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

[Shark_Bait88]

BTW, folks, Discount Tire does carry Nokians and has some very good deals on several models (like the Hakkapelliitta 7). Hakkapelliitta R2s are only like $3/tire more than WS-80s. I may try some Hakka R2s this winter...

[why?]

Originally Posted by jlimNW

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.

It is worth going to Arctics. I am hugely impressed with General tires. I run the Artics on my BRZ and they rock both in snow of all types, even had a few surprise blizzards in white out conditions before roads were treated, and in slightly warmer conditions. Just pump up the pressure to 40 psi and they work great as all season tires. With the slight caveat that I do love sliding around, and in the dry upwards of 50 + degrees they are not anywhere near summer tires. I ran them last year in NC where the winter weather is much better and they were awesome. I also run General's all season on my Yaris, and they are awesome in the dry and wet.

Originally Posted by JazzleSAURUS

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!

I've had two sets of Generals, a set of Arctic for my brz and a set of all season for my Yaris, and they are both awesome for what I use them for. I'd trust the new Arctic 12 to be just as good.

Originally Posted by Soloside

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?

That is the old rule of thumb but you really don't need to do that anymore. Tire tech is so much better now than it use to be, and the reasons they use to do that was thinner tires cut through snow to bite the ground better, but with new winter tires that can handle snow, ice, and ground just as well it really is not necessary.

Originally Posted by Shark_Bait88

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:



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

Over the stock brakes? Beg him to add those to the wheel directory, I'd be all over 15's if I knew they'd fit. The smaller the wheels the cheaper the tires.

Originally Posted by churchx

@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)?

this exactly. I'd be so tempted to find wheel places that would just try wheels to see if they fit. I'd love a cheap light set of 15's.

Originally Posted by kneercirl

In your opinion, which tire is better for deep snow/slush? The Blizzak or Scorpion. I plan on mounting one of these two on my stock 20" wheels next month

General. Why on earth would you run 20's in the winter?

[Shark_Bait88]

Any update on those Neon wheels, they require a 20mm spacer to work. But they do fit.

[JazzleSAURUS]

Originally Posted by why?

I've had two sets of Generals, a set of Arctic for my brz and a set of all season for my Yaris, and they are both awesome for what I use them for. I'd trust the new Arctic 12 to be just as good.


That is the old rule of thumb but you really don't need to do that anymore. Tire tech is so much better now than it use to be, and the reasons they use to do that was thinner tires cut through snow to bite the ground better, but with new winter tires that can handle snow, ice, and ground just as well it really is not necessary.



Over the stock brakes? Beg him to add those to the wheel directory, I'd be all over 15's if I knew they'd fit. The smaller the wheels the cheaper the tires.



this exactly. I'd be so tempted to find wheel places that would just try wheels to see if they fit. I'd love a cheap light set of 15's.

I noticed the Sparco Terra is now available in 15". Curious to see if that clears, since I believe the 15" Methods (low offset) do too.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Narrow tires for winter is mostly for digging through deeper snow...if that's not the type winter driving you do then I wouldn't sweat getting a 215 or 225.

For those that want 15 inch wheels, the rally wheels designed for Subarus should fit over the red 4 pot brakes. Enkei, Method, Team Dynamics, Braid, Compomotive, Speedline, etc. Check first, but most will work. Also you'll look like a total badass. I have very little need to do this but I still might if I switch to the 4 pots.

As mentioned the bugeye 16x6.5 wheels work really well. The older 16x7 2.5RS (aka JDM STI GC8) wheels will fit. Those might be hard to find at this point though. There are plenty of aftermarket 16 inch wheels that clear too.

OEM 17s make a lot of sense, but goodness they are ugly. Previous gen WRX wheels work fine and can be found cheap.



I need to get some winter tires and I'm looking for recommendations. We get a couple days of snow around here each year, but on those days I just don't go to work. So no need to jump snow drifts, but it's often cold and wet (sometimes icy) enough that an all season would be a bad idea and a waste considering that I have summers. Any ideas?


- Andrew

[JazzleSAURUS]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Narrow tires for winter is mostly for digging through deeper snow...if that's not the type winter driving you do then I wouldn't sweat getting a 215 or 225.

For those that want 15 inch wheels, the rally wheels designed for Subarus should fit over the red 4 pot brakes. Enkei, Method, Team Dynamics, Braid, Compomotive, Speedline, etc. Check first, but most will work. Also you'll look like a total badass. I have very little need to do this but I still might if I switch to the 4 pots.

As mentioned the bugeye 16x6.5 wheels work really well. The older 16x7 2.5RS (aka JDM STI GC8) wheels will fit. Those might be hard to find at this point though. There are plenty of aftermarket 16 inch wheels that clear too.

OEM 17s make a lot of sense, but goodness they are ugly. Previous gen WRX wheels work fine and can be found cheap.



I need to get some winter tires and I'm looking for recommendations. We get a couple days of snow around here each year, but on those days I just don't go to work. So no need to jump snow drifts, but it's often cold and wet (sometimes icy) enough that an all season would be a bad idea and a waste considering that I have summers. Any ideas?


- Andrew

Winter wheels!



Tbh, with how cheap they are, just get the arctics. They last so long, and are so good when it gets heavy you can really have a riot. Run the pressure a bit high and you can combat the soft sidewalls they are known for.

Most of the other tires I like are 30%ish more expensive, and don't seem to last as long. They may be a better 'non-snowing winter tire', but I think the arctic makes up for it when it is bad, at least in my neck of the woods.

[churchx]

Originally Posted by why?

.. this exactly. I'd be so tempted to find wheel places that would just try wheels to see if they fit. I'd love a cheap light set of 15's.

It would be much easier, if someone had made brake fitment template for stock brakes of twins. I asked that few times in brake template thread, but with no results. If there had been such template, it might have been referred even to online wheel sellers to check if they clear brakes. Or to check fitment much faster with several wheels/sizes without actually mounting them.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by JazzleSAURUS

Winter wheels!



Tbh, with how cheap they are, just get the arctics. They last so long, and are so good when it gets heavy you can really have a riot. Run the pressure a bit high and you can combat the soft sidewalls they are known for.

Most of the other tires I like are 30%ish more expensive, and don't seem to last as long. They may be a better 'non-snowing winter tire', but I think the arctic makes up for it when it is bad, at least in my neck of the woods.

Gah I always wanted a set of those. Nice pic!

The price on the Artics is definitely appealing. Most of the "performance" winter tires are at least 20 bucks a tire more expensive.

- Andrew

[Racecomp Engineering]

Refurbished 16x7 Subaru 2.5RS wheels are like 135 bucks each. That's tempting.

- Andrew

[churchx]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Narrow tires for winter is mostly for digging through deeper snow...if that's not the type winter driving you do then I wouldn't sweat getting a 215 or 225.

I actually do see snow, and find 205 working good, but would have prefer 195. Our cars are relatively light, they need narrower tires to cut through then normal cars that are from 1.5t and up. Pity that there are very few 16" with less enough width to not stretch much and it also limits a lot available winter tire choice of 16" AND +195, seemingly 195 width is way more common for 15" tire/wheel sizes for tire manufacturers.

For those that want 15 inch wheels, the rally wheels designed for Subarus should fit over the red 4 pot brakes. Enkei, Method, Team Dynamics, Braid, Compomotive, Speedline, etc. Check first, but most will work. Also you'll look like a total badass. I have very little need to do this but I still might if I switch to the 4 pots.

I'd much prefer to find ones fitting over stockers. There are many people that won't do brake kit switch ever for various reasons, be it budget, be it racing class rules, be it local MOT legality reasons. Hence known confirmed fitment for _stockers_ would imho benefit widest twins owners group/niche vs users of various non-stock brake kit user niches.

I need to get some winter tires and I'm looking for recommendations. We get a couple days of snow around here each year, but on those days I just don't go to work. So no need to jump snow drifts, but it's often cold and wet (sometimes icy) enough that an all season would be a bad idea and a waste considering that I have summers. Any ideas?

Imho there is reason, why in most winter tire tests Michelin Xi3/Blizzak WS80/Nokian hakkapeliitta R2 in most cases are among top 5. If no way to test many tires, imho any of these would be safe enough choice. If studded are legal in your state, i'd go for Nokian Hakkas 8 of course (btw, case for my first quote answer point, there are 16" 195 R2, but studded 8tghs only from 205)

[JazzleSAURUS]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Refurbished 16x7 Subaru 2.5RS wheels are like 135 bucks each. That's tempting.

- Andrew

That's a steal, and perfect for the intended purpose.

This set came off a 20k mile barn find 2.5RS that was getting the full JDM STi treatment, and the owner was ecstatic to get $500 to help fund his project. Ended up getting them shipped via Grayhound, it worked out pretty well.

[~el~jefe~]

Originally Posted by churchx

~el~jefe~: i drive "on dry roads" (cleaned up from snow/ice with salt mostly) in city 95% of time. BUT! I prefer to ready car for worst cases. It's those 5% that can prevent you from going or add a lot of time to get to those 95%, those 5% where you may lack traction on countryside road/iced uphill/unplown yard or road/right after heavy snowfall & not yet cleaned/to avoid crash/etc. I want to be able to rely on car to get me where and when i need and for that i need good proper winter tires, not just something that somewhat may do.

the ability to grip and stop in dry with other cars on the road at high speed is vastly more important. The slightly smaller size tire need is a myth. The design of the tire is everything. You will notice that the 215/45/17 version of the tire has different proportions of the pattern of a 205. Getting a different brand or model will have 100x more impact than width, negating different sizes. However, on dry roads which is 90% of the driving in winter, stability and braking and corning is determined by maintaining the same sidewall size and treadwidth size. I really have to let this be known. We have light engined race cars, not 1991 toyota corollas.

[churchx]

~el~jefe~: myth? I found similar weighting MR2 gripping better then mine. Very same tires, but MR2 had 195, i had 205. "Aquaplaning" may happen not just on water, but also on snow slush. And just as with water aquaplaning, the narrower tire is, the higher pressure per area in contact patch and less water/snow to push through at same car weight and at same car speed. BTW, generic "myth" of going down at least one size seems to be shared about any winter tire sites/articles/etc. They ALL had been wrong for many years?

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by churchx

I actually do see snow, and find 205 working good, but would have prefer 195. Our cars are relatively light, they need narrower tires to cut through then normal cars that are from 1.5t and up. Pity that there are very few 16" with less enough width to not stretch much and it also limits a lot available winter tire choice of 16" AND +195, seemingly 195 width is way more common for 15" tire/wheel sizes for tire manufacturers.

If I were driving in deep unplowed snow often I'd find some FHI 4 pots and a 15 inch wheel and some 195s, but that's just not what I need.

Originally Posted by churchx

I'd much prefer to find ones fitting over stockers. There are many people that won't do brake kit switch ever for various reasons, be it budget, be it racing class rules, be it local MOT legality reasons. Hence known confirmed fitment for _stockers_ would imho benefit widest twins owners group/niche vs users of various non-stock brake kit user niches.

I think it will be very difficult to find a 15 that fits over the stock brakes.

Originally Posted by churchx

Imho there is reason, why in most winter tire tests Michelin Xi3/Blizzak WS80/Nokian hakkapeliitta R2 in most cases are among top 5. If no way to test many tires, imho any of these would be safe enough choice. If studded are legal in your state, i'd go for Nokian Hakkas 8 of course (btw, case for my first quote answer point, there are 16" 195 R2, but studded 8tghs only from 205)

Studded is not needed (or legal) where I live. When we get big snow or ice storms, I just walk to the bar with my laptop and spend the day there.

- Andrew