Cold Tires, Cold outdoor temps, and being careful

[BillyRay]

Boys,
I hate to hear stories about cooler weather accidents!! When the temp is between 32 to 60 degrees, what is your best guess on long to warm tires so they will grip properly????
Here is Az the mornings now are cooler and the driving will be awesome...BUT I dont want any problems with loosing control etc!!
So how do you know when its GO TIME?.........
I have a very ugly black no stripe and I dont want any crackups!!

BillyRay

[shelbyelite]

They are gonna be slick no matter how long you drive unless you are driving agressive and that I dont recommend. Rule of thumb, dont drive agressive in cold weather. Its just not worth it.....

[Kayvan]

Temp / Advice / Consequences
------------------------------

99-60 degrees: 15-20 min, before full power / hard turns; good grip

60-55 degrees: 30 min; limit full power only to straights; some wheel spin / hop

55-45 degrees: 45 min; drive carefully w. slower turns, <65mph; some breaking away

45-40 degrees: 1hr; avoid full power, hard turns, & overtaking <45 mph; some sliding

40-32 degrees: 1hr+; 1st gear only, <35 mph, avoid early am/late pm; full loss of control

<32 degrees: Do not drive / emergency use / flashers <25 mph; probable crash

0-31 degrees: store under cover

[Mullet]

Ok, I just don't understand the below 60 degrees and leave it in the garage thing.

Use some common sense when the temps are lower and HOW you are driving. If you cannot or do not understand what I mean then please sell your GT now and buy a Prius.

[skyrex]

Listen, I would hardly consider myself a timid driver and if anything I have been a bit too bold in my younger days, however this car can put you into that false sense of security zone because of how great it drives in the good weather conditions.

When I first got this car my prime question was why are so many people wrecking them. My GT seemed like the perfect road machine.....and it is. It was more exciting than any other car I have owned, but to me no harder to drive than the other "fun" cars I have had. My wife has driven it a couple of times normally with no problems......except me sitting in the passenger seat biting my tongue.

But one thing I have learned from this Forum, and that I am grateful for, is that people share their bad experiences to prevent the rest of us from having the same problem. I have watched quite a few of Fubar's race vids and this is a member who seems very in tune with his GT and seems to have some driving skill. After I read the compete 100+ post thread about what happened to him a few months ago when this topic came up on the Forum I made a decision for myself. This is an incredible car for good weather. Yes, I am fortunate that I have that kind of weather (except in the mornings this time of year) weekly that I can always get her out a couple times a week. But if I don't I make the choice not to take her out. I have seen too many posts like what happened to the Black GT owner for me to think this is only a driver error problem. You don't see race cars driving in these temps. The GT is a street legal race car and you are taking an unnecessary risk driving in lower temps than the tires (or tyres....right EP ) safely allow. It is the owners choice when to drive their car, but showing a little discretion in cold weather does not constitute a lack of balls.

Just my opinion though......

[MAD IN NC]

After 85 miles of driving on a perfectly sunny day long ago, with absolutley no warning, and obeying the 55 MPH posted speed on a super highway, 10 degree air temp., my car went off road: and I was going in a stright line. What I have been told is that the "leave it in the garage" tipping point is 40 degrees, by some folks in the Detroit area we all know and respect.

Pete S.

here, here - below 40/ no roll!

[DBK]

If it's cold, it's not going to matter how hot your tires (briefly) get because the road surface and hockey puck tires are a bad match.

I think any temp below 60* is bad news for aggressive driving. I've driven my car all the way down in the 20's, and as long as you drive under extreme caution, it won't do anything. You just have to know a mild sweeping turn at 50 mph in a normal car may be catastrophic at 40 in this one. I've driven GT's making well over 1000 hp in 30-40 temps and it's all a matter of knowing even the slightest variation in direction, surface, or throttle can upset the car.

[fjpikul]

I drive mine in the cold all the time. Just don't get on it. Don't let your "friends" talk you into showing off, and NEVER drink and drive this car.

[Not 4N]

Have to agree that the road temp is more important than the tire temp. Even on a nice sunny day the roads won't get to the temp the tires need no matter how long you have turned them.
I learned this the first year I had my car and went for a nice sunny day drive on a cool day and quickly had the car sideways. Called on my years of ice rallying to drive it out straight and ended without incident.


Trent

[atspeed]

I had a scary moment on a day when I never would have expected it. It was a nice afternoon and a friend of mine and I met at Alice's Restaurant at the intersections of 84 and 35 here in the SF Bay Area. We were on our way to Monterey for a track day at Laguna Seca the next day. I had driven at a pretty good pace for about an hour to get to Alice's, then we had lunch and left about an hour later. We were heading towards the coast on 84 not more than a few minutes away from Alice's when all of a sudden I felt the back end of the car start to slide a tiny bit to the right as I was going around a left hand turn. Then as I exited the turn the rear of the car started to drift left into the lane of oncoming traffic. This happens to be a stretch of road that is so overgrown with trees that even on a really bright day, as that day was, the road is always in shadow. Before I knew it, the rear end of the car was completely in the lane of oncoming traffic (thankfully no one was there). It felt like I was back in NY in the winter and driving on ice. No warning no, excessive speed, no throttle lift off, nothing. I had merely been cruising around the corner like I would in any other car at a very reasonable pace. I was quickly able to correct it and get the car going the way I wanted, but it was pretty spooky because of how completely smooth, and unexpected it all was. Plus there were barriers on both sides of the road just waiting for the car to brush (or crash into) them. The next day I was just a bit more timid with the car than I had been on the last track outing because the track was on and off overcast the entire day.

Michael