Snow Tires
 

Searched through the forums but didn't find a thread related to this (maybe I'm blind). The season is upon us though. I know it got really chilly here all of a sudden. :(

What are you guys intending to use for snow tires if you're planning on driving your car through the winter?

I was hoping to get my tires at Costco. I put my make/model into the tire finder at http://tires.costco.ca/ and only Summer tires came up. Was looking at maybe getting some Michelin X-Ice Xi3's or Xi2's but not sure if they come in the right size.

What are you guys planning on getting?

I was thinking of Hankooks


Sent from my iPhone (switching to android soon)

There has been a few threads on this so far. At least one in the Canadian sub-forums and also in the wheel/tire sub-forum. I just picked up mine this week. I went with cheap ($250 for a set of 4) 16" steel wheels in a Subaru Impreza fitment, and a set of Brigestone Blizzak WS-60 tires in a 205/55/16 size. Should work good.

Hey guys,

If you see my post in the Canadian classifieds we sell the Hankook's in stock and on a super deal right now.


Many of the forum members have already taken advantage.


Thank you

I just picked up a set of Michelin X-Ice xi2's mounted to 16" steelies.

I am going to mount 205 50 17 dunlop winter sport 3d on stockers

I'll admit to being a bit of a car newb. Is there a bit of flex when it comes to tire size on the stock wheels or am I extremely limited to what I can get without buying new wheels?

If I'm going to be limited to tires I'd rather not have I'd rather just pay extra and get a pair of steel wheels since there's a lot of hills here and I'd like to survive the Winter. :)

You can also use a 205 series tire for winter. One size skinnier for winter is better to cut through the snow.

You can also of coarse go to a 16" tire but that requires a new set of 16" wheels and since most will change the stock fugly wheels anyways to something 18 or 19 then put the winters on the stock wheels and that saves you time and money.


Hope that helps.

I wish I had better thought it out instead of waiting so late in the season. My best bet might be to just try to find tires to fit my existing wheels and then buy new tires and wheels this coming spring.

Sorry for the additional question but just to make sure I fully understand you... my only options are 205 or 215 but I have to stick with 17" if I want to use my existing wheels for winter?

Sorry for the confusion on my end. I just want to make sure before I go shopping for tires. Seems weird to me that skinnier tires would work fine on wider wheels but whatever works! Like I said, I'm a bit of a car newb when it comes to the non-driving stuff. :P I love my BRZ though. Sad that I need to take my summer tires off. I had a lot of fun on the back roads this year. ;)

Thanks for the help. I appreciate it.

For the stock wheels, I think the best size would be 205/50/17. They are about 3% taller than stock, so when your speedo reads 100, you'll actually be doing just over 103 kph. If you plan on getting aftermarket wheels, this may be the best way to go. If you plan on keeping the stock wheels, get some steel winter wheels with a 205/55/16 tire...road salt will make the clear coat on the stock wheels look like crap in no time.

Another thing to think about is tire type. If you see a lot of snow, go with a studless ice/snow tire. With this type, you will give up some handling due to tread squirm, but get MUCH better traction in snow.
If you don't see a lot of snow, or are more concerned with handling/stability, go with a performance winter/snow class tire. They trade off a bit of snow ability for better stability on corners and at speed.

Hope that helps with your decision.

I recently put Blizzak LM-60 on the stock rims, stock tire size. The dry handling is decent for what it is (at least better than I expected). I bought them for the added dry performance since we get a lot of dry periods during winter. If not pushing it, the tires don't feel too much different from stock, but under hard cornering or shifting the slip warning light is quick to activate (doesn't take too much). The sidewalls are stiffer than the stock HP tires (those are like sponges, seeing them off the rim). They feel reasonably good/stable at higher speed (130km/h). I had them high-speed balanced as well.

Thanks for the info guys. I suppose then I'd need to calibrate? Because the if 100 KM/Hr. will be 103, then I guess 100,000 KM will be 103,000 KM? :P

Probably going to think more about safety than performance when it comes to winter tires. I'm sure I'll still have some fun regardless. We go through a lot of no-snow periods in winter here but I'd rather err on the side of caution when it comes to driving a RWD up (or down) some of these steep hills when they are covered with snow or ice.

Go with Nokians Hakka 7, they are simply the best you can get

Just got mine, will put em on next couple weeks.

205/55R-16 Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 on 16" steel rims, $850 all in at Tire Rack.

I have found the following regarding tire sizing.
http://www.ajdesigner.com/fl_tire/tire.php

215/45R-17(OD =24.62", circumference =77.34", tread /section width =8.4",side wall height= 3.81")

205/55R16 (OD 24.88, circumference 78.2", tread /section width 8.07", side wall height =4.44", 60.6mph compared to 60 mph for the 215/45R-17)

195/55R-16 (OD 24.4", circumference 76.8",tread /section width 7.68", side wall height 4.22", 59.6mph compared to 60 mph for the 215/45R-17))

15" wheels are too small

5x100 bolt pattern for wheels.

I thought I had copied that down incorrectly, so now corrected 24.88 diameter for the 205/55R-16! Circumference is correct.

You're off a bit on your O.D. for the 205/55/16... it should be ~24.9.

The 205/50/17 mentioned above will be ~25.1.

Hey guys I have a quick question about winter wheels too, I'm still waiting for my car... should be here during the winter (unless my dealer lied again) so I want to have the wheels ready.

So if I went with the 205/55/16 tires which most people are recommending, what size bolt pattern and offset would the steelies need to be for the FR-S?

I bought General Tire AltiMAX™ Arctic on 16 inch hub-centric steelies...

Costco online doesn't have the latest info. You'll have to visit their store. They have 205/55R16 X-Ice Xi3 for $200 each. I didn't ask about the 17" because I don't mind a narrower tire for winter. You will also get the $70 instant rebate.

They also have 16" hub-centric steelie for $37 each in their catalog (wheel# X40867). But since this is their first year with the new supplier, it's a bit of a mess. They told me they would have to write down my contact info and once they get enough interest then they will place all the orders.

That's great info. Thanks.

Question for you though. Moving from 17" down to 16" do I need to get my speedometer and tachometer adjusted? I'm not really sure how it works.

Tach only measures engine speed independent of vehicle speed, so no. Speedometer, no, unless you change the size too drastically. You will actually be off by a little bit regardless, but if you do it properly it'll be around 1% speed difference, so negligible.

This site will show you the differences.

Does that count the TPS or did you not bother? Shipping looks like it's going to be harsh. I'm going to be in the States on Thursday for the day but I doubt there's any chance I could get them shipped to a place in the States by then.

By the way, not sure why I said the tach. I meant the mileage gauge whatever that's called. :P But oh well, answered it well anyway. Thanks.

Edit: Odometer

I'm planning to get the 205/55/16 Hankook W409 iPike for $813, do you guys know any place cheaper? PM me thanks!

Speedometer actually measures the angular velocity of the wheel and converts to your speed based some assumed diameter. So if you have a tire with diameter twice as big then if you speedo says 60 you are actually travelling at 120. 16" or 17" are rim diameters not tire. For the 16" you need to pick a tire with wider side profile so that the overall diameter stays roughly the same.

Not quite true. In order not to throw off your speedometer, yes, you do need to keep the diameter the same. This can be done by changing the aspect ratio of the tire in relation to the tread width.


For example: stock size is 215/45R17, going to a 16 inch rim you could choose a
225/50R16, 245/45R16, 205/55R16, 195/55R16, etc. with minimal difference in reported speed (as the diameter of each of the four example are similar).

For winter use one would want to go with a narrower tire as opposed to a wider tire as the narrower tire will help with cutting through snow. Because the diameter of the new wheel/tire won't be exactly the same as stock (it is possible to come really close but very difficult to get 100% the same), you can expect some difference between what the speedometer says and what you are really doing.

If the spedometer shows 100km/h on the stock wheel, choosing a 205/55R16 tire will show 100km/h but actually be going 101.1km/h. The 195/55R16 would show 100km/h while actually going 99.3km/h.

That's true. From 215/45/17 to 205/55/16 is probably the best option for the winter because both the diameter & speedometer change with be only about 1% difference which is totally acceptable. Thanks for the share.

For tires! Give my guys a call 905-604-5858 (GoForTires)

Thanks for the info guys. Looks like I'm going to be going for 205/55/16 tires.

Went to Costco and the one's I wanted were $199 each but they had no wheels in stock. They had some steelies but the bolt patterns weren't the same so I either need to buy them elsewhere or get everything from a different place.

Looked at Kal Tire and this is the quote I got online. Thoughts? Added up quickly with the recommended 4 wheel alignment and lead free passenger wheel balance and that doesn't even count the steel wheels yet.

Michelin X-Ice® Xi3™ Tire (205/55R16 94 H) 4 $199.12 $796.48
*500* 413R 1.25" RUBBER VALVE STEM 4 $3.45 $13.80
4 WHEEL ALIGNMENT (recommended) 1 $114.95 $114.95
LEAD FREE PASSENGER WHEEL BALANCE 4 $23.00 $92.00
†Installation, Rotations, Flat repairs and Lifetime balancing 1 Free $0.00
†Road Hazard Warranty and 30-Day No-Hassle guarantee 1 Free $0.00

Sub-Total $1,017.23
Taxes $124.43
Environmental Fees $20.00

Total Price$1,161.66

The car is pretty new...unless you suspect issues with the front end, I would skip the alignment. The savings will buy at least two of your steel wheels. Are you going to pass on the TPMS? I thought about doing this as well, but I really don't want to stare at the light for 5 or so months. A large tire shop should be able to set you up with sensors and programming. In my case, I bought the sensors from the dealer (about $50 X 4), and will have to have them do the programming. They want $89 each time I swap the wheels from summer to winter and back. There has got to be a cheaper way...

Ah, crap. Didn't realize there would be a consequence to not getting TPMS. Hrm, maybe I'll skip it this year and if it bugs the crap out of me add it next year.

Somebody figure out an easy way to disable the TPMS light without it affecting anything else?

the consequence of not getting TPMS is that you will have a little light on your dash

woopty-do

just inspect your own tires once in awhile you're boss.

Our BRZs don't have the TPMS.

As for tires/wheels, call Tires23 in Mississauga (Dixie/Matheson). They can get you steelies as well or you could look around for a used set of Subaru 16" alloys.

Oh, Canadian BRZ's don't have it? Meaning no TPMS light when I throw new wheels on there?

I think I'd really rather stay away from alloys because of the salt. And I'm sure there's a bunch of great places to buy from in Ontario but shipping out West would probably be really expensive.

So, I know I need 16" wheels in a 5x100 bolt pattern but anything else I need to look for like a specific width? I'm a little confused by information I got from Costco. Took a picture that said: 5x100, 12x1.50, 21mm, 17"/18".

And anybody know what Lead Free Passenger Wheel Balance is? Is that something I need or a right rip?

Any car made from 2007 on without TPMS would be a surprise to me. 7thgear is right, you don't need to run the sensors...I know the light would bug me (almost as much as a little piece of black tape covering up the light), so I got some. Lead free just means the wheel weights used do not contain lead. Lead is soft, dense, and makes a good wheel weight material. Lead weights are slowly being phased out for environmental reasons.

My 2010 Cobalt doesn't have a TPMS. Actually it's lacking ABS and cruise control, too. With power windows and locks. Piece of garbage. Edit: Anyone wanna buy it once I get my FR-S?

good selling points..

$300?

I stand surprised.

My 2010 Genesis Coupe didn't have TPMS either, in fact the 2013's don't either.

My car certainly does not have TPMS.