Timothy

I'm wanting to get some dedicated winter tires & rims for the vehicle. The
originals are 205/50 - 16" and I was considering a narrower tire and rim
(logically the narrower tire should find it easier to get through the snow -
but please correct me if I'm wrong).

Using the website provided in an earlier post
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey....jsp?type=HPAS by
Roarmeister it's indicating that I could go as small as 185/65-14" but
surely I'm going to have issues with such a small rim - or am I ?

Basically, will the vehicle take a 14" rim or am I forced to use a 15" or
16"?

Thanks for any help.

 

Dave Gower

"Timothy" <me@home.com> wrote

> Basically, will the vehicle take a 14" rim or am I forced to use a 15" or
> 16"?

It will take a 14 inch rim but you need 185/70 tires to get the correct
diameter. Since you're used to ZTS-grade handling, you might prefer 195/60
15s. A friend of mine just put them on his 2005 SES (similar to yours) and
he loves them.

GeoffP

"Dave Gower" <davegow-spamblock@magma.ca> wrote in message
news:OdudnXPxS80USjTenZ2dnUVZ_sGdnZ2d@magma.ca...
>
> "Timothy" <me@home.com> wrote
>
>> Basically, will the vehicle take a 14" rim or am I forced to use a 15" or
>> 16"?
>
> It will take a 14 inch rim but you need 185/70 tires to get the correct
> diameter. Since you're used to ZTS-grade handling, you might prefer 195/60
> 15s. A friend of mine just put them on his 2005 SES (similar to yours) and
> he loves them.

I recently put 14" rims with 185/70's on my Daughters car '03 ZTW, after
some very good advice from the people on this news group. (Thanks Guys.) She
is thrilled with the performance on snow and ice. I checked the speedo with
my GPS and it reads 2 kl's slow at 100 kl's. I believe most modern speedo's
read a little slow anyway,
Geoff.

Timothy

Thanks for the confirmation, it's much appreciated.

I'm not too concerned about trying to replicate the summer handling that the
OE Firestone provide (they've got 69k km on them) which are fine on dry/wet
roads but suck when it comes to the slightest bit of snow/ice. I'm just
wanting to put something on the vehicle (without breaking the bank - hence
the 14" option) that will allow me to pull away from the lights without the
traction control light burning a permanent image into my retina.

"GeoffP" <Geoff@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Z0oqf.2109$1Y4.224075@news20.bellglobal.com...
>
> "Dave Gower" <davegow-spamblock@magma.ca> wrote in message
> news:OdudnXPxS80USjTenZ2dnUVZ_sGdnZ2d@magma.ca...
> >
> > "Timothy" <me@home.com> wrote
> >
> >> Basically, will the vehicle take a 14" rim or am I forced to use a 15"
or
> >> 16"?
> >
> > It will take a 14 inch rim but you need 185/70 tires to get the correct
> > diameter. Since you're used to ZTS-grade handling, you might prefer
195/60
> > 15s. A friend of mine just put them on his 2005 SES (similar to yours)
and
> > he loves them.
>
> I recently put 14" rims with 185/70's on my Daughters car '03 ZTW, after
> some very good advice from the people on this news group. (Thanks Guys.)
She
> is thrilled with the performance on snow and ice. I checked the speedo
with
> my GPS and it reads 2 kl's slow at 100 kl's. I believe most modern
speedo's
> read a little slow anyway,
> Geoff.
>
>

GeoffP

"Timothy" <me@home.com> wrote in message
news:n_zqf.2258$1Y4.254913@news20.bellglobal.com...
> Thanks for the confirmation, it's much appreciated.
>
> I'm not too concerned about trying to replicate the summer handling that
> the
> OE Firestone provide (they've got 69k km on them) which are fine on
> dry/wet
> roads but suck when it comes to the slightest bit of snow/ice. I'm just
> wanting to put something on the vehicle (without breaking the bank - hence
> the 14" option) that will allow me to pull away from the lights without
> the
> traction control light burning a permanent image into my retina.
>
> "GeoffP" <Geoff@nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:Z0oqf.2109$1Y4.224075@news20.bellglobal.com...
>>
>> "Dave Gower" <davegow-spamblock@magma.ca> wrote in message
>> news:OdudnXPxS80USjTenZ2dnUVZ_sGdnZ2d@magma.ca...
>> >
>> > "Timothy" <me@home.com> wrote
>> >
>> >> Basically, will the vehicle take a 14" rim or am I forced to use a 15"
> or
>> >> 16"?
>> >
>> > It will take a 14 inch rim but you need 185/70 tires to get the correct
>> > diameter. Since you're used to ZTS-grade handling, you might prefer
> 195/60
>> > 15s. A friend of mine just put them on his 2005 SES (similar to yours)
> and
>> > he loves them.
>>
>> I recently put 14" rims with 185/70's on my Daughters car '03 ZTW, after
>> some very good advice from the people on this news group. (Thanks Guys.)
> She
>> is thrilled with the performance on snow and ice. I checked the speedo
> with
>> my GPS and it reads 2 kl's slow at 100 kl's. I believe most modern
> speedo's
>> read a little slow anyway,
>> Geoff.
>>
Sorry Timothy, I just re-read my post and the tires where 195/70's. As long
as the load rating is ok, 185's would just give you a slightly lower ratio.
Maybe 2 kilometres slower at 100. and also better traction in deep snow.
Geoff.