canesman23

Brought my car up to Boston for school from Florida, was wondering...

Are snow tires necessary? I have 21's and summer tires on right now. (Had 19's and all-seasons on my previous S3 last winter, and it handled the snow very well. Had no issues)

Let me know.

gk1

Summer tires in Boston in November?
How long will you be there?
During the day up til Thursday it looks like it will be above 45ºF so it should be ok (if careful) but I wouldn't drive in the actual snow or at night for that matter.
https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l...7a801115c9ae30
...but that's me...err to the side of caution...others will drive down to 40ºF or lower on summer tires....I wouldn't.

-hef-

i think you should get winter tires or all-seasons. your summer rubber will turn into plastic when it gets cold out. and if it snows, you will slide. i know this bc when i bought my first SQ5, i bought it during a snow storm and was driving it to the tire shop to get the summer rubber off. i nearly died like 5 times. applying brakes in snow will def cause a slide.

rdA4WtQ5

If you use your car all winter in Boston with Summer performance tires you will most probably will learn a very expensive lesson. Nokian and others make all weather tires that you can leave on in the Summer that have a winter tire tread and rating (Snowflake symbol) is another good choice.

82DMC12

That's the problem with summer tires. They require a complete extra set of tires and usually wheels to go with them in the winter if snow and ice is a factor. Obviously not such a big deal if you live in, say, the deep south where you don't get snow in the winter.

Subaruski1

Yes, the answer is winter or at least all seasons 100%

Drexel

Cost of winter tires and rims - $1,200

Cost to fix your car after a head-on collision as a result of sliding in the snow due to poor traction from all-season tires, not specifically designed to function in winter conditions - $12,000

Buy winter tires. Trust me.

Gfunk720

Attempting to run summer tires through a New England winter isn't a great idea. Unless you have the ability to leave the car parked (for days) when the weather is ugly I would at minimum consider some all season tires. Even in cold temperatures summer tires can be a little sketchy.

I ran through last winter with almost new OEM 20" with the Scorpion Verde AS tires, and while they performed just fine, there was certainly room for improvement in a few inches of snow. I'm shopping a set of dedicated winter tires now as my SQ is my daily and working from home isn't really an option. I'm also a ways south of Boston.

spindlewood

Aside from everything already said, I've read in many places that you can damage the summer tires as well.

This from tire Rack:

synergize

Summer tires and Glass Transition:

As ambient temperatures get colder, typically in the 40-45° Fahrenheit range, summer performance tires lose a noticeable percentage of traction as their tread compound rubber properties change from a pliable elastic to inflexible plastic. The tire industry uses the term "glass transition" to describe the temperature where a summer performance tire's grip/slip performance changes dramatically. This means the summer performance tires that provide predictable traction in warm to hot conditions will be found to be very challenging to drive in cold to freezing temperatures. This is especially true when the tires first begin to be driven or if the driver aggressively applies gas pedal pressure with today's turbocharged fours or high-torque sixes and eights. Fortunately, glass transition is a reversible condition that allows the tires' normal traction to return as the ambient temperatures climb.

The solution: Winter Tires