[2017 BRZ] Still lost with tires, looking for help
 

Hi everyone.

A little over a month ago I joined the family and am looking to get some new wheels and tires but am having trouble making decisions based on fitment and performance as I am a newbie.

I would like tires and wheels that:
1) fit a stock 2017 BRZ limited (if spacers are needed that's fine)
2) that don't affect performance/handling
3) don't poke out of the body
4) Also, if possible, i would really like to minimize the tire sidewall/wheel ratio on the side of the tire if at all possible (wheels look big compared to tires)

Anything that comes in black that fits these criteria works for me. I've looked into Konig Oversteers and 720 Form GTF1s but am unsure if these would affect handling/performance.

Sorry for the really specific criteria and long post, but this is probably why finding something I like has been difficult. Any help is much much appreciated, i've been looking into this for weeks with no turnaround.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7535

2nd and 3rd post are going to be useful for wheels. Find the specs that seem right for your taste, then look at what you can get in that spec.

Then start looking for info on tires.

What are your plans with the car? Do you have examples of fitment, (both tire to fender, and tire/wheel ratio) that you DO like/would like to replicate?

When you say you don't want to affect performance/handling, do you mean you want it to handle EXACTLY how is does now? No better/no worse?

When you say you don't want them to poke out, do you want them to be as flush as possible without going past, or just 'as long as they aren't poking I don't care'

I'm a huge fan of the Enkei wheels, as they are really good quality for the money, (and meet your 'black' criteria.)

If you want a nice little upgrade while you're buying wheels and tires, take a look at something like this:
Enkei RPF1, 17x8, between +35 and +42, depending on if you intend to lower at all. Go square, then add 3mm slip on spacers in the rear and it will look very even, and you won't need bolt on spacers, or extended lugs, and you won't need two different wheel offsets.

I really like a 225/45-17 Bridgestone S-04 or Michelin PSS on those wheels. There will be about the same amount of 'stretch' as the stock wheel and tire package has, but the tires will be a nice upgrade, offering stiffer sidewalls, and more grip!

The RPF1's look nice, are light, and are pretty strong without breaking the bank. Most of their wheels do pretty well also, but there's a lot of personal preference.

My plans for the car are for the time being going to be exterior. The only other thing I can think of that I want to do are things like a diffuser, side lips, front bumper lip, etc. Here's a couple builds with good examples of fitment that I'm looking for in tire/wheel ratio:

https://wheelwell.com/andrew-cardwel...016-scion-fr-s

http://www.picstoc.com/user/ross_new...2208_184339732

Tire to fender ratio would be nice to adjust as well, but I have no plans to lower it so I'm assuming that's out of the question.

In terms of performance/handling, I essentially don't want it to perform/handle any worse. Better is always welcome, but I also have no issue with it staying the same.

In terms of poke, I'd mostly prefer flush but if anything would prefer poke.

I'm not a huge fan of the RPF1's, but Enkei does make some nice looking wheels so I would not be opposed to getting some from them if that would work. I'm assuming 18" wheels would be ideal? Some examples I like:

http://enkei.com/shop/tuning/raijin/

http://enkei.com/shop/performance/edr9/

Is Konig a good company for light wheels? If so, I love the Oversteers:

https://konigwheels.com/wheels/main-...els/oversteer/

All fine options. Konigs have stepped up their quality in recent years, they are a lot nicer than they used to be. RPF1's are a 'starting point' example I usually use because they do so much well, and some people love them.

The Raijin and Gojin are two personal favorites from the tuning line, they are going to be a little heavier, but still plenty strong and less expensive. When you go to an 18" wheel, you're sacrificing some tire sidewall that may make it ride a bit more rough, but that's okay if you're expecting it.

I'm not into 18" wheels personally, but the offsets should still be accurate if you go with an 8" wide wheel which is generally my recommendation for these cars. Contrary to popular believe, it's very possible to put too much wheel/tire on these cars. :)

So getting 18" as opposed to 17" would only make bumps feel a little bumpier? It wouldn't affect the handling or performance?

As an example, the Oversteers come in 18x8 and 18x9 with either a 35 or 45 offset. The whole offset concept confuses me and so do spacers. How do you know what the offset affects and when you'll need spacers?

Thanks a ton for the help you've provided so far. Already getting questions answered I couldn't before.

Happy to help, I do my best!

Offset is the distance from the hub, (where the wheel contacts the brake rotor,) to the centerline of the wheel.

That means that a +35 8" and +35 9" wheel will fit differently, because they have the same offset (distance to the wheel centerline,) but it's an inch wider, you're gaining a half inch out towards the fender, and a half inch in towards the suspension.

https://www.lesschwab.com/images/blog/wheel-offset.jpg

The bigger wheel you get, the shorter you have to make the sidewall for the tire to match, or get close to the OEM OD of your wheel and tire package.

Example, 'same' tire size, (both 215/45, like the stock tires,)
but one is for a 17" wheel, one is for an 18" wheel. https://imgur.com/a/bmb7o

Conversely, here's a 'same outer diameter' (OD) tire size, (215/40-18) which is about as close as you're going to get: https://imgur.com/a/qqRng

The way a tire size works is thus: width/aspect ration of the width - wheel size.
So you lose 5% of the sidewall to keep the OD the same.

Hope that helps, let me know if you have any more questions, I'll do my best to help.

(Link to the tire calculator I use so you can play around, and get a visual ideal of how wheel/tire effects both aesthetic, and aspect ratio: https://tiresize.com/calculator/ )

Also to more directly answer your question, tire is GENERALLY lighter than wheel is. So a comparable OD and width package in a 16" package will be lighter than an 18" package, but the 18" package will be a bit more communicative, and likely give up a bit of grip. That is, imo, why these cars come with 17" wheels. It balances ultimate grip, (compliance in the sidewall, which helps retain grip during transitions, as well as dampen road shocks from the tire to the wheel,) with communication, (a shorter sidewall is naturally stiffer, which communicates better and offers that 'razor sharp' feeling.)

Just keep in mind that lower profile tires are less protective of the wheel when running into pot holes. And larger wheels make your brakes look smaller if you are concerned about that.

Also, larger wheels are usually heavier, which affects performance (slightly).

a 17x9 or 18x9 +35 will stick out from the fender at normal oem camber, but will be flush with about 2.5-3 degrees of camber added...however, the tires will be really really close to the stock struts, if not rubbing. If you have coilovers, then there'd be no problem.

I went with 17x8 +45 Rota Titans...and the wheel is flush with the front fender with stock camber, the rear would need some spacers to be flush but it's not bad enough to make me actually put them on. The 225/45/17 tires would make it look even better since they'd fill up the wheel well more and look perfect on the 8inch wheel...the stock primacy tires look funny on an 8inch wheel btw...

In addition to the good info above this is a good resource for brands and tire reviews:
https://www.tirerack.com/content/tir.../homepage.html
Possibly a good place to order if the price is right.

I was playing around with that tire size calculator. Just out of curiosity, if I were to get 18" rims with the shortest sidewall possible, which would essentially make it a similar tire size to the stock tires I have now, would that have a noticeable difference in how the car handles/performs? What would be some of the differences that I could expect to feel? Here's the tires that the calculator provided:

Tire Size Equivalent Diameter
225/35R18 24.2x8.9R18 24.2"-1.6%
205/40R18 24.5x8.1R18 24.5"-0.4%
235/35R18 24.5x9.3R18 24.5"-0.4%
285/30R18 24.7x11.2R18 24.7"+0.4%
215/40R18 24.8x8.5R18 24.8"+0.8%
245/35R18 24.8x9.6R18 24.8"+0.8%
255/35R18 25.0x10R18 25.0"+1.6%
295/30R18 25.0x11.6R18 25.0"+1.6%
225/40R18 25.1x8.9R18 25.1"+2.0%
265/35R18 25.3x10.4R18 25.3"+2.8%

I think to answer your question, I'd have to reiterate this:
"So a comparable OD and width package in a 16" package will be lighter than an 18" package, but the 18" package will be a bit more communicative, and likely give up a bit of grip. That is, imo, why these cars come with 17" wheels. It balances ultimate grip, (compliance in the sidewall, which helps retain grip during transitions, as well as dampen road shocks from the tire to the wheel,) with communication, (a shorter sidewall is naturally stiffer, which communicates better and offers that 'razor sharp' feeling.)"

In going to an 18 it won't be bad, but you will notice some of the changes. If you want to minimize that, you could go with something like the 225/40. tire OD affects a lot, including gearing, (it's effectively your final, final drive...)

So you'll notice you will lose a bit of acceleration in going to a 225/40-18 based on gearing, and some based on the fact that you're likely adding weight to all 4 corners as well. Going with the 40 series sidewall will retain the majority of the sidewall that the stock 215/45 has, which will help with the negatives mentioned above in going to an 18" wheel.

One of the best ways to combat the gearing advantage you're losing is with a bit of extra power. Something like a JDL header and Delicious EcuTek tune will bring all that acceleration back, and then some, (with vengeance...) and should be perfectly reliable.

This is a bit part of why I've stuck with 17" wheels, aesthetically I think it works great, it keeps the weight down, and I get the benefit of taller sidewalls without the downsides of going too tall. If I wanted to go with an 18" wheel I'd get a taller package, and add power to combat the gearing disadvantage.

This is all super helpful, thank you. I think you have convinced me to stay with 17". I've been looking at the car a lot recently to see what I want and I think the fitment of the stock wheels on the 2017 is already pretty nice and i really don't want to sacrifice any performance that I already thoroughly enjoy. The difference between 17 and 18 isn't worth that imo.

So if I want tires as close to stock as possible or even keep the stock and use 17x8 Konig Oversteers. The wheel comes in 35 and 45 offset and various PCDs. What do I need to do to have tires and wheels that are flush to the fender without affecting performance/handling?

Sorry, I'm just super paranoid about this and it's taking me forever to figure out so I want to make sure I invest and it comes out the way I want it. You have been remarkably patient in helping me this much already, so I appreciate it.

If you go 17x8+35, with 225/45-17 tires, you'll be flush in the front, and you'll need just a tiny bit of extra spacing out back to be flush. You could go +42 front, +35 rear and it would be more even, but at the cost of flushness, and ability to rotate tires, (different F/R fitment.)

My course of action opinion: Buy the wheels you like in the sizing mentioned above, with 225/45-17 tires, and get some 14mm OEM crash bolts. Install them in your front struts, (both holes will have the smaller 14mm crash bolts instead of a 14mm and iirc 18mm,) this will allow you to gain some camber up front which will do two things: it will pull the top of the tire in just a bit, and will make the rears look more even to the fronts, but the primary function is it will make the car handle better! ;) Get a proper alignment, then stand back and see how close it is to making you happy.

If you want the rears pushed out a dash more to be more even, some 3mm spacers will help a tiny bit, and are the largest spacer you can safely run on stock wheel studs. If you want them pushed out more than that, you'll have to run bolt on spacers which may be a bit too big, or purchase extended wheel studs with thicker slip on spacers.

I've learned from other people that have been patient with me, and an insatiable desire to google everything, and help people learn themselves. So it works out, and I'm happy to help. :D

Recap:
1) Buy 17x8 +35 Konig Oversteers with 225/45-17 (I like Bridgestone S-04's and Michelin Pilot Super Sports for summer tires.)
2) Buy OEM 14mm crash bolts.
3) Install crash bolts and wheels/tires, get alignment, ask for up-to -2 degrees of camber, and zero toe, (until you decide you want it to turn in like a bat out of hell, this will be a nice improvement, and not accelerate tire wear.)
--At this point, you should be REALLY close to how you want it--
4a) You decide the fronts are perfect, but the rears could go out a tiny bit more...buy slip on 3mm wheel spacers.
4b)You decide the rears need more than 3mm to be happy, grab the H&R slip on spacer and extended wheel stud kit in your desired thickness, MEASURE BEFORE YOU BUY! Odds are you won't have a ton of room to go out!
5) Enjoy near perfect flushness with comfortable compliant stock suspension, drastically increased grip without losing the fun 'playability' of the car, and enjoy the much improved turn in from the front camber. :w00t:

Make sure to come back and update with pics, and if you get to a part where you're not sure what to do next. I love to see cars progress, and it helps others who may be in a similar circumstance and want to see what the outcome would be if they followed your path.

For a 3mm spacer I suggest these: https://store.partsshopmax.com/shop/...t/AWS3-56.html

For a slip on spacer with extended lug kit, I suggest these:
http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/h-r-...l#.Wgs2FfmnFaQ

If you go past 3mm, you need to replace the studs with longer ones to have a proper/safe amount of lug nut thread engagement. Once you go to 20mm they go from slip ons to bolt ons, which is not what you should be looking at with your wheel offset selection.

Here's what the OEM strut mount bolts look like. Your car has 1 14mm, and 1 16mm. When you replace the 16mm with a 14mm you gain movement/adjustability. You don't need a ton so OEM crash bolts from the dealer work great. If you later decide you want more, I suggest getting SPC camber bolts.
http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Vorshlag...sh-bolts-S.jpg

I hope that was comprehensive enough, I know I threw in spacer options and camber adjustment, but it occurred to me that adding camber will pull the fronts in, and likely make it very close to even, and very close to flush.

Any other questions, I'm here for you!

Also this may help!

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...29&postcount=7

17x8+35, with 225/45-17 Michelin PSS. It's not a great angle, but it shows about what you're working with at stock height. If you lower it a bit, they will get sucked in a dash, which may work out well. Camber can do that too.

And this:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...03&postcount=1
17x8+36 (1mm out further than the +35 oversteers...) with 215/45-17s, your tire package will stick out about 5mm closer to the fender, (10mm wider, about half on each side.)

Joining this forum was the best decision I ever made. Someone here can actually baby me through this stuff in the way that I need, thank god.

Can you help me understand step 3 a little more? What do the crash bolts do exactly? Am I asking the installer for -2 degrees of camber and zero toe? What do these things do exactly?

Also, would there be any difference in appearance of tires on the car from stock after step 3 and/or any difference in performance/handling?

EDIT: What about Toyo Tires? or is there a reason you prefer those two companies?

Just looking to understand is all :).

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22201
That thread covers installing crash/camber bolts.

Stock, the front camber is non-adjustable so you have to buy these bolts to have any adjustment.

Factory alignments almost always suck, so adding a bit of adjustability, and gaining a bit of camber will improve turn in. With camber, the tops of the wheels will tilt in just a bit. When you corner left for example, a lot of the weight transfers to the right side of the car. When you have a bit of camber that weight will push the tire flat to the ground maximizing grip. If you have 0 camber, (straight up and down,) it will push on the outside of the tire, which will overwhelm the tire, (less of a contact patch, less grip.) You can go too far for sure, about -2.5 degrees front is the most I would run on a street car.

You're asking them to zero out toe because odds are it's close but not perfect from the factory, so this will minimize wear on your fancy new tires. If you decide you want the car to turn in harder while cornering, you can add a little extra camber, and/or a little bit of toe out, this will cause the front tires to point out a tiny bit. This accelerates tire wear quite a bit, but if your preference is for that hard turn in, replacing tires more frequently becomes a little less bothersome.

When you add a bit of camber, it pulls the tops of the tire in a bit, so it's getting closer to suspension, further away from the fender. If you get -2 degrees of camber front, -1 degree rear, which is a decent place to start, (again, zero out toe,) it will make it look a bit more even because there is tons more room in the rear on these cars for wide wheels/tires than the front, so more camber up front will help aesthetically just a little, (as well as with handling.)

Also based on your comment about being babied through, I do this in the hope that you'll genuinely understand, and be able to help out other enthusiasts!

Toyo tires are fine, but when you look at the offerings for a good quality performance summer tire, that aren't cheater autox tires or track tires, those two reign supreme. The new Conti looks promising though.

I run RE71R's on my Forester, but that's a car that gets driven during the winter, or brought out to get my fill of grip and boost, and go autoxing with. Those tires are overkill for 99.9999999% for people. :D

1) So are camber bolts = crash bolts? i'm assuming these are interchangeable terms?

2) Do I only need 2 camber bolts for only the front wheels or 4 for front and back?

3) Where would I go about finding some camber/crash? I'm looking around online and nothing seems to be jumping out as correct.

4) So if I understand correctly overall, you're saying that (after step 3) without the 3mm spacers my front wheels will probably be flush but my back wheels will not?

Sorry for so many questions. But yes, now that I'm actually learning about modifying cars I can help others too sometime :).

1) So are camber bolts = crash bolts? i'm assuming these are interchangeable terms?

Up front, camber bolts are a bolt with a lobe on them, they allow you to turn the bolt, and it will adjust camber. Crash bolts are a bolt of a smaller diameter that clamps the strut clevice in place, but is thinner than the part that came on the car from the dealer so you get some camber adjustment.

2) Do I only need 2 camber bolts for only the front wheels or 4 for front and back?

You need two bolts total, one per side, front only.

3) Where would I go about finding some camber/crash? I'm looking around online and nothing seems to be jumping out as correct.

You can get the crash bolts from your local Toyota or Subaru dealer. You can also run camber bolts, but I think for your purposes, (less extreme,) you don't need as much camber as they can provide so going with an OEM solution is a preferable one.

4) So if I understand correctly overall, you're saying that (after step 3) without the 3mm spacers my front wheels will probably be flush but my back wheels will not?

I think the fronts will be perfect, and the rears will be very close. The 3mm spacer I think will be enough to make it not noticable, but because most of the cars I work with are lowered a bit, there's a bit of 'your mileage may vary' between every car being oh so slightly different, and differing opinions on what is close enough to flush. :thumbsup:

Awesome. It looks like I have my work cut out for me now. I need to find places to buy tires and wheels and what not. I will try to update as I go on but at the least I will provide update pictures :). Thanks a ton for your help. I'm going to create a list here for myself, let me know if something isn't correct.

1) I need: 17x8 +35mm wheels, 225/45/r17 tires, 14mm OEM crash bolts.
2) Have all installed, asking for up to -2 degrees of camber and zero toe
3) evaluate alignment, if i want more flush in the back, buy 3mm spacers

EDIT: Almost forgot, I think a new bolt set is also necessary: Muteki 41885B Black 12mm x 1.25mm Closed End Spline Drive Lug Nut Set with Key, (Set of 20) --- hopefully these are ok, i think they should be?

Bingo.

Tire rack usually has pricing that's about what you'd normally get, and can ship tires mounted/balanced on your wheels if you buy the full package from them.

Good luck!

anyone know if a set of 18x8.5 +45 offset with a 245/35 in the front and 18x9.5 +45 offset rear with a 255 or 265/35 will have any clearance issues on bilstein b16 coils?

Hi again, sorry I realized I have a couple more questions. You said the S-04s are good summer tires, does that mean they'd be bad in the winter? Where I live, we very rarely get snow but it does get pretty cold. Just want to make sure that if I get tires like that I won't have to rotate them out during the winter.

Also, I think a new bolt set would be nice, will I have issues with these?: Muteki 41885B Black 12mm x 1.25mm Closed End Spline Drive Lug Nut Set with Key, (Set of 20)

I actually really like those lug nuts. I have them in chrome on my BRZ, and in black on my wife's Crosstrek.

Three types of tires: Summer, all season, and winter. All seasons perform drastically worse than either summers in summer, or winters in winter, and are barely adequate in summer and in winter.

If you must have an all season, the Michelin Pilot AS3 and Continental DWS are as good as they get, but I'm being serious when I say there is no surefire way to ruin this car harder and faster than putting on all season tires.

Run proper summer tires 3 seasons out of the year, if you barely get snow and it just gets cold, find some used all seasons locally on a subaru forum or facebook group and just run them from late December through March. I got a set of Forester alloys with Conti DWS all seasons for transition months for $200 locally.

Define "pretty cold".

In general if you have extended periods below 45*F you should swap out your summers.

My rule of thumb is swap to an all season if you're consistently OR routinely below 45f, with minimal snow and no icing concerns, swap to a winter tire if you're consistently OR routinely below 32*f for icing alone, even if you don't get snow.

Tires like the Xice3 are wonderful for people who don't get tons of snow but still get the icing conditions and lower temperatures. Arctics with their larger tread blocks seem to work well for people in high elevation where the snow comes down by the foot routinely. (Used to live on the side of a mountain, swore by my arctics!) :D 4 foot snow storms were nothing crazy, just a heads up that you should wear your thicker socks because you'll be plowing for a while, and fire up the generator before hand because the power will likely go out. :bellyroll:

Yikes. So if I understand correctly, the correct path here is to have summer tires 3/4 of the year and all season tires for 1/4? And both of these would fit
my 17x8 oversteers? Or would it be better to have winter tires?

If you ask about all-seasons or winter tires usage, "correct" (and "best") depends on average weather (and to some extent, worst case scenarios and subjective importance of them, which includes both worst local weather or worst one may see driving cross-climate zones afar to eg. friends/relatives/winter sport hobbies) where one lives/drives, as this is somewhat international forum with users worldwide from different climate zones. Have you stated what weather you have in autumn-winter-spring?

Here's some monthly average temperatures. I feel like the lows are high compared to what I remember, but who knows really. I trust the data more than my memory:

EDIT:the table looks awful in the actual post so here's the link :): https://www.currentresults.com/Weath...th-average.php

High °F Low °F High °C Low °C
50 33 January 10 0
55 36 February 13 2
64 44 March 18 7
73 53 April 23 12
81 62 May 27 17
89 70 June 32 21
92 74 July 33 23
91 73 August 33 23
85 65 September30 18
74 54 October 24 12
63 44 November 17 7
52 35 December 11 2
73 54 Year 23 12

I highly recommend dedicated wheels too. Every mount and balance is about $50 or so, so cheap stock take offs pay for themselves in 2 years if you can get a set for $200ish, which is very doable, or just run the winters/all seasons on your stock wheels.

Edit: After looking at that table, I'd be confident running a decent all season on your stock wheels, and a proper summer tire on your Oversteers. Those are very mild temps. Since you may get the occasional snow, If you can get a set of Nokian WR3's, and run them as if they were a winter tire I think you'd enjoy the confidence you'd get when the weather does get bad. That said, I have never even been to Tennessee so my tire recommendations may be off. Where I live we average about 3 feet of snow each February, and the temp average is ~13*f, so I hope you understand why I err on the side of caution wrt having the proper tire for the climate! The hotter and more brutal it is in the summer the more you will appreciate a proper dedicated summer tire.

cytogenesis: imho ~ +5C is when summers start to be worse then winters, with zero or below where summer tires might get dangerous. From what you posted, unless you have sudden short term heavy weather changes you want to be extra prepared for or regularly going each year also to colder places .. i'd say just good all seasons of not too wide width for winter months and driving more carefully at rare cases when there abnormally gets colder, ice (especially black ice), snow, and summer tires for spring-summer-autumn. For high +10C, average 0C, low -10C or below would be for me decision point where i'd prefer winter tires to all seasons. Your local weather seems warmer then that.

Man... I was hoping it would just be easy at this point but regardless I'm happy I asked. I'm getting some slightly mixed opinions so I'll just give my wishlist and hopefully there will be a way to fulfill it.

Essentially, I would like to not have to take my Oversteers off if I can. Ideally I don't want to juggle 2 sets of tires between seasons but if it makes that big of a difference than it'll probably be worth it. So do I just need to get some summer tires and all season tires for winter? What can I do to make that happen if it's possible?

Your oversteers were 17x8? According to manufacturers, for 8" minimum width is 215, ideal 225 or 235, max 245. I'd just get stock sized 215/45/R17 all seasons, eg. michelin pilot A/S 3, and mount them in autumn on wheels, mounting back summers in spring. As bonus, you'll get rebalanced wheels once half a year, as con, will cost a bit extra. If you are not set on keeping oversteer wheels on during winter and wish save a bit, i'd reuse stock wheels for winter.

You don't want to do that.

All the things you're doing now that are expensive upgrades will suddenly become downgrades when you decide to put an all season on your nice new wider wheels.

Put a proper summer on your oversteers and enjoy just how good this car can be. (Unless this car was bought for aesthetics/vanity and you don't care about a good driving experience.)

99% of all seasons, minus maybe the AS3, will be a downgrade from the factory summer tire. I'm sure someone will disagree with me, but the tire manufactures temperature recommendations and use case by model sure don't...

So what provides a better winter drive then a winter tire or an all season tire? Whichever one is better, which model of that type should I get? Since winter is already here, I'll just get those with my new wheels and then once summer rolls around I'll get my summer tires. I still would like to move forward with keeping the oversteers on all year round and just swapping the tires.

Also, just as a reference for me, what type of tires are the stock tires considered to be? summers/all seasons/winters? I'm just looking to understand what causes such a drastic difference in performance.

The best winter tire is one appropriate for your climate. If you only get cold weather, down to 32 degrees and some rain, I think a 'regular' all season is a good tire to switch to, (Maybe a Conti DWS, or a General RT43 if you need to be cheap). If you get the occasional snowfall of an inch, maybe once or twice, and still rarely dip down into freezing, something like a WR3 is an awesome choice. It's an all season tire made by Nokian meant to be a snow tire that's dialed back to an all season, as opposed to an all season that just has deeper tread to accommodate occasional snowfall.

If your winter spends a decent amount of time below freezing, (more than just a few days here and there,) it's time to consider a proper winter tire. If you get minimal snow, and you're primarily concerned about temperatures and ice, a tire like the Michelin XIce 3 is an amazing choice. It will also do really well in some decent snowfall.

If you have slushy-freezy roads that you have to drive on, the XIce 3, and Blizzak type tires are still great choices, but in some of these slushy conditions I've found their tighter voids can sometimes have difficulty clearing, which is when the more Finnish style winter tire comes into it's element.

If you get lots of snow, heavy downfall, unplowed and packed roads, AND have to contend with ice and slushy nonsense, the Finnish style winter tires REALLY shine. On a budget, stuff like the Altimax Arctic, (and now Arctic 12,) are based on tires that were revolutionary when they launched, and tires like the Hakkapaliitta R2 are both funny to say, and are absolute monsters in just about any condition.

If you can describe your worst-case, and average winter driving conditions I think I can best help you select an appropriate tire.

The stock tires on 86's are a low rolling resistance summer tire. It's a high quality tire though many around these parts poo-poo it because it doesn't offer a ton of grip, which is very decidedly NOT the point of the tire. Engineers chose a tire that offered a lot of communication and feedback, good fuel economy and wear, and specifically offered a low grip threshold so people could learn the joys of a fairly low-grip tire on a very well tuned, lower power vehicle.

Swapping the tires over twice a year is $50-60 each time, it adds up quick, and you already have your OEM wheels. Having dedicated wheels and tires saves money, especially if you already have them, and allows you to have a spare set of wheels if you curb a wheel or bust a tire and need to make it to a payday before buying a replacement.

The drastic performance difference is based largely on rubber tech and tread design. Different formulations of the rubber can perform well within a certain temperature and condition range. Some forumlations really only do well when it's above 50 degrees and dry, these rubber formulations will be found on extreme performance tires and track day tires. Some do well above 40 and aren't bothered much by the wet, these are the typical good summer tire like a PSS and an S-04 I've talked about a bunch here. All seasons generally do well between 65 degrees and 35 degrees. When they get above that point they get a bit greasy and unpredictable, when they get below that they start to get hard and give up grip. Their tread pattern is often a compromise too, it's meant for around 50 degrees usually, but they make the tread taller to have deeper voids to accommodate the snow. This is why I refer to them as 'no-seasons'. They really don't do well anywhere. Winter tires are of an even softer compound, so above 45 they start to get greasy, but tend to perform well all the way down to 0f, sometimes lower. They often have larger voids, tons of siping, silica carbide 'teeth' molded into the tread to grip icey spots, provisions for studs, etc.

Knowing what you're up against will help you pick the proper tire.

What might help is imagine how you'd dress for a beach day, versus a day shoveling out your drive way. Neither is practical for the other. In the middle you're wearing jeans, a flannel, and sneakers. Practical fall attire, but you're still going to melt on the beach and freeze in the winter.