am I okay to drive 200km in the heat on winters?

Posted by Any_Tune_5111@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 22 comments

I can't get in to swap my tires over for 1 week from now, and have to drive on the highway for about 200/250km until then. Only going to be about 20 degrees celsius. Should I be ok/or is that a bad idea?

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ChasDIY@reddit

yes

if you want to use your winter tires in the winter, don't use much in the hot summer

20C is not hot

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mikeysd123@reddit

Winters in summer will wear faster but no real issues. Summers in winter on the other hand….

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SensitiveStart8682@reddit

It will be okay I mean it will put a lot more wear on your winter tires you will need to replace them sooner however beyond that it will be fine

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Cranks_No_Start@reddit

Youre fine. but be a little mindful as in the warmer temps the rubber starts acting a little like jello.

What made my XJ6 so good in the snow with winters was all that overhang putting weight on the tires. In the summer at about 70mph (115 kph) the rear developed a distinct "wag".

They will also wear a lot more, but thats likely the least of your issues.

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Pleasant_Pen8744@reddit

Do people no longer save their old worn out winters to use as their regular tires?

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JimiForPresident@reddit

I always get one last summer out of them when I decide they're done

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dg8882@reddit

They will just wear out faster due to the softer compound. You should really own summer and winter tires if you arent getting all-seasons.

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Professional-Row-612@reddit

i had some studded 14" winters on a old ranger (89) that came on it when i bought it for the great low 2017 price of 700 dollars lol and the ole lil 2.3 would smoke the hell out of em when id dump the clutch in 1st lol eventually they became studless from doing that lmao

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ThirdSunRising@reddit

"In the heat"

A 20 degree day isn't hot. It's room temperature. Not ideal, but you'll be fine.

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jm2jm3@reddit

It's fine. They just wear out faster and generally are noisier than all seasons, which is why we don't use them year round.

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MVmikehammer@reddit

it really depends what tires you have. As in what kind of compound they use.

I once had Chinese Sailun studded winter tires. Subzero snow? Perfect. Subzero ice? Perfect. Anything over 7 defrees Celsius and it didn't grip. Even at low speeds like 25mph, I had to budget an extra 20 feet of braking distance. I caused like 3 low speed accidents because of this.

At the same time studless Goodyear winter tires ( bought used for like 20€ a piece) with minimal tread had no trouble gripping in the cold or at the peak of summer at 30+ Celsius ambient temperature (which really surprised me). Same car in both cases, a 1997 Lincoln Mark VIII

So cheap tires - drive it like an overloaded commercial truck.

Expensive tires - you're good.

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CheMeGreezne@reddit

If they get too hot they can loose their softness and grip for the following winters even though the tread looks fine.

But if it doesn't get too much above 20 and you keep the speed on the lower end, you should be alright.

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Invisible7hunder@reddit

Perfectly fine. Winters just wear out faster in the summer, somewhere between 1.5-2.5x faster in my experience, depending on temperate obviously. That's it.

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kikiacab@reddit

I just completed a 2000 mile round trip on winter tires

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Content-Insect-8770@reddit

You'll just have slightly reduced fuel economy, significantly reduced wet grip, and much more tire wear.

Aside from the reduction in wet grip (slow down in rain more than others), not a safety concern at all.

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Professor_Iron@reddit

It's the temperature of the asphalt that matters. If you are driving through well-shaded roads the surface temperature is possibly around 24-28 °C max - nothing to worry about.
If you were to drive though a hot desert that would hurt the tyre's lifespan more, but 200km is still not the end of the world.
You are fine until around 40 °C surface temperature arrives - above that winter tyres start degrading a lot more than summers. In the 20 °C- 40 °C range you are only losing grip, but not really hurting longevity.

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Cool-Negotiation7662@reddit

The softer compound corners more fun.

The softer compound wears faster.

That is not much driving at all. You will be fine. I once ran a set of used winter tires straight through 2 years. Poor student me.

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Any_Tune_5111@reddit (OP)

they are Nokian winter tires on my 2010 subaru forester

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rudbri93@reddit

Ive driven whole summers on my winter tires, itll be fine.