[Jamie '92 968]

I just bought some 16" wheels to use with snow tires this winter.

What I'm now finding out now is that there aren't many winter tires available in the 225/50-16 size for the rear 8" wheels.

First question is whether it is OK to mount 225/55-16 on the rear wheels (Tire rack says they will fit on 8" rims). This size change gives me 11 options from TireRack vs. 1 option with the original size.
I would also up the size of the front tires to 205/60-16 vs the standard 205/55/16 to match the diameter of the up-sized rears and keep the ABS system happy.
This gives a tire diameter of 25.7" for all 4 wheels vs. the standard 25"... a 2.8% increase.
Aside from my speedometer reading a couple MPH low, is there anything wrong with this plan? I can't imagine the extra 0.35" radius causing a clearance issue, even though my car has been lowered by about 3/4".



Second question is whether anybody has a recommendation for a good winter tire.
I'm leaning towards good snow/ice performance vs dry road handling (i.e. winter "performance" tires) because it would kill me to get stuck knowing that I made that compromise.
Sure would be nice, however, if the tires didn't feel too sloppy or noisy.
Any advice would be appreciated. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

Thanks,
Jamie

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[nissanite]

The Rubber Manufactures Association states +/- 3% is acceptable. Obviously lowering your car could cause an issue. Make sure your 16" wheels are the correct offset for a 968 & I would say it is a go.

IMHO Bridgestone's Blizzaks are the best. People say the only negative is you must watch your mirror when coming to a stop. The following drivers may not have the same grip & you may repaint your rear bumper in the spring.

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[Scott Collins]

Anyone running the Continental Extreme Contact DWS tire? I'd appreciate any feedback about these. I need to replace some worn out and now discontinued Continental Winter Contact tires and options are limited for the optional OE 17" sizes of 225/45 r17 & 255/40/r17. I liked the performance of these and they were excellent in light snow and cold weather. I'd get them again but they are not available...



Hard to believe snow is already here. It's like we ended summer, skipped fall altogether and went straight to winter!

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[PhilG968]

I just put the Continental DWS on my 968 about 1000 miles ago.

I like them, I'm trying to get an all round driving tire as I'm getting tired of switching between summer and winter.

I had Sumitomo HTZIII on for the summer.

The Contis are not as crisp obviously, but pretty good. Once I got used to them not being as crisp on the turn in I have come to enjoy them. Very nice ride, good dry and wet traction, haven't been in the snow yet.

Hope that helps.

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[986boxster1998]

I've run a bunch of different tire combinations over the years but like Bridgestone's Blizzaks the best. Most memorably I went from taking an hour to get out of a parking spot to cruzing around town during a snow storm in a 1991 944 S2 Cabriolet (getting them changed the day of a snow fall really highlights how big of an improvement these make!). Finally brooke down and got a second set of rims last year and wow does it make a difference! Would recommend buying a second set to anyone who is tired of lugging tires to the store and paying to change them twice a year.

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[Scott Collins]

PhilG968,



Thanks for the feedback. Great! I definitely need a tire that will go in the snow. Let me know when you have some, please. I also have the same Sumi's for summer. Good tire, not great, but very good, IMO. Price was excellent, so, great value. But now they have no grip as temps are dropping.



986boxter1998,



I have heard great things about the Blizzak, but I can't get it in the sizes I need. Rats!



-Scott

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[rxter]

Wait until spring...

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[986boxster1998]

Scott,



As long as you get a true winter tire you should see a marked difference in the grip you will have in less than favorable conditions. I was tempted to buy a set of General Tire GT Altimax Arctic tires last season after seeing the review video and other information found on tirerack.com ; I remember they made a size that would fit the OEM 16" wheels. I had a winter rated all-season tire the year before on a Jaguar S-Type R and found it didn't provide any noticeable improvement in grip.

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[PhilG968]

Will do. Last year I used Michelin X ice IIs, they were good dedicated snow tires.

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[DaveN]

Had those on the Jetta a few years back. One has to remember to remove them after the "rains". As I recall they were almost bald after 2.5 years of constant use as my son doesn't have separate summer tires.

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