So I need to get winters and i was looking at 205/50/16 but then i came across this in regards to 15's...

http://www.tirerack.com/snow/WinterP...4&autoModClar=

http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/...jsp?techid=126

So would a 195/60/15 make more sense? It would definitely make is cheaper by a lot (almost half the price in total) and I guess with the diameter difference, it won't make any difference for my speedometer.

What do you guys think? And yes, I have decided against all-season's and will be getting summer tires in the spring.

 

I have 15" steelies from tire rack with Continental ExtremeWinterContact in 195/60/15

They are awesome. Cuts through the snow so well. Stops awesome. Great dry handling on cold roads too. Takes a little to get used to due to the taller sidewall and more narrow track. Narrow is always better in winter.

Your speedometer will read 0.6% slower. http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html No big deal really.

Dedicated winter and summer tires is always best. When you try to have something ok for everything it does nothing greatly.

I also seriously recommend the ExtremeWinterContact. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....eWinterContact

I've had Blizzaks and these are better by far. They have great reviews. Very good on ice.

 

The 15's are the better option. I run 16" winter tires and wish I had gone with 15" to save some money and have more options, however, I'm not going to buy yet another set of wheels.

As for which tire to go with, there are tons of great options out there. I prefer the more performance oriented snow tires because I do more highway driving than deep snow driving in the winter. The Bridgestone Blizzaks WS-60 are always a incredibly highly recommended snow tire. I've run the Blizzak LM-22s in the past (performance version) and am currently on Michilin Pilot Alpins and they do fine for me, too.

Nokian's Hakkapeliitta line is another really good one.

Something else to consider is whether or not you want a winter tire that is studdable.

 

I run snow tires on my stock wheels. Regardless of what size you go with, snows are a MUST for our cars in locations that get a lot of snow. I bought Cooper tires and love them. I am on my 2nd season with them. I run stock 205/50/16

Cooper Weather-Master S/T

 

I have a question to ask regarding winter tires. Is it better to run winters on stock rims, or get separate rims for the winter tires?

 

it more depends on your area....the salt can trash your alloys if they're not taken care of so a lot people jsut switch to steel wheels for the winter. it's not so much the snow....it's the salt.

 

I have a 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart, can anyone confirm for me that 15" wheels WILL fit? for some reason I have a feeling that only 16+ will...

I am looking at getting the continential extreme winter contract

Thanks

 

Go with the Nitto nt sn2. Very very good tire. Better than the blizzacks in my opinion. They're prices pretty much the same too.

 

I'm running these in the winter. Got nothing bad to say about em in the snow. Wouldnt drive spirited though, even on pavement.

 

It's better to run two sets of wheels, one for summer and one for winter, that way you don't have to pay to have tires swapped every year. You can just swap them yourself.

 

I was thinking about picking some steel rims and winter tires for my RA. When you guys bought your winter tires did you just get the plain black steel wheel with out a hub cap or anything? If so does it look really weird?

 

For the first couple years I had the car I used uncovered steelies. Personally, I'd rather see a black steelie than a crappy hubcap. The downside to steelies is that they will end up rusting to the hub over the winter which is why I ended up moving my winter tires over to the stock wheels and bought a new set of summer wheels.

Plus, steelies are heavy and will affect performance appropriately, if you care about such a thing.

 

I use 205/55/16 LM22s. Sort of a low profile winter tire. I just like that fat tire look it gives....90s rally style.

 

so if i end up getting steelies and tires already together, can i change them myself or does a shop need to do it? what's with the balancing and stuff? i don't know anything about the process...

 

if u get a set of tires u kinda need to have a shop mount n balance them...you may be able to do it but u'd end up doig so much work and take quite a while...plus ud have to take em to a shop to balance them...

almost every auto repair shop has a tire mounting and a balancing machine...you can probably get the 4 tires mounted and balanced for about $40 a tire...plus the cost of wheels and tires...(if u get the wheels and tires thru them you may be even able to work out some kind opf deal for a slightly lower price....but most likely u can get wheels and tires cheaper somewhere online and just have them mount em...then u can put the wheels on yourself and save yourself $20-40 everytime(depends where u go)

plus make sure the wheels u get work w/ your lugnuts and you may need centering rings...im not sure on steelies but w/ alloys u almost always need em...and always make sure to tighten/torque them properly...