Winter -> Summer Tires: Questions
 

Hopefully some tire experts can explain this to me.

I had winter tires (17" steel rims with Toyo Garits) since October and just had them taken off and my summers (stock 18") put back on.

Now here's what I've noticed:
- the steering feels harder (more force is required) which makes the car seem "heavier"...it's not as nimble as it was before, but once I do get the car turning it seems quite agile...almost twitchy
- it's a lot harder to drive in a straight line, takes more concentration...depending on the angle of the road the car pulls to the left or right
- I've already scraped the stock rims AGAIN parallel parking...I never did this once with the winter tires (how unfair!)...what's the deal with that?
- I hear more road noise

Could someone explain why I've noticed these things? I've gotta admit...I never thought I'd say this but I actually *miss* the winter tires!

More grip = harder to turn when going slow.
lower profile w/stiffer sidewall = tramlining, more road noise and vibration, quicker turn in.
bad luck = curbing. :(

I'd have to agree with Dark8 on this one. I've experienced this both times I switched wheels from winter to summer.

First time, I thought there was something wrong with my car, but after a couple days you'll soon realize that the winter wheels/tires just made the car more numb.

Same here. I have Pirelli Wintersport 240's for my snow tires and they spoiled me. Very nice, quiet ride compared to my Potenza's. I never realized how noisy they are. Potenza's have great dry grip but they suck in everything else. Tire Rack's "owners opinion" section on this tire is full of disgruntled people who bought this tire and were not impressed.

I've observed the same thing and the following blurb from tirerack.com makes sense:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=47

From this thread: http://rx8web.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=12879
...I was paranoid that my tires might be on the wrong sides of my car...

So I checked the tires and all the "directional" arrows on the sidewalls are pointing clockwise, when looking at the tire. Is this how they're supposed to be?

I have the stock Dunlops, btw.

1. seams heavier because you were used to the lighter 17's. putting the stock rims back on give you more unsprung weight making the car seem heavier. also, grippier tires make it harder to turn at slower speeds (as mientioned before)
2. lower profile tires causes the car ride more harsh making it feel more 'jittery.' thus making the car 'pull' when riding over slightly bumpy roads.
3. again, bigger/wider wheels giving you less space against things like curbs. i think its mostly driver error ;)
4. different tread pattern. pretty much all performance based tires produce more road noise than a typical radial or snow tire.

everything you are experiencing is normal

as long as the arrows are pointing in the direction that the wheel spins, you are ok. clockwise is correct.

Ok, thanks joseight! :) I guess I'm just overreacting for no reason...

shouldnt it be clockwise on the passenger side, and counterclockwise on the drivers side?

You are correct.

Are you guys serious?? So what is it?? Some people say all tires having the arrow clockwise is normal, some say it's not...

Can someone else with the stock Dunlops let me know?

BTW, I think the tire pressure was mostly to blame. I went from ~30 to 36 and the ride is much better now.

They're rotation arrows. They should point in the direction the tire will rotate. Unless you drive predominantly in reverse, that means arrows on the driver's side should have the arrows pointing counter-clockwise and arrows on the passenger side should be going clockwise.

i bought some snow radicals and they work great.....it really made a difference in the snow but on ice, any car is screwed

Exaxtly the same here. Hopefully I'll regain some confort when I change my summer tyres for Dunlop SP9000 later this week.
Note also that you'll get use to it again soon.

F

Ok, that makes sense, but are you sure the stock Dunlops are rotational tires? Do you have the stock Dunlops? Can someone, anyone, with these tires please go check your car? All this heresy and different opinions isn't helping...

If all the arrows go clockwise when looking at the tires, that would mean that in order for some to go counterclickwise on one side of the car, the tires will have to be flipped *on the rims*. So I doubt the dealership would have done this, which leads me to believe the tires have always been wrong...or have they?

:(

By the way, the arrow I'm referring to is the little arrow in the Dunlop logo (http://www.dunloptire.com/)

Can't I just look at the tread pattern and see if it's going in the same direction on all tires?

I have the Bridgestones. I don't even know if the Dunlops are directional. If they are, the rotation arrow is not the Dunlop logo...there would be a separate arrow that says "rotation" under it, most likely.

Chitballs. :(

I'm still getting used to the tramlining and more precise steering with the summer Potenzas back on... on the way back from the dealer I freaked out when it started pulling hard right because a rut in the road. It's amazing the difference the different rubber compounds make (my winters are also 18", using the same OEM rims).

Tire Rotation Direction
 

This is important,

Forgive me for feeling this is a wind-up. Most high performance summer tires are unidirectional. As you noted, there is a directional arrow on the sidewall. At all 4 wheels it is essential that the arrow points in the direction of tire rotation (counter-clockwise as you look at the wheel!!) if anybody has two that point the other way, it means the ass_ole who mounted those tires to the rims had no clue of what he/she was doing. They got it 50% right only. The two where the arrow points the wrong way need to be taken off the rims, turned around and remounted onto those rims so the the arrow which is currently on the inside, becomes the arrow on the outside..and lo and behold, one will find it points in the right direction.

Final point - high performance treads are designed as unidirectional for grip and water clearance reasons. Lots of complex physics, mechanics and all sorts of wierd contact patch science going on down there.

If anyone finds they have two tires rotating the wrong way, i`d suggest a rapid re-visitation tothe place that mounted them to get them fixed.

Good luck

Tom

Thanks for your comments, Tom.

What about the tire TREADS? All mine are pointed in the same direction, yet all my arrows (near the Dunlop logo...heck these might not even be directional arrows) point *clockwise* when looking at each tire.

Still confused here...

Dredging up an old thread but at least I searched :)

Changed from my 17inch Conti winter tires yesterday back to by OEM 18 Potenzas and really thought I had screwed something up. Just felt so twitchy and heavier to turn. Apparently this is normal.

I also noticed that they only had 26 psi in them after storing them for winter and I put them up to 31 psi.

Just in case any other new owner's were wondering the same as me I figured I'd post here instead of making a new thread.

Does the original poster have pix of his car with the *steel* winter wheel/tires on it? I bet that looks crazy...