Hello,

I've been unable to find anything concrete on this be it thru viewing the tire manufacturer websites or elsewhere so I figured I would ask here and see if anyone knows. I'm guessing this may be on purpose to help mitigate risk from a legal standpoint but lawyers aside is there information available somewhere that shows or talks about what the ideal/not ideal outside temperatures are while using a tire with a UTQG Rating of "X"?

In other words, if I have a tire with a Treadwear rating of "200" what would the coldest outside temperature condition that this tire should be operated in? Understandably this value will be a bit different depending on brand..etc but it would be an interesting piece of info to keep in your pocket.

From personal experience when using my Potenza RE-11's (275x40x18 squared setup) it seems that they prefer it when its at least 70deg outside. When driving the car in the Sub 60Deg temp range the car can get pretty squirrelly on demand, even at speeds up to 100mph when dropping the throttle.

Granted, ones personal experience with a given tire should be all that is needed here but I'm wondering if anything official has ever been tested/published for general consumption?

Thanks

Some mfgrs will also tell you not to "bounce" their tires when the temperature is lower than 45 degrees, many just say "X" pressure when cold..."cold"..uhhmmm OK, what is "cold"?
Based on your numbers and the recent article I wrote, the pressure at 60 degrees is at least 1 PSI less than at 70, factor in some humidity and it could be 1.5 to 2 psi low. That would make a difference, For years I based my PSI/Temp numbers on ambient temp, recently I've factored in the track temp as well, when racing at night, when the drivers are not charging the corners and the car is going 150 in 40 degree air on a 35 degree track, you may have to add up to 3 or more pounds of air to compensate.
If you think about it, the stickier the tire the better adhesion it should give at a lower operating temp compared to a tire that is not as sticky, I don't think you will find a clear demarcation between a tire that is over 200 compared to one based under 200 because there are so many factors to consider, tread design, depth of tread (which leads to squirm, which actually heats the tire up) sidewall design and composition, a new tire compared to an old one.
I just don't think there is a specific answer to your question.

Thanks for your reply.

The info you provided is good to know. I will have to poke around with my tire pressure gauge over the next few days and see what my numbers look like at various points of the day to see how outside temp is effecting my tire.

Thanks

I think Rob has you covered. I'm only aware of specific tire model warnings to not use below Xº type ratings. AFAIK, they haven't been related to treadwear ratings except in a general sense.

From my own personal experience, you can use most tires anywhere above freezing provided time is taken to 'build' heat into them. High desert tracks are often in the 30s when I roll in. Coldest I recall running was in the lower 50s, or upper 40s.

Exactly, building temp is crucial, look how many car end up in the tire wall at pit exit during the daytona 24.