Cold tires = end swap in 355

Coming home from Dinner last Sat night I turned on to my street at normal speed (well - for my 355) a flat 45 degree turn at about 30mph and the car did a 180 in what seemed like a patch of ice. The car wound up in the other lane facing the light!
I had only traveled about 2 miles from the restaraunt and since it was about 30 degrees out I guess the tires (brand new p-Zero's) had not warmed up and were hard. Thankfully nobody was in the other lane or the passenger seat. The only damage was some soiled boxers!

Anyone else dumb enough to have this happen?

Richard

 

I had a similiar experience in a 95 355 Spider on Topanga Cyn road a few years back. I was going down hill at a reasonable speed (honest) and the back out came around. Fortunatly, no one else was around and I caught it pretty quickly. I blamed it on my Michelin Pilots and switched to Bridgestone something or others. I actually don't know if the tires were the issue. I think it's "a mid-engine kind-a-thing"

Rudy

 

I have taked to a few people, they all blame the car...

But really, it is the fact that the tires are not warmed up at all, and at that temperature probably will never get to operating temp.

Heck race slicks will even crack when rolling at low temps.

It is the same with motorcycles.
I took my bike out of the garage one day and tried to make a turn, the bike decided otherwise.

So all i can say is take it slow when it is cold.

Good luck

 

Bringing this thread back alive.

Remember it's getting cold out there and tires are going to be hard. I lost the back end today just out of my community. This is the first cold season I've had in the car and I didn't expect it to be that loose. There is a big difference with changes in tire temps.

So this is your reminder ------- Let 'em warm up.

 

almost had this happen on drive home from picking my car up 3 yrs ago. cold january day with worn 8 yr old tires but i think driver error also involved esp if down shifting into turn and not matching revs can cause spin.

 

Warm day cold night = possible condensation on the road. This is the worst type of condition, as it will bring oil to the surface, just like a fine rain. That is my guess. i imagine it won't happen again -. the spin, the boxer problem is just part of the fcar experience

 

The setup that makes a Ferrari handle "like a Ferrari" makes for a very enjoyable car under the right conditions, but you have to make allowances when conditions are poor.

Don't feel bad about it, it's been a relatively painless learning experience.

 

Try the Michelin Pilot Sports PS2. A little softer rubber and good cold weather traits.

 

You said "brand new P-Zeros".

How brand new were they?

New tires tend to be EXTREMELY greasy for the first 400-500 miles of use, and this is accentuated in extreme weather conditions (cold, wet, etc.). This is regardless of the make of tire.

Perhaps this was your problem?

 

Dave is absolutly correct, new tires can be slippery until scrubbed a bit.

 

i had the back end come around on a canyon road once in my F355

i wasn't goin' too fast either

must not have had the tires warm
or
some dirt on the road
not sure
but scared the crap out of me as well

 

The tires were not that new. I learned that lesson in 1975 in my '68 Camaro - brand new tires and going around a corner - severe understeered into a phone pole. Gee that car would be worth today......


Cheers,

R

 

I had the same thing happen to me twice the first week I had my 98 355 spider. Turned out that the tires were severely worn on the inside edge (like belts showing) but because of the heavy camber on the car the outer edge looked nice and fresh.

I guess the belts had worn through on the drive home from buying the car (~1000 miles) since they weren't evident when I picked the car up, but be aware that you can't visually inspect the condition of 355 tires without getting down where you can see all the way across the tread.

Also, as others mentioned, with brand new tires it takes a few hundred miles before the mold-release compounds get worn off the surface. Until then, even the best tires can seem very dicey. Be GENTLE on new tires!

 

I know someone who tried to be cute in his 360 coupe in February and almost paid dearly.

He was on a two-lane highway; upon approaching a slight turn, he accelerated. He then ended up doing a couple of spins until he landed on the grass on his side of the road. Luckily there was only grass around.

He blamed the car. He calls the car "dangerous."

No, it's not the car. The tires were cold. He was only 2 miles from his starting point, at which the car had been sitting for a while.

Please remember this: PERFORMANCE TIRES ARE NOT MADE FOR THE WINTER!

Even if the tires are warm, performance tires are not designed to grip the road in cold temperatures. The rubber composites are just not designed for that purpose. That's why they're called "summer" tires.

PLEASE BE CAREFUL IN THE COLD! Don't be cute in the winter time... you don't really need to accelerate around that turn.

 

A good rule of thumb is to use wintertires below 7 C (45 F).
They can be M+S tires or even snow tires - the important thing is that the rubber compund is designed for the lower temps

 

i had the back end step out on my focus (hey - it's a momentum car!). Hit the inside shoulder HARD. Now I don't have a focus.

Careful on cold wet nights especially when you think you know the turn well.

 

Temperature has an effect on grip, but also on pressure, did you check if your tire pressure is ok ? Cold weather means significant decrease in tire pressure.
I would not expect under-inflated tires to result in such snappy handling, but can certainly testify that over-inflated tires (high temp, track use) can make the 355 overly tail happy.

I also had a "moment" once in my 550 coming on from the washing station, the soap had made the PZeros amazingly slippery.

 

Check your 4 wheel alignment. When I first got my '96 355B, I had handling problems, rear end coming around. The alignment was way off. When reset to ferrari specs, the car behaved perfect...