BRZ Winter Tire/Wheels Setup?
 

I am looking to get a set of winter tires and wheels for my BRZ. I would prefer to stay with 17in rims. Also my car has the Perf Pack so I am unsure what wheels I can run without clearance issues. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Welcome, cbamf8, to the forum and congratulations on your new car ......:clap:

So, how much driving will you be doing on snow/ice covered roads ..??

That will indicate what kind of winter tires you might consider.

Here is a good helpful reference and a good place to buy tires

tirerack.com


humfrz

We see you're in New York, so we know you get snow there. I think what's missing is whether you daily drive the car, or only take it out in good weather.. If you DD, what's your typical mileage and driving conditions like?

There are lots of great tires out there. Once we know your use case better we can help steer you to the right tire for your needs.

Personal favorites:
-XIce3 for icey, mild snow conditions. Feels more like an all season that's snow and ice capable.
-Nokian Hakka 3. Extreme tire. Will excel in harsher conditions.
-Blizzak, it's a good tire but it's overrated. Does well in everything but doesn't last very well.
-Altimax Arctic 12, excellent at digging, and great in deeper snow. Softer sidewalls mean it's not precise. Great life.

195/60/16 Xice3

16/6.5 steels.

Ended up being pretty cost effective in my case.

Decent option.

I like running a taller winter to gain a bit of extra clearance. We get pretty bad driveway ice dams, and chunks of snow all over the road that can bust a bumper pretty bad, so I run a 215/60-16, with stock suspension and a 3/8" lift spacer.

Ends up being a 1.175" lift from a stock height car, with +1.3" of sidewall to absorb potholes and chunks of ice. I figure it's not going to handle as well in the winter due to the tire, so I may as well have some fun with it. Pretty big difference when you consider a 1" lowering spring is about all these cars like.

I will be daily driving the car. As far as tires I am looking for something that is capable of driving in light to medium snow. Where I am in NY the roads don't stay covered in snow too long, but the temperature is still at or below freezing. Thank you for the link!

I will be daily driving the car. What I really want from the tire is good grip in the cold, both wet and dry, and the ability to drive through light to medium snow. I am also willing to trade some performance for added tread life.

As far as the winter conditions where I live, temps are usually 20f-45f, and we get light to medium snow on occasion.

My whole idea was extra clearance will always be welcome in the winter months and I won't be driving spiritedly at all, so the taller wall, and narrow tire is perfect for my needs. I also swap the tires myself because it takes about 15-20 minutes without a gun, so the steels were a definite easy route.

In winter my 86 becomes a point A to B, in summer she becomes the hot girl in highschool that's good at sports and BJ's.

My setup is similar, basically a dash wider, and the 3/8" spacer. We had pretty similar intentions, I just went a bit more 'ham'. :thumbsup:

One thing I found when I tried a set of 195/65's is that the braking suffered really bad with the more narrow contact patch, so I was happy to go 215/60.

Stock forester steelies and a nice winter tire. Done.

Had good luck with Nokian tires and continental in the past.

I don't notice any drastic difference in braking in my case on 195/60(could be the change in driving habits to correspond with weather and new shoes), but I do notice a substantial amount of body movement due to sidewall flex, it's annoyingly not as good feeling as stock for me, where the stock tires although everyone says they are crap, actually hold up very well.

Jordanwolf: it's not just higher sidewall (of more flex). It's also about winter tires having softer rubber compound and those many extra small thread grooves, which while providing that extra grip on ice/snow, also move around much more, resulting in that non-sharp steering with lag. Grip is there, but car's direction change reactions are dulled. Given importance of grip in winter, while it may be less pleasant to feel, but in my eyes reasonable compromise/trade.

Totally reasonable trade for what you're getting. Traction in a situation where traction is exponentially reduced by a variety of water based friction modifiers.

The siping causes a lot of squirm.