I have 18 inch rims, and am having a hard time driving in the Chicago snow.

Is it cheaper to have winter tires placed on my old 17 inch rims and just swap those over for the winter?

Ideally, I want to keep my 18 inch rims on all year round, but someone told me it would cost more to actually unmount the tires and place new tires on those rims twice a year.

Also, do they make 18 inch Blizzaks?

 

The general rule of thumb (as told to me) was that winter tires work better when thinner because there is more weight from the car pushing down on a smaller cross section meaning they are able to push all the way down thru the snow and create a contact patch/grip on the road beneath. Tires that fit on 18"'s are normally pretty wide so I would think some of the effectiveness of your winter tires would be lost.

Better to get 17"'s or even 16"'s and have winter tires put on them hence creating a dedicated set of effective winter tires. This way you also save the 18"'s from the generally corrosive conditions found on winter roads.

 

your best bet would be to get a set of OE 16 inch wheels used. Blizzacks are great snow tires but some versions wear very fast when driven on pavement. For a bit more money, any of the Nokian tires are just as good if not better in the snow, but are also long wearing. If you also want to retain some cornering ability the Nokian WR and Dunlop Wintersport M3 are great. I have a set of the latter. They have almost as much grip as the "performance" tires that came on my car.

 

look at nokian winter tires. much much better and cheaper as a rule. Made in finland and it certainly snows there.

 

I've always been a Blizzak fan and now have 205's on my winter 17" wheels. Summers are 18" wheels.

 

Narrower tread and taller side walls are the key for winter conditions. The narrow tread increases the ability to press down thru the snow and slush. The taller side walls help to soak up the inevitable potholes collisions that will occure.

You definitely will be better off having the spare set of wheels vs changing tires twice a year.

I currently run 185/65-15(24.5" diameter) Nokian Hakka 2s for the winter and 205-50-16(24.1" diameter) BF Goodrich for the summer. 215/45-16(23.6" diameter) Falken Azenis for the fun days. The stock tires were 24.4" diameter so speedometer error is not a problem.

 

I have to agree with BilboBaggins; my snow tires are 165/75-15's.
Snow tires are when you definitely want to run on "skinny b*tches"!

 

My suggestion is that you get snow tires and mount them on a dedicated set of wheels permamently. Otherwise, you're going to spend $20 to $40 a corner twice a year - it won't take long to pay for a set of wheels at that rate -- not to mention the hassle and tire machine wear on your wheels.

I have run dedicated snows for years and live in the Chicago area. I wouldn't consider driving here in the winter without them. In the end, they really cost you little because when you're running the snows your performance rubber sits in the garage accumulating zero mileage and wear.

This winter is especially bad as we are again learning tonight! I've got a set of Blizzak LM-25's mounted on my stock 17" MCS wheels. When fall arrived I ditched those worthless (I am being very kind here) runflats and had snows mounted in their place.

I got the snows from Alex at Tirerack and am delighted with them. They are the best snows I have ever owned. It is easy to forget they're snows when in the dry. In snow they dramatically improve traction making winter driving a good deal safer and more fun.

Happy motoring.

 

You are my winter tire soul mate. I'm from Mpls. (but am in Chgo. today) and I am having Tires Plus mount LM-25's (they had a half price sale last weekend) on the used 17" ers that I bought on Saturday for $220. Had Blizzaks on my Jag and loved them, as well as my neighbor had then on her BMW for a few years.
Saves the summer tread, and really helps in the slip.
Rand

 

get nokians. they are cheaper and work much better than blizzards. you will get two winters out of blizzards. i am on my fourth winter with nokians and plenty to go. tire rack does not sell nokians. american car care does.

 

I'd get a dedicated 2nd set of wheels for snow tires. Mounting/unmounting 2x a year on 1 set of wheels cost $$ and scratches on your wheels..

You can downsize to 17 or 16, but your mini wont look as nice.. it's your call. Tire tech is so good nowadays, 18" snow tires work really well.

For my Mercedes E55 AMG, I run 18" AMG monoblocks with 275/35/18 Dunlop summers and 18" AMG CLS wheels with 235/40/18 Pirelli 240 VR-rated snow tires. Even with RWD + 400HP, I haven't gotten stuck this yr (we got a lot of snow in A2) Granted it aint no Hummer but gets the job done, and actually these Pirellis handle better than most allseason rubber in dry. 80% of driving in winter is still on dry roads, and I didn't want to get Q-rated Blizzak WS60s, they are so soft and your DSC/ASC-T might go crazy. Goodluck!

 

I'm basically agreeing with everyone here, but I feel chatty tonight!

There is way less hassle getting a spare set of rims just for the winter. The 16's fit great and will save you lots of money on the wheels and the tires. I got my first set of snows 6 years ago when I moved to the country. I will never go without again, it makes such a huge difference.

I have used both these tires:

#1. The Hakkapeliittas totally rock, are long lasting and are about the most expensive thing you can buy. They are worth it though. Hakka 1, 2, and 4 are all good.

#2. Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 are just as good in the snow and ice, but don't handle as well on dry pavement (more tread squirm). They also wear down a lot faster. They cost about 50% less than Hakkas though. The WS-50 has just been discontinued and was replaced by the WS-60. I haven't heard if it's any better or worse.

The peeps in my club that do the snowcross racing pretty much all have either #1 or #2.

 

my nokians were cheaper than the blizzaks by about 40.00 a tire.

 

Tires Plus is having a sale at 50% off in stock winters. Just picked up a set of 205 17 Blizzaks, run flats, for $82 ea. That's a deal.

 

Where is a good place to buy/price nokian tires online?

 

I am looking forward to trying out Green Diamond Icelanders, and I'd love to write them up after a few months of use.
They have limited sizing though, and for my rims or maybe some 15" rims I may get theres these that seem to match within about 1-2%: Tire 1 - 205/55R16 Tire 2 - 195/60R15 according to http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp

I like the idea of sticking with my stock 16 inch rims and using the 205/55R16s ... I see that there will be a variance @ 60mph of 1.757% too slow. Does anyone figure this will be a problem?

 

If you already have the 17" wheels just mount winter tires on those and have a summer set and a winter set. Winter is the time for potholes and other road hazards that will wreck 18" wheels in no time.

Our MINI is shod in the winter with Blizzak LM-25 RFT 205/45VR17 (recommeded by Alex from Tirerack). They grip well in the snow but they also drive well in the dry (like allseasons). They are a good tire for where we live where there it snows, but dry grip at freezing temperatures is important too.

FWIW, I have the Pirelli Winter 240 SnowSports on 18" wheels my 02 Porsche 911 and they are not as good as the Blizzaks on the MINI. They grip well in the snow, but in the dry the tires feel vague and soft.

 

I have the 175/65 15" Pirelli Snow Control....great traction, not loud on dry highway...4 seasons with 3 months per season...still look and tread I think is still about 2/3's compared to new.... on steelies from Tire Rack

 

Agreed.

I run 17s in the summer and 15s in the winter (Blizzaks). Great tires ...I can go anywhere all wheel drive can go.

Older Blizzaks had a deservedly bad rap for wearing out fast, not so with the new ones.

Also, the key to getting mileage out of any snow tire is to not put them on the car until the roads are cool and take them off as soon as they get warm. Hot pavement eats snows.