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We rarely get any snow here (Houston), but we will get a week or so each year of 30 degree weather; for a couple of days it may even drop to the 20's. Is the car even safe to drive with summer tires when it gets that cold? Or leave it in the garage and drive the Volvo?
I drive with summer tires in the 30s plenty. It really depends upon if it is dry or not. If it is dry most summer tires will perform quite well and better than almost any other tire down to 30 and seem to do ok a little below like mid 20s or so. I've got some track tires that are super dangerous in the 30's, but my regular Pilot Sport 4Ss are totally fine. This test was done very well in a controlled environment and you can see in dry braking, the summer tires are fine down to where they stopped the test at 32 where the all seasons started to match it.
However, if it is wet and cold, the summer tires start to struggle quite a bit and don't match the all seasons until it is much warmer. It's annoying the dry graph goes from warm to cold (left to right) but the wet graph is cold to warm -- so adjust your brain that way:
A couple of things to note. The tires will warm up pretty quickly (particularly if it is sunny) and Mercedes was kind enough to give us a tire temp display so we can tell when they have warmed up some which makes a huge difference. Warm tires even in cold air work fine. So, if it is dry, I think you are find to take the GLS in about any Houston weather you have. If it is wet, while you can still manage by driving carefully I would be very cautious below 40 or take another vehicle if possible.
Thanks guys. Kind of embarrassing not to be able to drive a $200K car when it is cold out. I keep hoping either MB or a tire company will come up with an all-season that will fit the 23" wheels. Apparently it the rear tires that are the problem.
Good luck getting any warranty/insurance to pay for an accident when guidelines are not followed. Mercedes think we can afford the car, we can afford another set of tires/wheels!
We rarely get any snow here (Houston), but we will get a week or so each year of 30 degree weather; for a couple of days it may even drop to the 20's. Is the car even safe to drive with summer tires when it gets that cold? Or leave it in the garage and drive the Volvo?
Ask the 7 million other people in Houston who have never even heard the phrase "winter tire". You're fine. Don't worry about it.
Not about the money- just a hassle to switch out and store the wheels and tires for 2 or 3 weeks. Easier to drive the Volvo with a very chagrinned look on my face.
We've been researching this quite a bit since we are 'patiently' waiting for our GLS580 with 23" wheels. The issue isn't just tire performance in temperatures below 45-40F. In those temperatures the material becomes rigid and will begin to develop micro cracks. Once your tire starts cracking it becomes a matter of when will you have a catastrophic failure. Heaven forbid it's while you're riding down the highway at 80 MPH.
I'm sure there are people here that will say they've never had an issue, but it's something I'm not willing to chance. It's best to have a 2nd set of wheels or plan to drive a different vehicle.
We've been researching this quite a bit since we are 'patiently' waiting for our GLS580 with 23" wheels. The issue isn't just tire performance in temperatures below 45-40F. In those temperatures the material becomes rigid and will begin to develop micro cracks. Once your tire starts cracking it becomes a matter of when will you have a catastrophic failure. Heaven forbid it's while you're riding down the highway at 80 MPH.
I'm sure there are people here that will say they've never had an issue, but it's something I'm not willing to chance. It's best to have a 2nd set of wheels or plan to drive a different vehicle.
Tire manufacturers will specify a temperature where summer tires should not be moved at all due to cracking. It is different than the recommended use temperature. While information might indicate not to use them below 45 (for grip), for example, my Michelin Pilot Sport 4S "do not use due to cracking" temperature is 20 degrees. So, while grip might be poor at 30, Michelin does not expect them to crack at that temperature -- but says not to use at all below 20.
It should be noted that once the tire has reached that temperature, the manufacturers specify a different temperature to being use again. In my Michelin example, if the tire has been subjected to temperatures below 20, Michelin requires the tire be slowly warmed up to above 40 for at least 24 hours before driving on to prevent cracks -- because you don't really know the temperature of the rubber based on ambient air alone. Many people have garages that even unheated stay warmer than outside air, so this probably is not a problem for someone in Houston.
Any idea what the cracking temperature might be for the Pirelli Pzero PZ4 sport ties?
Unfortunately, Pirelli doesn't seem to say. Their official statement is "In addition, they can lose flexibility and may develop random surface cracks at very cold temperatures;". No idea what "very cold" is. Also, it should be noted that they classify the entire PZero range as ultra high performance, but the PZ4s are a far cry from their stree/track tires they have in the same line. On another forum I'm on, a Tire Rack representative said that Pirelli will not warranty cracks if used below 45, so that's good information to have and you should be aware of , but does not necessarily equate to the fact that they expect them to crack at 45 which is hardly "very cold". So, none of that is really any help, sorry.
Where is this? I thought that I've gone through pretty much all of the info screens, but I have not seen this on my 2024 GLS 580.
We hit 31-32 F this winter in Central Florida.
Ugggh. Sorry, seems like second time I've made this mistake. Apparently the temperature display is an AMG only thing for the GLS 63, it didn't occur to me that they would leave this off of the 580/450 since the hardware is exactly the same. I use it all the time.
I lived about half my life in NY/NJ and have been in Houston now for 30+ years. In my humble opinion you should not drive the MB in bad weather when it's cold. Not because of your tires or driving ability. It is due to the insane chances that some Houston area residents take while driving, exacerbated in bad weather. You're more likely to get rear ended by some schmuck who is on the phone and suddenly looks up to see you are stopped in front of them. They jam on the brakes, but ABS won't same them or you. Sacrifice the Volvo.
I lived about half my life in NY/NJ and have been in Houston now for 30+ years. In my humble opinion you should not drive the MB in bad weather when it's cold. Not because of your tires or driving ability. It is due to the insane chances that some Houston area residents take while driving, exacerbated in bad weather. You're more likely to get rear ended by some schmuck who is on the phone and suddenly looks up to see you are stopped in front of them. They jam on the brakes, but ABS won't same them or you. Sacrifice the Volvo.
... or drive with a bike rack in trailer hitch as I do all the time. Nice bumper protection.
Ugggh. Sorry, seems like second time I've made this mistake. Apparently the temperature display is an AMG only thing for the GLS 63, it didn't occur to me that they would leave this off of the 580/450 since the hardware is exactly the same. I use it all the time.
I lived about half my life in NY/NJ and have been in Houston now for 30+ years. In my humble opinion you should not drive the MB in bad weather when it's cold. Not because of your tires or driving ability. It is due to the insane chances that some Houston area residents take while driving, exacerbated in bad weather. You're more likely to get rear ended by some schmuck who is on the phone and suddenly looks up to see you are stopped in front of them. They jam on the brakes, but ABS won't same them or you. Sacrifice the Volvo.
Yeah, you really can't discount prior experience in inclement weather. Folks w/o that experience are just going to be part of the higher risk equation!
Remember when Dallas hosted the Super Bowl in 2011? Unforeseen accidents and cleanup time! The Super Bowl in the Meadowlands 3 years later was balmy in comparison! https://www.espn.com/dallas/nfl/news/story?id=6089688
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