The '17/'18 Winterpocalypse Tire Thread!!!
 

Seeing how things are starting to cool down a little and Winter is Coming (Damn, what a great episode this past weekend :lol:) I figured I'd start a new winter tire thread, so we've got a place to answer questions, help noobs, and discuss various topics related to winter tires.

For those new to the platform, or those veterans who are still ignorant, I will state that:
If you live somewhere that sees any measurable amount of snow, you should absolutely have winter tires!

Beyond that, it doesn't even need to snow where you live. The biggest factor that affects tires in the winter is temperature. If you are consistently seeing temperatures below 40° F (that's 5° C for you freedom hating non-'Muricans) in the winter, it's wise to have winter tires as well. Below those temps, the rubber compound in summer tires will get very hard and lose grip. It's kinda like driving around on hockey pucks, which is a bad idea.

Now that that's out of the way, I've got something a bit more fun to talk about. Up to this point, I've been using Blizzak WS-80s every winter. Living in the Chicagoland area and traveling quite a bit around the Great Lakes region in the winter my tires tend to get quite a workout, and not just in the normal commuting kinda way...

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...vzosehmbjr.jpg

Winter rallycross is easily some of the most fun I've ever had in a car.

My current WS-80s are down to ~50% tread, making them effectively all-seasons. So I'll be selling those and getting a new set of tires. After hearing lots of great reviews and riding along in a few cars on General Altimax Arctics, I've decided to switch to those. The $100 difference in price to the WS-80s makes the performance-to-cost benefit is just too good to pass up.

However, in perusing the Tire Rack website today I discovered that General has a new winter tire out, the Altimax Arctic 12.

https://www.tirerack.com/images/tire..._12_pdptrd.jpg

Anyone have experience with these yet? Based on some limited research it sounds like they were released in February to select Canadian tire distributors. I'd be interested in hearing feedback on them, as they've piqued my interest. If nobody has tried them yet, perhaps I'll be the guinea pig.

Not really commenting on the Altimax Arctic 12 but had some questions regarding winter tires. I live in the Northwest which hardly sees any snow. Our winters are fairly mild with rain and temps ranging from 20*F to 50*F. Should I just get all-seasons or would it be worth investing in winter tires? Snow is almost a non-factor. We see snow only once or twice a year.

I'd like to get a new set of diggers to replace my current Conti Winter ExtremeContacts, as they're 4 seasons old now and starting to get a bit more worn than ideal for a winter tire, but I might have to go one more season on them. I'll be interested to see how the new Altimax fares..

All seasons do everything, but just mediocre. If you have the space to store them, get a dedicated winter wheel/tire package because of your temp range, and then run a more dedicated performance tire in the summer. For just a little extra work of swapping wheels/tires around twice a year, you'll have better performance in all conditions.

Honestly I would get all seasons with that temp range and no snow. I have owned Blizzak WS50,70 and 80s and they all handle like garbage at 50*

Well this is really interesting! I was planning on a fresh set of Arctics for my BRZ this year as well. I ran my old Forester size Arctics on 16" RS wheels the first year, and it was fantastic. Sadly, they were leftovers and didn't have a ton of tread. I was not impressed by the leftover tread taken from my wifes Impreza sized continental extreme winter contacts, so those got roasted as dorifto tires.

Time for a fresh set this year, I'll be looking into the Arctic 12 as well as the old school arctic for a suitable replacement! I'd like to go with the Forester size if they are available as well, I like the tall sidewalls and dash of clearance!

Are the more consistently near the lower or higher end of that range?

IMO it's always best to do two sets of wheels/tires if you have a winter that isn't suited to summer tires. You'll get to enjoy your car much more in both seasons with properly suited tires. "No-seasons" leave you feeling pretty "meh" all the time. But if it's more often in the 40-50 range, all-seasons might be suited to your use.

I have ran the General Altimax Arctics for two winters now, they are glorious on deep and/or fresh snow, decent on ice. They seem durable for a winter tire, considering I spend most of my time sideways during winter. Tires are at around 70% thread now, non studded:

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...6d&oe=5A2C9E3F

By 50 deg you should already be swapping over to the performance tires. At 20 deg, the performance tires will equally handle like garbage, so to make having two sets of tires be useful means you need to actually do the work and swap them when you're supposed to.

Edit: and even if the majority of your winter precipitation is rain and not snow, just look at that tread design and the generous siping...all that means great wet weather management.

Hmm. Nokians?

If I could get them for a lot less than ~$900 a set I'd definitely buy some Hakkapeliitta R2s lol

R2? Studded hakkas 8! :) (if for anything like in your 1st pic)

Can't run studs on the roads in Chicago, and if I was gonna use studded tires for ice racing I'd build a set like the guy with S2K I race with has.

http://blog.365racing.net/wp-content...150304_913.jpg

I would say its closer to the higher end. 40 is probably a good average. It only gets towards the low end on mornings so only a brief cause for concern on my drive to work.

Michelin X-Ice Xi3 have great cold weather, dry road handling and great braking on ice. Blizzaks have very soft compound in the cold and bad handling on cold dry road but will stop for you. The tire seems to roll over onto itself during turns and fast ramps. However, they are excellent choice for our cars for areas with lots of snow since the tread pattern is chunky. Probably the best tires if you never want to get stuck in snow (blizzaks).

With regards to tires for area with little to no snow all winter. I would go for Michelin X-Ice Xi3 and take off max performance summers or stocks when weather is below 7degC.

-Z

Unfortunately it is pretty normal in Minnesota to have a 50 degree day sandwiched between two 10 degree days. I have learned to just keep the snows on a little longer than I'd like to prevent getting caught in an april snowstorm with summers on.

In my All season recommendation I was still assuming it was a second tire set. Summer tires in summer and all seasons on during the mild winter.

You should consider running a performance oriented all-season tire in winter and dedicated summer tire for the warmer weather.

Going to put this out here. I'm not trolling by posting this.






I currently daily my widebody boosted 86. I've gone thru two winters being just on stock body without many hiccups running blizzaks.




Question is now that I'm on a widebody set up, do I treat it the same way as I would normally? just get wider tires to compliment the new set up?




I read somewhere that you generally want to go down a size on the rim size and width? can anyone confirm?

Well, do you want it to look good or perform well? If you're after good winter weather performance, bolt on a set of 205/55-16 winter diggers. They'll look weird in a widebody, but I'd rather get some odd looks than slide into a tree in slush/snow.


I suppose you could get spacers to push the skinny wheels/tires out a bit under the flares...

Pitty there is only one 15" listed with confirmed fittment for ours in wheel directory. Imho 15" would be THE wheel/tire to go for winter :/

I run 185/65-15 Arctics on 15" Enkei RCG4's in winter on my Forester XT. It's glorious.

There's a fella up in Canada who runs 15x6.5 ET40 Dodge Neon wheels for ice racing, he's also got a set of 15" Toms wheels he uses in the winter too. Can't remember his username on here, and not gonna post his real name, but this is his car:

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...49&oe=5A2B5B8F

I'd love to find a set of those and use them in the winter too.

Running Nokians never gave me any issues. Sure, it's the only tires I've used on the car in the winter, but they're definitely one of the best brands for winter tires. Might be a bit more expensive up front than cheaper brands, but road hazard can come in handy if you get unlucky.

It's also good to know that if you fuck up, it wasn't the tires. Getting into an accident due to cheap tires can easily cost you more than the difference between the tires.

Safety first.


And people complain about the stock wheel gap... :eyebulge::eyebulge:

I do have a set of 16s on steelies I can use...




what's the rule of thumb? Winter sets should be not as wide as stock right?

Drop down one width, and up one sidewall.
Give or take ish.

Meanwhile I have no regard for the speedo, and pick the tire I want...

brb 185/65-15 :lol:

so I should be running like 17x9 fronts and 17x10 rears XDXDXD

Soloside: i highly advise not to run staggered especially in winter. Imho on low grip situations such as on ice/snow that understeer will show through even more ugly :/.

@JazzleSAURUS & @Shark_Bait88 - what i'm complaining about - that there is no such info in wheel directory. I'm sure there are other 15" that will fit over stock brakes too .. but that info cannot be found easily in this forum, even while might be of interest for many (for winter driving) :(
Shark_Bait88: if/when you'll meet him, would be nice to get offset and such also for those Tom's wheels you mentioned. The more confirmed/known, the better.
JazzleSAURUS: can you try those Enkei-s RCG4 from Forester also on twins? Just to check clearance (and if fit, what width/what offset)?

Hey @churchx I had actually tried them on my BRZ before I tried them on the FXT. They didn't clear, first touching the brake caliper, then when a 20mm spacer was tossed on, they touched the hub where the tie rod meets it.

While playing around on @LiftedBRZ s car, we confirmed that they DID clear WITHOUT spacers when we converted the front brakes to Subaru OEM 4 pots, the brake package that was in mind on the group n cars when the RC-G4 was being developed.

Hope that's helpful, I actually was hoping to run the RC-G4's on the BRZ, and keep running the 16" '00 5 spokes on the Forester, but when all was said and done I was very happy with the results...

A brake package any bigger than 4 pots is very unlikely to fit!!
https://instagram.fzty1-1.fna.fbcdn....54545920_n.jpg

https://instagram.fzty1-1.fna.fbcdn....30310309_n.jpg

EDIT: Double post :O

Alright thanks for the advice. I'm gonna see if I can some how find a set of used17x9 or 17x8 RPF1's locally to me for sale so I can throw them up as my winter set.


If all else fails, I'll 17x9 rota them.

Do you have your stock wheels still?
Getting a more narrow, taller snow tire is beneficial as opposed to something wide.

215/50-17 on the stocks would be mint. :thumbsup:

Unfortunately I sold my stockers. :(

Get a set used with a dash of curb rash for a hundred bucks! A lot of people used their stockers for winters so there's a chance you could even pick a set up with used winter tires already on them.

Something wide like that 17x9 will be horrible in the snow on a car this light!

You can also look for stock WRX wheels, (02-05 wheels are PLENTIFUL and cheap!)

Hope one of those options works out for ya.

I recently picked up a set of stock BRZ wheels with no tires or TPMS for $60! The deals are out there. ;)

+1 to wrx 16" wheels. Used borrowed set of them just fine through last winter (for next bought own 16" set). About only "drawback" - wheels look very tucked in due deep offset of wrx wheels. Nothing bad for handling, and as already noted, they are plentiful & cheap, and look much better then steelies.

Bugeye 16x6.5 wheels are great for winter.

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...53&oe=5A143E0E

Glad you guys are rocking the 02-05 WRX wheels!! The sunken in aesthetic is fine for me, I run 20mm spacers with WRX fitment summers too, so it pushes them out to just the right place and I don't have to change up different spacers for it to look good.

If you're running a 'regular person' spacer, they'll look great. And the wheels actually look really tough with a tall sidewall AT/Winter.

20" wheels...stock?

Blizzaks are great but don't last long. Arctics are better in deeper snow, and last much longer.

there really is no or not much of a reason to get a smaller tire width for winter. the contact patch is determined by the weight of the car, not the tire one gets. You use a 125 width tire, the tire will contact the same amount front to back and just looks squished. At a certain point this is exaggerated, like if you got 305 tires, then youd have a lot of extra stuff contacting snow. But going from 215 to 205 is very small amount but will reduce the engineered and tested design of the car. I can see however that it is a cheaper tire and that is great x4. But that is it. A proper snow or for me, performance winter, is more important than the narrower part. Dont you people drive on dry roads like 50% of the winter once it thaws out?