Fastest cold/wet tire?

A few coworkers and I got into the discussion of what is the fastest DOT legal tire for cold (35-45F), wet, rough b-roads...

What say you, GRM?

I'd venture to say......RE-71R - at least if you were in the upper half of that range. However, when I ran the Star Spec, they felt better in 45-50 degree temps than the RE-71R, so maybe it would be at least even.

In the lower half of that range, approaching freezing, I'd probably say Michelin Pilot Sport 4S.

Thanks for the input, good call w/ the 4S...

I have nothing constructive to add, but someone should develop a tire that excels in cold, wet conditions and name the tire "Dog Nose".

I'd say something like the Pilot Sport A/S 3+. .93g out of an all season is no joke, and it won't be hard as a brick like the 200tw tires.

Something in the realm of the Conti DW or its newer replacement should work well. That level of summer tire will tolerate more cold before going hockey-puck than the 200TW tires will and it's also got more grooves to clear the water out of the way.

Honestly, in above-freezing wet conditions durign the winter I much prefer my Wintersport M4s to the various performance tires I've had (Star specs, RE760s, Azenis). More sidewall flex, but way more grip in cold wetness (car: tuned/setup WRX).

Even though we don't get a ton of rain here and also in the winter it may be in the 20's early in the morning, it'll warm to the fifties in the afternoon...this type of tire has my interest more so than the typical enthusiast summer tire does.

Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote: Even though we don't get a ton of rain here and also in the winter it may be in the 20's early in the morning, it'll warm to the fifties in the afternoon...this type of tire has my interest more so than the typical enthusiast summer tire does.

we have winters that go from 20s to 70s on consecutive days (this area gets really odd weather). The Wintersport M4s perform just as well in dry and warmish weather as they do in the wet/cold/winter weather. Just pointing out that they aren't a "snow tire" with mush sidewall, they're more or less a performance all-season tire with compounds better suited to winter weather (i.e. soft), so they really grip well. Wear is only an issue if you're driving them in summer weather.

I've run RE71's in temps as low as 18 degrees (F) with good results.
They also do wet fairly well, as long as you've got some tread depth left and aren't talking serious standing water.
That being said, I'm looking at a set of Conti ExtremeContact Sports for the upcoming season.
(Ran DWS for my standing water/super cold tire this last season, left time on the table vs the ECS most every occasion)