OK--How long to warm tires to avoid a crackup?

[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.....

 

[GTNJ]

I have a very ugly black no stripe

:eek :eek :eek :eek




--

 

[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

 

[Empty Pockets]

It's not just a function of the TIRE temps ("tyre" for Neilda!). It's the temp of the road surface as well (if memory serves). It's been stated on several posts around here that, generally, if the temps are below 60* - just leave her in the darn garage.:frown (Otherwise, you might get away with pretending you're driving a Yugo...:bored)

 

[BillyRay]

Wow good info..thats what I was looking for............B

 

[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.

 

[donnymac]

You are asking a question that pros have a hard time answering. The variables are huge even before power is injected into the equation. For both tire and road there are friction interface coefficients, surface and internal temp differentials etc and the physics change with each psi and degree change.

It ain't simple. Just be cautious.

 

[Empty Pockets]

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.

See Kayvan's post above and mebbe you'll see why I said ya might as well leave her in the garage...:biggrin :cheers

Basically, the tires just don't grip well at all in lower temps whether you're talking about breaking, cornering, or whatever. You really DO have to pussyfoot around. (And God help you if you need to panic stop for some reason.) A couple 'members have 'crunched' their GT's while driving 'em in cold temps (maybe they'll chime in here). The slightest bit too much power in an otherwise "no sweat", common, ordinary, everyday situation, and, "...Hello? GT guys?".

Isn't worth taking the car out in cold temps 'far as I'm concerned.

 

[kmillen]

See Kayvan's post above and mebbe you'll see why I said ya might as well leave her in the garage...:biggrin :cheers

Sorry EP but I have to go after you on this one...

In EP's case, just blame the poor tire traction as your reason to keep your car inside your garage at all times.

It never gets above 60 in Washington does it EP???:thumbsup

 

[BillyRay]

Drivers who have wrecked...

I,d like to hear from the guys who took their cars out on the sunny/clear day and all of a sudden...Bang...
I sure these guys have driven for many years and maybe its the mid engine thing? I don't know but here in AZ I feel its prime time for some GT fun BUT...I don't want to be a statistic!!!!!!!!

 

[Pete S.]

40 degrees !

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.

 

[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. :lol

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 :eek 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 :biggrin) 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......:cheers

 

[Indy GT]

Very well said Skyrex!
Use discression......a lot of discression....

 

[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!

 

[nota4re]

It's not just a function of the TIRE temps ("tyre" for Neilda!). It's the temp of the road surface as well (if memory serves). It's been stated on several posts around here that, generally, if the temps are below 60* - just leave her in the darn garage.

Yes, there are a lot of variables to account for as the temp drops - and a very significant one is the amount of HP that the GT can generate on a cold day. In the past, much has been discussed about Ford's aggressive factory programing to pull timing in the presence of high ambient and high air inlet temperatures. On a cold day, the ECU is letting the gal have her legs and this, combined with colder tires and surfaces, CAN be a recipe for disaster.

There can be a very large difference in the power ouput of a blown engine between a hot day with ECU-dictated timing retard and a nice cool day with the ECU content to let the timing fly.

Be careful out there!

 

[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.

 

[roger1197]

:thumbsdow

Yesterday here in Blighty at 7.00 am air temp was -2C :ack

Took the GT and the Roush for a very English "Breakfast Run" for a meet with friends for early morning tea and a full English!!! :thumbsup

The GT was a handful, cold "tyres", damp road surface, frozen road surface, freezing fog, we coped by nursing the big pedal.
The Roush was much better but still got wild in the frozen country lanes, by lunchtime the fog had cleared, the sun was warm and skies clear, the roads were dry but on leaving the diner she still spun & snaked in 1st, 2nd, 3rd &
4th at a conservative throttle.

Be very careful!!!!!!!!!!!


:cheers

 

[Empty Pockets]

Sorry EP but I have to go after you on this one...

In EP's case, just blame the poor tire traction as your reason to keep your car inside your garage at all times.

It never gets above 60 in Washington does it EP???:thumbsup

It gets above 60* often enough to put 758.2 miles on 1079! :biggrin

 

[Chris A.]

With all this talk of caution I've decided to put these on my car until Spring shows up.