PS2 tires and cold weather

Tuna · Dec 27, 2012

There's a thread on a Corvette forum (CAC) about Extreme Summer Performance tires and cold weather. The gofaster Vettes get the Goodyear SuperCar tire or the Michelin PS2 - similar to the tires on the V2. I'm here to tell you that when the tire and road temps drop below 40, there ain't a lot of traction in these tires.

It looks like the Heartland is going to be locked into several days of 40 and below temps. I drove the V in to work this morning at 23 with a little ice and snow still on the roads. Not too bad - just didn't use much throttle! :biggrin:

Good thing for me, the really cold winters here don't last that long.

cubby558 · Dec 27, 2012

Living in the Chicagoland area, I don't drive any of my 'toys' in the winter, so I can't comment on the traction issue in cold weather. I'm just glad I have the Expedition 4WD for our winter weather. :lol::lol: Maybe Michelin should make studded PS2's for you guys that don't have much of a winter. :chuckle

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Happy New Year, Tuna. Pray for warm weather--I am!!

Tuna · Dec 27, 2012

Hey,

We have one 'regular' car and 2 toys in the garage. Both toys have Michelin PS2 tires and neither have good traction when it's cold and no traction on ice or snow. I'm not sure anybody makes an "all season" tire in the sizes for the V and I know that no one makes all season tires from my Vette.

When push comes to shove, I make my wife drop me off and pick me up at work in her Volt - it seems to handle the cold pretty well. If the snow/ice gets too deep around here, we both call in sick and/or work from home.

ink: Before we got the Volt, we had 2 Vettes and the V in the garage - called in sick a lot. :biggrin:

TiredIronGRB · Dec 27, 2012

I picked up a set of Pirelli Sottozeros but haven't put them on yet, will update once I've tried them out.

cubby558 · Dec 28, 2012

:laugh::laugh::laugh: Wish I had that option, but I can't call myself.:lol::lol: Owning a family business does have its perks, but you also have to be there all the time. The only way we don't make it, is if there is a blizzard, then nobody is going anywhere anyway.

Tuna said:
............................................................ If the snow/ice gets too deep around here, we both call in sick and/or work from home. ink: Before we got the Volt, we had 2 Vettes and the V in the garage - called in sick a lot. :biggrin:

Tuna · Dec 28, 2012

I should have taken that "option" this morning. Weather guessers called for a light dusting of snow this morning between 8 and 11, then it going away. Well, we have 1/2 inch of powder on the streets and parking lots now and there is a light snow falling still. Weather guessers now say it will snow like this until 3 PM here. Not good! I drove the V Wagon this morning expecting an okay drive home. We'll see.

Tuna · Dec 29, 2012

No problems. The snow stopped by 2 PM and the sun came out and all the fresh snow on the streets melted to water. Messy but not slick.

TiredIronGRB · Dec 29, 2012

Tuna said:
No problems. The snow stopped by 2 PM and the sun came out and all the fresh snow on the streets melted to water. Messy but not slick.

Good to hear you got home safe.

Tuna · Dec 30, 2012

About 3 years ago, I had my V1 at work when an ice storm hit. The company didn't release us from work right away so when they did, there was almost 1/4 inch of ice everywhere. It took me 45 minutes to drive the V1 home and it's only 7 miles from my house to my office.

I had changed out the GY SuperCar tires to GY F1 GS D3 tires a few months before and they got me home. It was not fun but I made it.

Around Oklahoma, snow storms can quickly become ice storms and leave you with no easy way to get home. This time, it didn't happen. :smile:

Tuna · Feb 21, 2013

Slogged through the slush this morning in the V Wagon. 33 degrees and a mix of sleet, snow, & rain so the streets were a mess. These PS2 tires don't like it but they got me to work. It's always interesting to ease into the throttle in 2nd gear and slide sideways because the tires don't hook.

Supposed to be 40 this afternoon - the slush will be melted by the time I have to drive home.

I'll be glad when Spring really gets here and the temps stay above freezing!

Tuna · Nov 24, 2013

Good time to add to this thread - Installed Pilot Super Sports on the Vwagon back in June. Temps are now down in the 30's again in the Heartland and PSS's are still "summer" tires and definitely not ice and snow tires.

We have been getting sleet, snow and freezing rain the past 3 days, so the V has spent most of the time in the garage. Ditto the Vette. Lucky for me, I have enough vacation time to stay home when the streets turn to white here.

ink:

Clippers_FTW · Dec 2, 2013

unrelated but.. I had ps2's all the way around on my EVO and I absolutely loved them. Lucky for me I live in socal and have no need for winter tires lol

Tuna · Dec 2, 2013

Clippers_FTW said:
unrelated but.. I had ps2's all the way around on my EVO and I absolutely loved them. Lucky for me I live in socal and have no need for winter tires lol

Don't get me wrong, I love the Michelin PS2 and PSS tires. They stick to the road and last a long time for a low tread wear rated tire - it's just that they ain't that good in the cold (<40) and the suck on snow and ice. Here in the heartland, we get a little of the white stuff now and then (some coming later this week). If the streets are slick here, I'll probably take vacation and just stay home.

My Vette has PS2 tires and my V has PSS tires - neither are good on the white stuff and I'd just as soon not let other drivers have a shot at hitting either of them.

A few years ago, I have GY F1 GS D3's on my V1 and they were actually okay on the white stuff. I chalk that up to the "V" tread pattern on the tires and they were summer performance tires. If GY make D3s in the V or C6 sizes, I might be tempted to give them another try.

Clippers_FTW · Dec 3, 2013

Tuna said:
Don't get me wrong, I love the Michelin PS2 and PSS tires. They stick to the road and last a long time for a low tread wear rated tire - it's just that they ain't that good in the cold (<40) and the suck on snow and ice. Here in the heartland, we get a little of the white stuff now and then (some coming later this week). If the streets are slick here, I'll probably take vacation and just stay home.

My Vette has PS2 tires and my V has PSS tires - neither are good on the white stuff and I'd just as soon not let other drivers have a shot at hitting either of them.

A few years ago, I have GY F1 GS D3's on my V1 and they were actually okay on the white stuff. I chalk that up to the "V" tread pattern on the tires and they were summer performance tires. If GY make D3s in the V or C6 sizes, I might be tempted to give them another try.

How much are snow tires? I've never had the need to look that type of infomation up.

Tuna · Dec 3, 2013

Clippers_FTW said:
How much are snow tires? I've never had the need to look that type of infomation up.

Don't know. Never looked for any for my V. Probably need a different set of wheels as most snow tires are skinnier than the summer performance tires that come on the V.

Tuna · Dec 5, 2013

Looks like I'll get to try out the Pilot Super Sport tires in snow this afternoon. It's snowing in the Heartland now. Not sticking to the streets/sidewalks much so that good. We're supposed to get 2-4 inches of snow tonight. If that happens, I'll stay home tomorrow.

Yea Ha!

Tuna · Dec 5, 2013

As it turned out, not so good. Turning into my neighborhood at less than 15 MPH, the front tires lost traction and I went nose first into the POA sign. Knocked the front bumper loose and may have broken the right from light assembly. Now to get it fixed. Oh well.

mtrocket · Dec 6, 2013

Tuna said:
As it turned out, not so good. Turning into my neighborhood at less than 15 MPH, the front tires lost traction and I went nose first into the POA sign. Knocked the front bumper loose and may have broken the right from light assembly. Now to get it fixed. Oh well.

At least the damage was not as bad as it COULD have been, huh? At least you hit the sign slowly and not another vehicle...

Tuna · Dec 6, 2013

mtrocket said:
At least the damage was not as bad as it COULD have been, huh? At least you hit the sign slowly and not another vehicle...

Ain't that the truth!

Tuna · Dec 31, 2013

Two and a half weeks and the V Wagon is back on the streets. :biggrin: Which is pretty fast around here. Every body shop in the OKC metro has a back log of tornado damaged vehicles from the summer tornados and now the ice and snow is adding to the back log.

When I initially called the dealer's body shop that I wanted to use, they told me they couldn't look at it for at least 2 weeks. I called a couple of other shops and got even worse delays from them. So, back to my first choice. I was willing to wait.

Lucky for me the body shop manager is a real car guy and absolutely loves the V Wagon - guess he moved a couple of things around and my V was in the shop less than a week after it got there. :smile:

They did a great job putting the nose back on it. :bowdown: Sliding into a curb straight on when the curb is more than an inch higher than the nose is low did a job on the bumper, both grills, splitter plates, brake ducts and the panels between the bumper and the radiators. Didn't get into any important though. Split the right front headlight when it bumped the brick wall behind the curb. The replacement headlight was $1300+ most expensive part to replace.

Next time it snows or ices around here, I'm renting a car or calling in sick! :naughty: