Winter tyres!

[KARL KING]

Hi all, does anyone know what wheel sizes I can get away with on my WRX-S hatch was thinking of getting a spare set for winter also does anyone know where’s best place to get alloys and what winter tyres are best 

many thanks 

karl 

[ccrien]

For winter wheels that might only be on 4-5 months max,, when its dark more hours than its daylight, ( so no- one sees them much) and roads are mucky and salty so the wheels arent often clean,  a second hand set from gumtree or breakers might be adequate for you??   

Sorry cant advise on size.

Mark Harris summed it up nicely a while ago on the forum when different winter tyre brands were suggested by different people, I think i can paraphrase the jist of it as something like: "once youve driven on snow or ice on proper winter tyres, theres no comparison to summer tyres", message being that any decent full winter tyre is totally different to summer tyres on snow, and the particular brand isnt that important?      

Havng said that, I would personally recommend a block type pattern rather than the chevron type tread pattern, I found Nokian WRA3 ( now superceded by WRA4) excellent, Bridgestone Blizzak's also have a good reputation.   Avoid Micheln Alpin's.

Good choice and prices at mytyres.co.uk but are typically delivered in a week or so from Germany.

 

Edited October 9, 2019 by ccrien

[MarkJHarris]

Yep. I run a set of Pirelli SottoZero in standard size 225/45/17. I use original Subaru Alloys as they clear the brakes and look fine. Wheels need a good clean and polish first, then put Rain-X on them (an old Ferrari valetter's trick).

The SottoZeros are now 6 years old and have virtually no wear on them at all! This includes a fast hack to Turkey and back (2,500 miles each way.) 6 Winters and they're about to go on again probably for the last time. They do feel different and need the suspension backing off to feel right.

[fpan]

How do the Pirellis feel after 6 years? Hasn't the material aged and have started to become slippery?

My previous Nokians WRG3 felt a lot more slippery after 3 winters even though they had tread left.

[MarkJHarris]

Don't do many miles on them to be honest. They showed absolutely no wear after the 5,000 miles to Turkey and back though. Lots of high speed runs in that lot too. They're about to come out of the box (garden storage box round the back) where they've sat since April. I'll report back then. They were absolutely fine last winter though. Edges still sharp and worked perfectly on the snow we had.

They live on a spare set of O.E. alloys and are cleaned/polished and tyres cleared of any stones and silicone sprayed before storage.

Pampered.....