When I referred to a "cold tire" I am talking about not warmed up.

My R1Rs are absolutely shit when at ambient 60F temperature.

I've been running 205/50/15 595RSRs for a long time. They seem decent in all conditions - do well in the wet, a little less grippy in the cold (temps around freezing) compared to warmer weather, but not to the extent that you think they are trying to kill you at every corner. I can't remember how many miles I've put on them (car was off the road for a few years) but they are wearing well. I'd certainly get another set - it's just a shame that I can't get them any wider than 205!

I like my Dunlop DZ102s.. Quiet and grippy. On my second set.

I've been very happy with my SM7's on the street, except when it's raining on the Cherohala Skyway.

Since my current Miata has always been a city-commuter car, I stopped buying the Potenza RE-series which were my mainstay tire in CA and FL, and have been running Direzza DZ102s (460 TW) on it in summer. They do very well in the rain, and are functional down into the 40s in spring and fall. I expect they'd probably overheat quickly if exposed to any kind of serious AutoX use on a warm day in Florida, but as an inexpensive "anything but snow" commuter performance tire, they're good bang for the buck.

Wow, thanks again everyone for all of the suggestions and insight. I'll comb through all of the tires mentioned here and try to make an informed decision.
I'm most likely going to go for a 200tw tire and swap back to the stockers with all seasons when the real cold weather hits. "real cold" is only just below freezing here.

I do have a few last questions for the council. Say I buy 200tw tires and use them in colder weather (~40s). Will that cause them to simply have less grip since they can't get up to operating temps?
Would it be considered unsafe to do this? Lastly, would it ruin the tire to run them in ~40 degree weather?

I apologize for the ignorance. As I stated in the OP, this is my first time shopping for tires that aren't typical all seasons.

Edit - After searching a bit, it seems that it's okay to use summer tires in cool weather (40-50). Less grip seems to be the only result.

Be careful, especially with newer design tires. The competition for high performance tires is pretty fierce, and they're pulling out the stops making sticky summer tires at the expense of all-around performance. Many of the manufacturers warn of potential tire damage in low temps.

Example warning from TireRack's site for Conti ECS:

I appreciate the warning Roda, I will definitely read more of the fine print for each tire before purchasing. The coldest temp I'd use the summer tires (most likely 200tw) would be 40-50, and the stock all seasons for anything colder than that.
If 40-50 degrees means less grip but not at an unsafe level, that's fine. if it's unsafe or can/will damage the tire, that's a different story. If this is a dumb idea, please chime in and call me a noob. I'll reconsider in a heartbeat.

These. All day long.

I've been running them on my 2.5 NC this season and have been thoroughly impressed with everything they can do. I've used them in low temperatures in the rain, done thousands of hard mountain driving miles, and even did a track day at AMP.

I actually wound up placing an order for the Conti ECS. So far everyone has great things to say about them. I'm excited to get them mounted on my new wheels and see what they're about.

Great choice. The S.Drives are a good second, but the Contis are my personal favorites. I've driven them on more car models than I can count, good across the board. I put them on my wife's G37 as soon as I had an excuse.

I've been using Sport Comp2's. They have a little stiffer sidewall than the S-Drives, but do well overall with plenty of grip without getting into too much trouble ;) Though they only come in 195. It's a "wide" 195, but it causes a little stretch on my 15x8's unfortunately.

I too have this. Driving through Vail Pass, coming in from Grand Junction and headed back to Denver, a light snow storm greeted me as I exited the Johnson Tunnel (East Bound) on I-70.

I was a bit shooked up, because I've read so much about the Contis not liking cold weather. Good grief! FOr the 12 miles or so that I drove on snow/sleet, the Contis behaved AWESOME! I mean, no I would not want to make a habit of driving them on snowy roads and that storm moved up on me by a good 6 hours, meaning it arrived earlier than forecasted, but still; it was a great relief to feel that the tire was outperforming recommended parameters!

I remember vividly making the exact opposite drive.

In a Penske 16' box truck.

With a car-hauler hitched up behind it carrying my NA.

In January.

In a blizzard.

At night.

After I'd passed several flashing signs saying "Trucks must use tire chains," and thinking "I rented this truck in Florida, with a destination of San Diego, and stupidly decided to visit FM on the way. I do not have tire chains."

Darn. I bet that once you came out of the Ford Tunnel (west bound) and saw the way down to Frisco, your truck cab got really smelly, FAST!

Visibility was maybe 50' feet that night. I couldn't see the next turn, much less Frisco.

As I was leaving Denver, I recall thinking "Maybe I should stop here for the night. The weather kind of sucks. And, yet, I've still got a few hours of daylight ahead of me..."

I did not appreciate at the time how little there is west of Denver in terms of accomodations.

I remember being passed by a convoy of three tandem-tanker trucks which I judged to be going suicidally fast. An hour or two later, I passed them. Two were stopped on the shoulder, one was down in a gulley, and I remember thinking "They're going to need a crane to get that out. After the snow melts."

My biggest problem was that the headlights on the Penske truck had apparently been aimed with the cargo box empty and no weight on the hitch. Thus, they were useful that night mostly for illuminating the snow ten feet above the road, rather than the road itself. I actually experimented with turning them off, and found that the moonlight was a more useful guide at times.

About an hour after sunset, a tractor-trailer (wearing chains) crept past me at about 15 MPH. That's 15 MPH total, not that he was going 15 MPH faster than me. His forward-facing lights were like staring into the face of God, and he seemed to be driving cautiously and skillfully. As soon as he merged back, I got right into his draft, following the clean-ish trail left by his tires, and stayed on his tail until I reached a turn-off into a little ski resort town a couple hours later. Can't remember the name of the town, but I found a rustic little motel where I paid an unreasonably large amount for a room which resembled a hunting lodge (faux-log-cabin walls, deer-antler chandelier, the whole nine yards), and got the best nights' sleep of my life.

Although I wasn't carrying a CB at the time (which is weird, as I usually did in that era), I like to think that the driver of that truck knew he'd helped out a guy who was way out of his league.

Yeah, no hotels between Denver and Silverthorne. And it sounds as if you stayed in the Beaver Creek/Cooper Mntn area, as all other ski areas have large resorts. But my observations are post 2010, as that was the time that I got to Colorado, and I have no idea which year you drove through.

One thing though, chain enforcement is a lot more common this days. They're like hawks over a deer carcass!

I just looked up an old thread I'd made during the tip. "The Journey West."

It was Georgetown, CO, pretty close to the area you spec'd. The hotel is presently called "Americas Best Value Inn", but I think it had a different name back then. This was Jan 2010.

Photos from Gmaps:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ba984e599e.png

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c1a427a05c.png

Pretty much exactly how I remember it. I have never in my life been so glad to see an overpriced motel.

Nah, Georgetown is by Keystone Resort, which is pretty small. Georgetown is within the boundaries of the Pike National Forest, and it is actually before one takes the tunnels, when heading westbound. Mount Evans, Beirstadt, Torreys and Greys are all within a 20 mile radious of Georgetown. They are all 14'ers.