I'm in the process of looking for snows to mount to my "winter" stock rims. They came with 175/65/15's, which are hard to find in snows and very pricey. Has anyone else had success with an alternate size on the stock Cooper rims?

 

race with 205/50/15's and also had 195/60/15's on the holies

 

Yeah I have 185/65/15 and it works. Only a bit taller than stock so fitment is no problem.

 

A really great Winter tire for the 15" wheels is the Pirelli Winter 190 Snowcontrol. If you search NAM for this, you'll find plenty of discussion on these tires.

 

Tirerack lists this as an alternate size, and it sounds like it worked OK for you. Thanks!
Apparently I can't get that exact tire in this size, although Tirerack has Pirelli Winter Carving tires. Are they similar?

 

I have Holies with 205/50 Azenis for autocross, and some with 195/60 all-season Kumho's for winter. (Doesn't snow too much around here.) If I was looking for pure winter tires, I'd look at Nokians. I think they know a lot about snow in Finland. Think reindeer. I think they invented Santa Claus.

http://www.tirefactory.net/RSI.htm

 

Two sets of holeys also for my Mini, for the street I have 195/55-15 Toyo T1R's (for warm weather use) and 205/50-15 Kumho V710's for autocross use.

-Keith

 

Just got 195/60/15 Toyos from Edgeracing mounted today on my holeys. If you want to retain stock rolling radius and go a bit wider, I think it's the perfect size. There are some very nice allseason perf. tires available that will handle SOME snow. If a lot of snow, you're better off with dedicated snow tires.

 

I'll chime in with the winter rubber size mounted to my holies - 185/60R15 Toyo Observe, about 5mm shorter than stock, but also somewhat of an obscure size to find.

 

For winter only you can go with the Hankook Icebear W300 in a 195/60/15.

On sale at Edge Racing for $58 per

http://www.edgeracing.com/tire/4250/

 

Thanks for all the help, everyone. Apparently 185/65/15 fits on my stock cooper rims (these are the narrow S-lite copies that come on early coopers and are only 6" wide). I went with the Bridgestone Blizzak REVO. Tirerack was very helpful in determining this option!