Snow tire/rim recommendations

[MONKEYMAN]

We had -25 wind chills with snow causing a mess in St Louis. It tested the limits of my current set-up. I have a 99 Saturn SL2 with CS4's with 30,000 miles on them. By next winter I would need to replace them. I am considering getting some steel rims and front snow tires for front. My problem is traction at stops and in slush. I work with people who are home bound so need to be able to drive in all conditions. Snow tires would allow me to get an extra year out of the CS4's.

1. Where is a good place to buy used rims? My aluminum rims are 15". I assume a 15" inch steel rims would allow to mount proper tire but just want to be sure.

2. Where is a good place to buy snow tires? I am thinking online then having them mounted at Wal-Mart. I am not sure the best route to go?

3. I am on a tight budget, but but do not want to compromise safety. I am looking for a tire that will get the job done at a good price. Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

 

[eljefino]

You have a world of options.

You could downsize to 14 inchers like are found on the SL1s.

Tirerack has a goodyear for $57 in 175/70/14.

Of course 195/60/15 is a very popular size as well. The 20mm extra width is not necessarily a good thing. 185/65/15 is another viable size.

Are you thinking for next winter or do you want to get them on now to enjoy for the last 2/3 of this one?

The problem with Saturn rims is that while they have the standard 4x100 bolt pattern their center hubs are pretty big-- 68mm IIRC. So civic rims often won't fit. Aftermarket ones should; they have huge bores. I'd just get Saturn rims... look on craigslist etc.

Tirerack sells steelies and will mount tires for free if you get them through them.

 

[901Memphis]

Tire rack will sell you a mounted and balanced snow Tire on new aluminum rims for a fair price if you can afford it. Any of the brands they sell are respectable. Would probably just get the cheapest they have in your oem Tire size.

Check out this video

http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index.jsp?video=22&tab=winter


I would recommend the general altimax Arctic in 185/65/15 or thereabouts depending on your rim size. Rear tires are very important even on a fwd car, so keep that in mind. Tire rack has a wealth of information on all of this.

 

[Olas]

Uniroyal MS6 are reasonably priced, and you can get steels for cheap off ebay.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

I found some Saturn used rims at Al Auto Salvage. They list them for $25 each. They had a lot of 15" ones and only of few 14". Could I run 14" in front and 15" in back?

Back story: I had Michelin Hydroedge. Great tire in wet. Then came winter. I was slipping and sliding even though they had a lot of tread left. I ended up with the CS4's since that is all they have in stock. My experience I have had to replace tires early since they do not work well enough for winter.

Yes, I want to get them now. My stepfather lives out in the country and need to get to him besides my work needs. I am on my second set of CS4's. I considered just getting some new ones for front. My tire shop gave me the lecture that new tires need to go on back so ended up with 4 new tires.

So having four of same tires would be better, but I am getting good rear traction. It is low speed traction that concerns me that most.

 

[eljefino]

Don't mix 15s and 14s. The premise of using skinny 14s is more sidewall flex and the "pizza cutters" dig through snow down to pavement. A Saturn is a light car and needs all the help it can get, digging down.

Last week I saw some 14" winter tires for $50 "somewhere online" but lost the link.

Also call around locally; they're slow sellers and you might find a deal.

 

[Pablo]

Good on finding rims. Craigslist or the like would be my recommendation. I scored some close out alloy rims at Tire Rack that were only marginally more expensive than steel, a REAL BITOG savings for something new. (WRX stock is 17", I went down to 16") I noticed yesterday they were all gone.

And that brings up my problem a couple weeks ago. All the "great" snow tires were sold out - everywhere. In my sizes at least. Then I spotted a new one: Dunlop Winter Maxx. I was skeptical, as some other Dunlop snows get lousy ratings. But after driving a short while on them I'm very happy! They are XL rated so they do have a pretty stiff sidewall - something I wanted because the are 60's (coming from a 45). Anyway, all around a great tire and there is a $10 per tire rebate. Score!

Lastly - go all four. Your stopping distance will thank you.

 

[rjundi]

Winter tires on the front only mean if you hit (black) ice or any slippery condition your tail can kick out and very expectantly. The traction difference between winter tires and all-seasons is major when running on snow/ice creating quite an imbalance.

So in terms of "safety" it is far safer to run on 4 relatively matched tires(4 winter or 4 all-seasons) vs 2 winters + 2 all-seasons.

I did the 2winter + 2all-season set up in college with fair warning from tire shops. I spun the car many a time that winter which was a snowy record for us.

 

[Astro14]

Go all 4. Your stability and control will thank you. In Germany, winter tires on all 4 are required by the law...there is simply too large of a difference in traction between true winter tires and all seasons for a mix to give safe handling. Once you've had 4 true winter tires on your car, you will never again say "all seasons are good enough"...

I know you're looking at my Virginia Beach address, but trust me, this is from years of living in Colorado, Vermont, and Winnipeg....

 

[Kira]

+1 on 4 snows and believe me, in addition to being as thrifty, frugal, cheap and impoverished as all of you combined, I am also as smart-as some of you.

Driving on 4 snows compared to street tires in Winter is NIGHT AND DAY period. I wouldn't be without them. I even remove them if the snow clears up. You get to rotate your snows when you have 4.

Keep in mind, the soft rubber helps stop you faster in cold, snow-free conditions. Kira

 

[IndyIan]

I'm with Eljefino, 14" 175/70's will make your car feel like a snowmobile in snow and slush. Cheaper brand name snow tires are a huge improvement over 3 season tires, no need to go with the premium ones unless you want too or get a good deal on them.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

How are junkyards by you? I got alloys for $20 a piece at a local junkyard. Worked great! They do have a bit of curb rash, but who cares? Just for winter.

I wish I could go 175 on the Focus. But 175/65-15 are too low of a load rating

 

[CapriRacer]

Honestly, if you are on a budget, look for 4 All Season tires that are rated highly for snow traction. There are a bunch of those out there. That would be better than 2 snow tires on the front.

Ya' see, the best traction available for a car is the traction available by the worst tire. Putting winter tires on one end doesn't help the traction on the other end - and you need traction on BOTH ends.

 

[99Saturn]

When I was looking for wheels for one of our cars, eljefino gave me this site - car-part.com.

Also, FWIW - I was looking at snows on TireRack for our '99 and it seems like all 15" wheels they have require 195/60/15 tires - in other words if you go for a full TireRack Package, just make sure you are price what you would actually be buying. DTD does have the steel wheel options for $55 but it sounds like you'll get a better deal at a local junkyard.

 

[eljefino]

^ check again using a 2002 saturn SL2, they went to 185/65/15 then and might give different/more/less options.

 

[99Saturn]

^ I saw this note on all wheels and just assumed it was prohibitive in size without going back to the specs. TR Quote: 7"" must use 195/60-15 or 205/55-15 15X7"" will not work with O.E. 185/65-15 tires!

Thanks for clearing up my misinformation.

Glad I said something, you just opened up more choices for myself next winter.

 

[eljefino]

Oh ok. The 7" rim is wider than the stock 6- or 6.5".

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I run firestone winterforce on 14's that cost under 80- bucks ea mounted and balanced to new steel rims from Tirerack. They do very well. I hear the Altimax are better, but I am happy with the VERY aggressive, tall and open tread blocks on the Winterforce.

 

[Garandman]

We bought near-new OEM take off alloy rims for a number of cars on eBay.

They are often cheaper than new steel rims. Everyone is going +1 or +2 on rims these days so the stock rim sizes can be had cheaply. Keep searching Craigslist.

There are some "off-brand" snows that are good. Nordman is made by Nokian. Viking is made by Continental. The General Altimax Arctic is the old Gislavid NordFrost 3. 15" sizes are not expensive and you are halving the waear of your other tires.

For drivers that don't log a lot of miles, I've been suggesting they buy winter tires for year-round use, rather than "No Seasons."

 

[mattwithcats]

Remember, rim size does not matter, tread width matters in the snow....

First number is tread width, second height of sidewall as a percentage of tread width, third is rim size...

Hence, a 195/60/14 is worse in the snow than a 175/65/15...
195 mm wide VS 175....

Look for a Chevy Cobalt, Pontiac G6 04-08 rims will also fit, grab the compact spare also, it's a 15 inch rim, Saturn's have a 14 inch rim on the OEM compact spare