Winter tires and wheels

[L-man]

Hello, everyone!
I am a new member posting for this first time. I just recently bought my ST and wheels and tires are the first thing I'd like to complete. I have already bought summer wheels and tires but I would like to have a completely separate set for winter. I am looking for recommendations for wheel and tire sizes to get the best performance in winter/snow? Thanks in advance for any help with this! Happy to have this forum for help.

 

[Business6]

I've used the blizzak ws80 (in 205/40/17 and 205/50/16), which is no longer in production, and also have firestone winterforce2's as my current winter tires (running 205/50/16 summer & winter). Unfortunately I didn't drive in the snow once last year so I can't say much other than they performed considerably better than the ws80 in non-snow conditions. So far as my experience goes I'd recommend them but there are good options out there.

Wheels are entirely up to your style preferences and your budget. Heavy steelies, an extra set of stock wheels, or be a mad lad and use Enkei RPF-1s year-round like me

Also, unless you're going to run 15s in the winter, don't go under 205mm on the section width. Chances are you'll be driving in dry and wet conditions far more often than snow and you still want a decent contact patch.

 

[L-man]

Thanks! Yeah I hear Blizzaks are the best. I was thinking of getting 15" Konig Controls. They are about $100 each on CARid.

 

[M-Sport fan]

I am sure that the roads are frost-heaved, and bombed-out there in the western Berkshires, so yeah, I would stick with a 15" diameter winter wheel/taller sidewall tire setup as well.

 

[L-man]

Yeah, it gets pretty bad over here haha, thanks for the advice. Do you guys think I should go for the Konigs or just go cheap and get steelies?

 

[SteveS]

We're using some Motegi MR116s that I found to be pretty inexpensive. 15". We also are using 185/60R15s. Yokohama iceGuards. They were pretty inexpensive and have proven to be a good tire in snow and ice, and not too bad in the dry either.

 

[scooter123]

Get Steelies, nobody pays any attention to style when you have a bunch of snow to deal with. They are all watching for ice and what might be sliding at them. BTW I grew up in the snow belt around Cleveland, where 12-18 inches in a day isn't unusual. Skinny tires in deep snow are a big positive, you get a lot less drag which means less wheelspin. My winter tire choice is 195r60x15. Would have preferred 185's but that size wasn't available for the Blizzak. I also don't worry about small contact patches, winter driving is all about driving as the conditions dictate.

 

[Pablo Pistoffo]

Another vote for steelies- I wrapped mine in 185/60s Nokian Hakkapeliittas for nasty winters. They do the job and can claw through some nasty snow and icebut it's always an adjustment to get used to them each fall. Don't take them on a snowy gravel rally cross course, though. I lost most of the studs after one event.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Another vote for steelies- I wrapped mine in 185/60s Nokian Hakkapeliittas for nasty winters. They do the job and can claw through some nasty snow and icebut it's always an adjustment to get used to them each fall. Don't take them on a snowy gravel rally cross course, though. I lost most of the studs after one event.

Nokian offers most of their model tires sans metal inserts as well.

 

[L-man]

Awsome, thanks a lot guys! I think I'll go steel. I want black either way so might as well save a bit.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Or you could find stockers used with tires still on them for sometimes cheaper than buying new steelys by themselves. Good luck

 

[dhminer]

15" steelies with Michelin x-ice for me. Absolutely love em

 

[axelmckenzie]

I don't have any experience with winter tires since I live in Florida. Some of my friends who live in Minnesota run a set of either Bridgestone Blizzak or Michelin Xi3. I read a couple of good reviews about Nokian tires as well. You may want to check out 4WheelOnline for a wide variety of snow tires.

 

[Snrub]

You can often buy used alloys cheap, but it depends on your area and the type of car. In our case, the weird bolt pattern seems to mean sellers have a limited market. Wheels can be painted too. I picked my winter alloys for $160 and they'd never been used before.

Normally winter tires are not as fun as summer tires. This is especially true of the hardcore winter snow/ice tires. I find on this car the difference is particularly pronounced, I think because this car can change direction so quickly. I hate the winters I have, Conti viking contact 7, but if you look at objective test data/reviews they're suppose to be among the best of handling in any condition. I have experience with the Xice3s on other cars and they're also a good choice. Blizzaks are a good choice too, but I have owned the WS80s (other car), but the WS90s are supposed to be a significant improvement.

If I were buying again, I'd be very tempted to buy Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 in the OEM size, on OEM wheels, or at least that size. I have limited personal experience with the performance winters, but I'd be curious to try performance winters on this car. The idea would be to run tires with less tread squirm/deflection, better dry characteristics and a reasonable weight wheel (ie. Not steelies). Has anyone else tried this setup?

 

[AzNightmare]

I'm on 15x6
185/60R15 with Michelin Xi3.
I think if you're not going up mountains or something, then you don't need something more heavy duty like Blizzaks.

The wheels feel light and noticeably quicker accelerating, lol.
But I found a set of cheap mk1 Focus wheels, as opposed to steelies which will be heavy.

 

[L-man]

So I ended up getting some 15x6.5" wheels new and I found some used 195/60R15 winterforce tires for free! Do you think they will fit? I know the overall diameter of these tires is a little bigger than stock but was hopping they would work because.... free!
Also, I don't have TPMS for these yet and I was thinking of going without them for the winter wheels. What exactly happens when you don't have TPMS? Like is it a constant flashing light and a prompt on the touch screen? I can deal with an idiot light but noises and screen prompts might be too much.
Thanks again!

 

[dhminer]

So I ended up getting some 15x6.5" wheels new and I found some used 195/60R15 winterforce tires for free! Do you think they will fit? I know the overall diameter of these tires is a little bigger than stock but was hopping they would work because.... free!
Also, I don't have TPMS for these yet and I was thinking of going without them for the winter wheels. What exactly happens when you don't have TPMS? Like is it a constant flashing light and a prompt on the touch screen? I can deal with an idiot light but noises and screen prompts might be too much.
Thanks again!

I’m running 195/55R15 winter tires. I think yours will fit unless you’ve lowered the car quite a bit. I also have no TPMS. The light is always on but no beeping or anything overly annoying

 

[M-Sport fan]

I have 195/60-15s on 15x7 wheels, no rubbing/scraping or contact at all on the factory suspension. A 6.5" wide wheel is FINE for that width tire as well.

NONE of my current wheels have TPMS at all, and there is just a tone at startup, and the small dash light that blinks once and a while.

I just disregard it, and one of these years I will get the Forscan app/tool and delete the TPMS program from the system altogether.

My state inspection, which is otherwise quite draconian, does not give a CRAP about that dash light, so no problems there.

 

[L-man]

This is good news! Thanks!

 

[L-man]

All set and done!
Just in time for the snow. 15X6.5 Konig Controls and 195/60R15 Winterforce tires.
Thanks for all the info/help guys! I really like the way this ended up.