205/60 is the same height, 215/60 is a hair taller, but will fit just great, cheaper too, not to mention better traction overall compared to the 225's. Jump on those 205's dude!!!!!
Does anyone know of a Canadian online or Toronto-ish source for a DIY stud kit for Gislaved Nordfrost 5? I need 10.5 mm Brilliant-type studs and the insertion tool.
Alternatively, anyone know of a stud-friendly Toronto tire shop that could stud them for me?
Being technically illegal in the Toronto area I think you'll have a hard time finding a shop that will add studs for you. My shop would sell me studded tires, but stated that they cannot stud studdable tires.
Found a place in Gatineau called OK Pneus (OK Tire) who can do it. Problem is, they've never heard of the 10.5 mm Brilliant studs specified for the Nordfrost 5 in the Continental spec and are proposing 11/32 studs.
Tire Rack did a test last January and seems to have reversed their previous stance that studded is not much better than non-studded.
Confusingly, they state the performance in terms of a percentage instead of something I can relate to, like a stopping distance. The main result is that the studded tire stopped on ice in about 2/3 of the distance compared to the non-studded, without suffering much penalty at all on snow or dry roads.
The problem with Tire Rack's previous opinion about studded tires, was the tire itself, they compared top of the line studless with arguably one of the lamest studded winter tires ever to hit the market, Cooper Wintermasters. Just because it's studded doesn't mean it will work great, and they showed that.