A frequent concern we hear from customers is about tire noises. We’re going to describe a scenario, and you can decide if it sounds like something you’ve experienced.
During cold months, when your car is parked, if you crank the wheel sharply to either side and then give it some gas, you might hear a rhythmic clunking sound and feel the car lurch. To the untrained ear, it would sound like the tire is rubbing against the inside of a tire well. Observe:
Many Porsche owners bring their cars in to be serviced thinking that their tires are making contact with the body of the car, which would of course be concerning.
An official memo from Porsche, however, explains that this phenomenon (actually called, “Tire scrubbing”) actually involves no contact between your tires and your car. Simply put, your car is fine.
The low-profile performance tires that give you so much grip in the warm months don’t give much grip at all in the cold. The fact that they have such a low-profile means that they can’t bend as much, which means that when the wheel is turned sharply, instead of gripping the road they grate harshly against it. That harsh grating is basically slippage, like when you slam on the brakes and you can feel the car slip as it skids to a stop.
When you have the wheel turned sharply and the tire grates against the road, the rigidity of the tires scraping the road creates the rubbing noise, and the energy from the grating travels through the suspension all the way up to the steering wheel so that you feel it in your hands.
Therefore, this is another great season to use winter tires in the cold seasons and performance tires in the summer, particularly with snow possibly upon us this week. The higher-profile winter tires are designed to grip in the cold, and will be much more effective at driving your Porsche. Plus, it saves your low-profile performance tires from wasting tread on conditions it was never meant to handle.
Stop by Leith Porsche and we’d be glad to talk more about winter options. Drive safe!
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