Winter Tires for Ti 17"... Argh!

[BPEW584]

I've been on the hunt for winter tires, but it's almost impossible to find these in the 215/50R17 size. Will it be OK if I deviate to a 215/55R17 size instead? Not sure if doing this would cause any unexpected issues.

Thanks!

[Sponsor]

[Kaaru]

I think that the universal rule of thumb is to always get narrower winter tires, lets say going from 215 to 195. You could go down from 17 to 16 and get a ''higher'' walled tire. I think 16'' winter tires are more commun and cheaper too...hit tirerack and see for yourself

[SaToX]

go to a 205 much more selection and only a minor deviation in overall circumference

[TiStick]

Originally Posted by BPEW584

I've been on the hunt for winter tires, but it's almost impossible to find these in the 215/50R17 size. Will it be OK if I deviate to a 215/55R17 size instead? Not sure if doing this would cause any unexpected issues.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by SaToX

go to a 205 much more selection and only a minor deviation in overall circumference

I'm running Blizzak WS60 in 205/50-17. Narrower is actually better for winter. My speedo now reads correct, btw. My THP 18's always showed up as higher mph on GPS then on speedo. Now they read the same with the 17's.

[Superd]

Dont know the size off the top of my head but i'm running 15" winters on steel rims on my titanium. Speedo is plenty close enough and the tall sidewall is nice on the nasty winter roads. I bet you could get 4 15's on steel rims for the same price as 17" winter tires only.

[PratoN]

Originally Posted by Superd

Dont know the size off the top of my head but i'm running 15" winters on steel rims on my titanium. Speedo is plenty close enough and the tall sidewall is nice on the nasty winter roads. I bet you could get 4 15's on steel rims for the same price as 17" winter tires only.

Same here. P195/65R15, I think. Just go to tirerack and pretend you have a Focus Sedan model S.

[suss6052]

Originally Posted by PratoN

Same here. P195/65R15, I think. Just go to tirerack and pretend you have a Focus Sedan model S.

You don't need to pretend, tire rack will suggest minus sizing the tire packages, (at least for the 16"s it will try to reccomend the 15" wheel and tire package. Which is probably better for winter traction, but if you were to put the bigger front brakes from an ST or aftemarket you can't go smaller than 16" wheels year round.

[PratoN]

Originally Posted by suss6052

You don't need to pretend, tire rack will suggest minus sizing the tire packages, (at least for the 16"s it will try to reccomend the 15" wheel and tire package. Which is probably better for winter traction, but if you were to put the bigger front brakes from an ST or aftemarket you can't go smaller than 16" wheels year round.

Tire rack has only ever seemed to give me 16"-20" rims or something. Never 15" last time I shopped.

[suss6052]

Originally Posted by PratoN

Tire rack has only ever seemed to give me 16"-20" rims or something. Never 15" last time I shopped.

That's odd, but maybe that's because the Ti comes standard with 17" wheels and they might not by default minus size 2 their winter packages despite the standard brakes being the same with the 18"s as they are with the 15"s in terms of the front disks at least.

Of course they were being a pain when I went to look for shipping quotes on either 15 or 16" wheels/sensors/ tires and then they tried to tell me they were oos from the nearest depot and any of the close depots but Utah or Nevada or something had them for $240+ just in shipping. But if you go with a more expensive tire they might still have had them locally.

Not sure I can afford them at this time anyway so we'll see how these continentals do in the snow first, then if I don't like them I might try and do something later.

http://www.tirerack.com/snow/WinterP...dClar=Titanium

When I went for the winter package options even specifying the Titanium model it gave me the 15" winter package as the preferred option. So that's odd that it won't show you this otherwise?

[Merrigan]

Does the Ti have the same rim size as the Se with Sport package? I have my Hankook winter tires on a set of stock painted 17" rims. They've been pretty sweet. Had them for a few weeks and no slips or slides. Definitely better than my continental touring summer tires when it comes to snow and ice.

Sent from your mom's house.