Is my tire toast?
 

Just noticed this today, must have been from a pot hole or some debris on the road... No puncture, looks like it's just a chunk of the rubber that's been taken out, drove home about 50 miles and damaged area didn't get bigger...

These are the stock tires... I'm in NJ so was planning on switching over to winter tires mid / end of November.

Does this kind of damage pose any real danger?

Should I bite the bullet and just switch to winter tires now (temperatures right now are low 60's mid 50's as a high and then mid 40's as low... with random spikes of "hot" 70 days and cold sub 40 days)?

Get a new one and do is soon. Side wall damage like that is not repairable and could blow at any time. Don't screw around with it.

This.

x3

You guys suck... (j/k)

For my knowledge though, what is the real risk here - just that, that area of the tire is now weaker and much more susceptible to damage / failure?

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Also is it too early for winter tires? I keep reading that weather tires typically function best in temperatures under 45 degrees (Fahrenheit) .

I went over to weather.com and here are the average temperatures for the next two weeks:

High: 60.9 F
Low: 41.2 F

The following week for which they only have historical data (Week of Nov. 8th) is around:

High: 56 F
Low: 36 F

Yeah, the sidewall is way more likely to fail.

For what it's worth, I'm waiting for the high temps to drop below 50F, which looks like it might be the first or second week of November this year. Ideally, I'd push it off as late as possible (like the day before forecasted snow, provided it isn't freezing overnight), but I have to order the winter tires in, so there has to be a bit of a lead time to account for.

Ok, sounds like what I was planning to do is essentially what you are doing so at least I had the right approach...

I might just order the snows and keep the car garaged for a week or two now before putting them on =(

Definitely unfixable.

In fact if you were to take your car to a tire place for them to evaluate, IF they had the wheel off they would not be allowed to put it back on and let you leave with it.

I'd get the snows sooner rather than later. This is not like a nail leak, where it's gradual. When this pops most likely sidewall will be under pressure and it will be quick, possibly causing loss of control. Your not only gambling your life, but others as well.

For the sake of an extra week or so on the winter as opposed to sudden and possibly catastrophic side wall failure just change now.

Point taken, I think I will look into ordering the winters and installing ASAP.

I went to a shop who didn't seen to think it was that concerning (given the depth which doesn't show well in the picture), but it's probably better to not play with fire...
Better to be safe than sorry.

Junk it. Its done. Safety first yo! Dont let it get worse and damage your rim!

Any sidewall damage is not recomended for repair.

Tcoat you do a long commute right? Do you have any recommendations for snow tires for 50 - 100 mile a day light snow driving?

Since I'm an accountant, I'll probably be working 6 days a week January - March which at 100 miles a day comes out to roughly 7,200 miles (if I were to drive the FR-S every day - which won't be the case as I am going to try bum Honda Pilot / Toyota Corolla off parents when it's doable for them) just going to and from work (which I guess is all I do during those 3 months anyway :lol:)...

Just about any winter tire will work equally well just stay away fro "performance" snow tires. I went with 16/205/55 on steel rimes and they worked well.