So - need new summer tires and I have a set of PS4S ready to mount on my summer wheels early next week.
In the meantime I happened across the following text online:
Quote:
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The Pilot Sport 4S excels in warm dry and wet conditions, so like all Max Performance Summer tires, is not intended to be serviced, stored nor driven in near- and below-freezing temperatures, through snow or on ice.
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and
Quote:
Note: Tires exposed to temperatures of 20 degrees F (-7 degrees C) or lower must be permitted to gradually return to temperatures of at least 40 degrees F (5 degrees C) for at least 24 hours before they are flexed in any manner, such as by adjusting inflation pressures, mounting them on wheels or using them to support, roll or drive a vehicle.
Flexing of the specialized rubber compounds used in Max Performance Summer tires during cold-weather use can result in irreversible compound cracking. Compound cracking is not a warrantable condition because it occurs as the result of improper use or storage, tires exhibiting compound cracking must be replaced.
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I DIY as much as I can, including swapping over winter/summer tire sets. Since I can do this myself, in as little as 10-15 minutes in a pinch, I sometimes push my luck to be on summer rubber as much as possible. I'm not talking snow, but sometimes a cold front comes through and overnight temps go below freezing, but it's dry and just a day or two, and all I might need to do is get to the train station for work so it doesn't matter.
I've never seen anything mentioned like the text I quoted in my ~20 years of running UHP summer tires. I get that they aren't at their best. And I get that you'd have to be fool to run them in real winter weather. But even just "adjusting inflation pressures" causing irreversible damage? I could see problems if you tried a track day in -10C or something but....wow.
If I had to guarantee absolutely no "near freezing" conditions, I couldn't switch to summer tires until June and they'd have to come off some time in September. Meanwhile I'd be totally murdering my winter tires since it could be 15C and blazing sunshine during the day. This is my DD and only vehicle, I can't just hop into another car because it got near freezing. (Sure, you could argue that I don't need PS4S on a porker like the F10 and should have got something like Pilot A/S 3 or something, but that's not what I want
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I really hope it's an overly cautious warning. Places like Colorado and Arizona would be even worse than where I am for huge temperature swings. And those poor people taking their summer toy cars to the mechanic for that last oil change prior to storage at the end of the season...