Winter Tires Question
- Thread starter Ambien
- Start date
Ambien: get a new set of wheels dude. For one 18" snow tires are going to be expensive, and if you figure $80 to mount the summer tires each spring, and $80 to mount the snows, thats $160 a year, plus the fact that those tire jockeys are going to crunk up your wheels ripping tires off two times a year. Also it is bad for the tires to be ripped off so many times, and you don't want that winter salt on your nice 18's. Finally you can get some more narrow tires to help cut through the snow, with a bigger side wall to, like xmas said, accept those nice big pots holes we get in the winter.
edit: i almost forgot an big one, you can put mount the snows yourself if you get another set of wheels. the big advantage of that is the conveniece, beacuse if you get one big snow storm and put your snows on, then its 65 degrees and sunny for two weeks and everything melts then you are wearing your snows down hardcore. with another set of wheels you can just put your summer tires back on until the next snow frenzy.
edit: i almost forgot an big one, you can put mount the snows yourself if you get another set of wheels. the big advantage of that is the conveniece, beacuse if you get one big snow storm and put your snows on, then its 65 degrees and sunny for two weeks and everything melts then you are wearing your snows down hardcore. with another set of wheels you can just put your summer tires back on until the next snow frenzy.
I think Frolf has a great point. I was also wondering if I can still get away with driving my ZR rated tires in the snow. Is that way out of question or would I make it by driving very carefully. I just don't know if I want to invest in a whole new set of tires/wheel combo.
If I have to, should I get steel wheels or search for some cheap 15s or 16s? My brother told me to get all season tires for the 17s I have. He said from a practical standpoint, you can use them during the winter and when I need to replace the tires I have now. What do you guys think?
If I have to, should I get steel wheels or search for some cheap 15s or 16s? My brother told me to get all season tires for the 17s I have. He said from a practical standpoint, you can use them during the winter and when I need to replace the tires I have now. What do you guys think?
You may be able to "get "away with" all seasons, but you will be compromising your ride all year round and compromising your safety during the winter. In fact, I'm doing exactly the opposite of what you're considering---I have all-seasons now, I just bought a set of winter rims/tires, and as soon as my all-seasons wear down (and I save up more money), I'm going to put performance tires on my stock rims. I will be optimizing my performance and handling all year round, maximizing my safety, and have the flexibility of changing my rims/tires whenever I want to.
Re: steel wheels, I got an inexpensive set of 16" alloys with Dunlop Wintersport M3, all for under $1K.
Re: steel wheels, I got an inexpensive set of 16" alloys with Dunlop Wintersport M3, all for under $1K.
like frolf described, a separate set of winter tires on 16 rims is the most convenient and best option to optimize snow handling. all seasons comes close. even if you go to the dealer every season to get the tire/rims switched over, they charge only $30 or so for the "tire balancing."
the steel rims are cheap and you can get nice plastic covers to keep the snow out of the rims. ice collection on rims in the spoke spaces of alloy rims leads to imbalance that causes the steering wheel to shake, so the wheel covers are better for safety as well as appearance.
the steel rims are cheap and you can get nice plastic covers to keep the snow out of the rims. ice collection on rims in the spoke spaces of alloy rims leads to imbalance that causes the steering wheel to shake, so the wheel covers are better for safety as well as appearance.
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make sure they can clear your front brake calipers.. there aren't too many 16s that will do that.. but if you get one through your dealer, that would make things a bit more expensive, but you'll know you'll be getting the right size, and offset for your car.
you might have to get a 17 inch one and get the 205 55 17 size m3s.. i was really close to getting that combo, but decided to just can the idea and drive around a winter beater. i'm gonna miss my baby in the winter.. but you know when the sun peeks through, i'll be out in my bimmer again![[:D]](/images/smilies/biggrin.png "Big Grin [:D]")
you might have to get a 17 inch one and get the 205 55 17 size m3s.. i was really close to getting that combo, but decided to just can the idea and drive around a winter beater. i'm gonna miss my baby in the winter.. but you know when the sun peeks through, i'll be out in my bimmer again
Good point. It seems like the only 16" rim that is known to fit over the calipers of a 330 are the AT Italia Type 5 from TireRack (which are replicas of the E36 M3 OEM rims). If you go to a dealer, they will suggest 17" steels, and the entire package will cost you (literally) more than 50% more than the package from TireRack.