This morning was the first time this season it has dropped below freezing. I noticed the back end getting a little loose with the Continental "all season" tires. I'm beginning to think that even though they're all season, the compound is still a little soft to handle the cold weather.

I guess this is just a warning for others in the cold areas with the Conti's to be mindful of your driving now that it's getting cold out.

 

Would it be too hard for cold weather ? Just a question... I really wouldn't know as I'm in Southern California and cold to me is 50 degrees... I can count the times on one hand that I have driven in sub-zero weather since 1973... BRRRR !!! Malibu Beach on New Years day...

 

I think it's the softer compound of the high performance tires that causes the problems. Harder compounds are hard anyway - regardless of air/ground temperatures. The soft compound is designed to be sticky within a certain temperature range. When the temperature starts to fall, that compound begins to freeze and stiffen up. This renders the tires ineffective.

I remain convinced that these tires will hold me out all winter. I've got my sand ready.

 

just curious how do the continentals look on the car?

 

They look good?

 

i dont know how they look i want to know

 

They look fine. You probably can't tell them from the PS2's unless you look closely. They're probably better than the PS2's in the snow, but they're not snow tires.
I have the Conti ASP's but I don't plan on driving my Xfire in the snow. If I did, I'd go out and buy real snow tires and rims and change them over in the winter. I think you'll find that there are a few Xfire owners that do that.

 

Today was the first significant snowfall of the season. Let me first get this out of the way....WOAH. The so called "all season" tires should have come with a little disclaimer: "this tire made for all seasons apart from winter." We had about 2 inches of snow and slush on the ground and even going 25mph at constant speed on a straight road the little traction control light was constantly flashing. Power was constantly being cut and I could feel the car trying to right itself. It was definitely weird.

I did have an empty take of gas, however, and no salt in the back. I still remain somewhat confident that added weight over the rear wheels will help quite a bit.

 

I just purchased a 2004 Crossfire and I love it. I drove it yesterday from Minneapolis to Winnipeg (Canada) while the roads were very icy. The Michelin Pilot Sports on the car might as well have been steel - definately no traction. Once I was in my yard I parked it for an hour (outside temp. 8 degrees F) and once I wanted to move it on the snow it would just sit and spin. When I left Minneapolis it was 36F and the tires had plenty of traction, but once it got down to 15F I couldn't stay on the road.

Last week I drove a car with the Continentals in 2-3" of snow and it did quite well all things considered.

 

Your conti's have a wear ratio at 360 which should bring you somewere within 40,000 to 60,000 miles. With that in mind, when it is colder your compound is harder ( less grip ). Your car isn't equipped with the 220 wear ratio ( gum ***** ) which I have understood to give from 6,000 to 15,000 miles prior to replacement.

Rick 333

 

Pipes:
I live in Winnipeg and I didn't see you! All kidding aside though, I have the Continentals and they are pretty good on ice considering our X-fires are front end heavy. Add a few inches of snow and they are not great. I originally thought winter driving was out of the question but have since found I can. Some days better than others. The original Z rated tires on my Lexus were awfull in the snow but the all seasons made a great difference so I can only imagine the difference between the two on the X-fire.
PS: In the road tests on the Mich. tires they complained about them being too sticky for the power available and they would bog. The Cont. will break free at about 3,000 to 3,500 rpm so they may be a good choice anyway for 1/4 mile times?

 

I original posted this in the Crossfire Coupe Wet weather driveing thread, but I thought that I might put me 2 cents worth in here as well about the Continentals on my XF.

We got a dusting of snow on Monday December 13th in Indy and I think every flake that hit the road turned to ice. I was quite pleasantly surprized at the handling of my XF on ice. It was as nimble as a cat (catman....nimble as a...yeah that was on purpose). One interesting note is that as I was setting absoluting still, at a 4-way stop, the traction control light would blink. Apparently my rear wheels would turn on the ice, but it did not kick-out All of the systems to keep me going straight down the road worked fine.

 

I hope to know if a new set of Michelin's will work. I have a set of Pilot Sport A/S tires on order which should be mounted by Dec. 22. These tires are supposed to have a fairly high rating (7 out of 10) for snow and ice conditions.

Might break the bank at $1800 Canadian dollars though...got to have them though.

 

pipes:
I can't say how good the Mich. are however the Continentals seem to get by OK. The dealer ship gave me a price on the Continentals for the back as I had a slice in the tire and they said around $400 Canadian. I would suspect the fronts are cheaper as they are a more common size. I just don't know how they stand up against the Mich. Let us know!
Where in Canada are you from?

 

Bob, I'm from Winnipeg too. We talked the other day. Hope to get the Michelin tires on my car soon - The dealer ordered 2 sets of 19" so I have to wait for the 18''s to come in tomorrow.

 

pipes:
Good to here from you. Call me when you get the Mich. on and let me know how they work. PS got one of the two shop manuals today. Very informative!

 

goodyear eagle F1's are my choice for the wet, but i dont think any tyre is gonna help you in the snow, rear wheel drive, big power,snow = disaster!!!

 

I finally got the Michelin A/S tires mounted onto stock rims - they work much better than the stock summer tires as expected. They are still not "Exceptional Winter Driving Tires" as Michelin states but they work alright. I drove it on Jan. 21/ 2005 and we had about 3" of snow fall that day...it had fairly good traction.

 

Glad to hear that they are OK pipes! Curious why you went to the All Seasons instead of a winter tire like Blizzaks when you already have good summer tires?

 

Have your tires checked for wear. My rear tires are wearing out unusually fast. I am on my second set and they are doing the same thing.