[718Niko]

Hi there,

It is my first winter with the Cayman (or any rear wheel drive sport car), and I am planning to keep driving her every days. I am in Scotland, its not usually very cold but we do get some ice, and sometimes snow and salty roads.
I am currently looking at what I can do to get her as prepared as possible for the ice and salt. any good tips ?
Do you think winter tires are worth it ? And would you get them from your Porsche dealer ?
Any recomandations for the salt issue ? Im planning doing a clean every weekends (if that's enough ?) but I am still concerned about the underside of the car I just cant reach.

thanks -

 

[Lamb]

"summer tires" are not recommended to be driven below approx. 46F...not sure you need a winter type tire, an all season tire might be what you need in your climate..

 

[Nosmo]

Hi - South East UK here. Winter tyres are on. The skipping out of 90 degree corners with the tyres acting like pencil erasers during the cold mornings mid-October had me change them. We rarely if ever get any lasting snow. I didn't fancy being on the Michelin PS4 rubber with even a hint of ice or snow on the road.

The proker does require a completely different approach on winter rubber and siped tread blocks. It's not to be trifled with how different the ride is.

 

[Optical TDI]

Definitely get winter tires. Wet and cold can be dangerous on summer tires even without ice and snow. For anti corrosion look at spraying Fluid Film underneath on any exposed metal, but not brake rotors or exhaust. The US Navy uses it in their equipment for anti corrosion. In the Jeep Wrangler community, it’s used by many, including me, to stop winter corrosion. It comes in spray paint style cans.

 

[718Niko]

Thanks, I didnt know those anti corrosion spray even existed ! I ll definietly get some.

About the tyres, I currently have some brand new Pirelli P Zero 98Y ... .I could be wrong but I think they are summer tyres ? (google says so anyway... yes, that s how much I know about tyres !).

Any thoughs on All Season tyres instead of keeping switching back and forth between summer and winter ? Internet seems to say that using All seasons means less good tyres all year round compared to switching Summer/Winter.

 

[DriveInHouston]

...Any thoughs on All Season tyres instead of keeping switching back and forth between summer and winter ? Internet seems to say that using All seasons means less good tyres all year round compared to switching Summer/Winter.

It depends on the climate in the place you live. Here in Houston we get 2 nights of below freezing (0C/32F) a year on the average. Possibly 30 nights of temperatures below 7C/42F (the recommended temperature below which you shouldn't drive the Extreme Performance Summer tires like the Michelin PS4S and other brand equivalents because they become hard and slippery).

We also get half the winter days with temperatures above 21C/70F when most of the hard core winter tires become very slippery.

I can't see myself with two sets of tires (winter/summer) in the garage, doing pit stops every time the temperature gets out of the range 7C-21C/42F-70F.

So, three season tires are the answer. You get a hit in performance, but probably better tire life. These are the trade-offs.

However, being a true petrolhead, I just replaced my worn out Michelin PS4S with a complete set of Michelin PS4S N0. Go figure....

If you have consistently cold winters and consistently warm summers, get yourself a set of winter tires!

 

[johan]

Much is down to experisnce when driving in the cold.
the coldest we have had this fall is -6C and i am gonna change to winter tires in 2 weeks.

 

[johan]

Much is down to experisnce when driving in the cold.
the coldest we have had this fall is -6C and i am gonna change to winter tires in 2 weeks.

One more thing, snow and summer tires is not a good combo!
The rubber it self is one thing but the biggest is the threads or lack of them on a summer tire

 

[718Niko]

winter tires it is then! we do often get arround 0c in winter here + a couple of weeks of snow and ice.

thanks all for the advises!

 

[craig66]

Starting this Wednesday in New Jersey we will be getting temperatures in the 30-40 range. Plan on changing tire/wheels over later this week or over the weekend. Opted to get the OEM package from Porsche rather than a generic we will package from tire rack. Reasons were with a discount from my local dealer there was not that much of a price difference, with OEM wheels they should be less of an issue with my wheel tire insurance and finally in the event that I eventually sell the wheels they resell value might be higher as OEM wheels then a generic Chinese wheel from tire rack - hoping.

 

[DriveInHouston]

I was pleasantly surprised too by the price offered by Porsche on the Michelin PS4S N0. Very competitive with Discount Tire... our local, national discount chain. Of course the rims are expensive when you buy from Porsche. The Oz brand from Tire Rack has pretty good reputation and is significantly cheaper, but Porsche is just that... Porsche.

 

[craig66]

I was getting the 18" for my base Boxster and my local dealer agreed to match Suncoasts price of 2800 for 18" Porsche wheels and Sottozero tires. Tire rack had 18 inch OZ wheels with Sottozero for $3200 and TR's 19" package with CUP wheels and tires are $2700 with TPMS and the OZ brand was $3200 with TPMS. I wanted to try and keep to the 18" due to potholes and such and so ironically for the 18 inch wheels Porsche package seemed a better deal. For 19"" wheels Porsche package is significantly more expensive than TR

 

[718Niko]

Hi there.

On the market for winter tyres. I can see you dont all stick to the ones recomanded by porsche on their website, Michelin or Continental?

Still yet to receive a quote from Porsche directly but my local garage is offering the Continental ones, including fitting for £900, all 4.
That seemed a bit steep for some tyres but then the cheapest of those Continental ones I could find online, without fitting were about £700 with a discount. So that seemee to be a right price.

Have to say, still a bit hesitant at spending nearly a grand on tyres I ll use only about 3 months a year.

 

[DriveInHouston]

Don’t look at this way. You are extending the life of your very expensive summer tires by 3 months, and the bonus is that you reduce the risk of an accident due to the use of unsuitable tires

 

[Viffermike]

Don’t look at this way. You are extending the life of your very expensive summer tires by 3 months, and the bonus is that you reduce the risk of an accident due to the use of unsuitable tires

This. @718Niko , in Scotland, you either need to rotate two sets of wheels/tires for the seasons, or to run one wheel/tire set with all-season tires year-round. Any other strategy is asking for trouble, no matter how gently you take things.

Your P Zeros are three-season tires, a.k.a. summer performance tires. They basically turn into hockey pucks below 4 degrees C, and would be in danger of developing cracks below -7 or so C. Unfortunately, Pirellis are particularly known for the latter trait.

If you're unwilling or unable to store a set of wheels/tires, I highly recommend giving all-seasons a go. What you give up in ultimate warm-weather grip (anywhere from 3 to 7 percent, depending on the tire make), you gain in tire wear (far better), road noise (quieter) and use-ability in below-freezing temps.

 

[718Niko]

Seen this way... well, winter tyres it is : )

 

[dreamer]

Wow. This isn’t something I ever considered and my SA never mentioned. My car isn’t a DD so I’m not sure I will go to the trouble. I’m in NC and we have cold stretches but little snow (if any). I guess my car will have to stay parked at times.

 

[Silversword]

Nobody at my OPC mentioned it either. I'm further south in the UK so maybe not quite as much rain or ice as Scotland but we have our share of bad weather. Temperatures during the day are currently around 7-10 Celsius (44-50f) which I gather would be on the cusp of where my stock P-Zeros will start to be less effective. Early mornings and evenings might be as low as 4-5C (41f) but that's probably the coldest conditions I'll see - I have no intention of running the car in freezing conditions and will hibernate it once road salt gets put down later in the year. For me, winter tyres are not really worth it right now.

 

[718Niko]

Finally got hold of the Porsche center, its about the same quote as my local garage, slightly more but they pass me another Porsche car for the few hours the swap will take.
And, apparently, its not just about swapping the tyre, they also need to do a tweak in the car cpu to let her know she is on winter tyre. I dont know if it was a sales speech or not, but I dont mind a boxter for a few hours if it doesnt rain : )

 

[jns211]

they also need to do a tweak in the car cpu to let her know she is on winter tyre. I dont know if it was a sales speech or not, but I dont mind a boxter for a few hours if it doesnt rain : )

Just as an FYI. Changing the tire settings on the car's PCM takes about 5 seconds. It only takes a few movements of the lower right control stalk to cycle to the menu and set it.

I had a Porsche service department try to convince me that it was a much more involved process before I bought my car and read the owners manual. Needless to say, I never went back to that service department......