A few years ago at WTD, it snowed at the end. We drove out on our new-ish S02s.

Can be done, but not fun.

 

Goodyear F1 AS are darn good. You will not have the ultimate grip of the summer shoes but ... those shoes can turn to skates depending on temp, age, and moisture. I just did the seasonal switch to the f1 AS and can drive the car with confidence when pushing the chassis. Be safe, don't lose any sleep, and know that you will still have the full toolbox of car control maneuvers available to play with .. No they're not summer tires but they won't spoil the party either.
Be safe and have fun!
Gary

 

it was 0*C this morning on the way to work. Made it with re050 PP's no problem and the rears are below wear bar bald! I tried to make it slip a little around a few corners and they were sticking a lot more than anticipated!

the roads were mostly dry though, just don't drive like an idiot and you will have no problems.

ps, my car is going away for the winter at the end of the week

 

right now in chicago its about 40 and ive been driving on oem re050 and the tail starts to slip when i reach about 3.5 to 4k during a turn.. maybe that could be a bit of insight on that its not that safe in below freezing temps.

 

Does exposing them to those sort of temps change the properties of the rubber permanently?

 

No, only R-compounds are like that.

 

I think most of the replies you are getting are guys who have driven in the cold weather but not necessarily on RE-01R's.

I have RE-01R's and have driven them in the temperatures you are describing. If it means anything, I put my winter shoes on when we hit 50F here in Toronto (last week in October).

The RE-01R's are pretty lousy in cold weather. Close to freezing I could not tell if the tires had warmed up after driving about 10KM. Rain made things worse. That being said, you can drive them no problem - you just won't be getting "maximum performance" ... and if you drive them hard like you would do on warm days, you will get yourself into trouble fast.

Your original post said that you are looking for maximum performance. If that is the case, swap them out for your other tires in that kind of weather.

 

Depending on the compound used on the tire - low temperatures could potentially damage street tires too. Rule of thumb is that if it's going to be around freezing temperature..it is time to put the A/S tires on and store the RE01R's indoors in a plastic bag.

Last thing you want is rubber cracking from low temperatures (below freezing) that can catch us by surprise over night.

 

I've driven on RE-01Rs (near bald ones at that) many times in freezing temps. You just have to be aware of the conditions and take it easy.

That being said, I've been in a M5 on near bald summers in the snow (wasn't expecting snow/ice) on the Dragon...just take it easy and you should be okay.

 

Drove last week to work it was 32 out. With the re-01r's no problem. I was actually surprised with the amount of grip it had in the cold. Much better then the S-02's.

Obviously, not the grip you would have in the summer time, which is much higher then I'm willing to go on the street.