniti doesn't offer them with the 18's (wouldn't expect them too on the 19's).

Anyways, I believe that it's not advisable to drive with summer tires when it gets below 40 degrees. That's when the tires lose some grip and I imagine do harden up and wear faster.