17" wheels for winter tires

Hi jsharpe:

Personally, having lived in an area in Canada where we get a lot of snow at times your best bet is to put those lovely 17" Alloy Rims and Tires away for the winter and pick up some 15" Steel Rims and Studded (if allowed) Winter Tires.

It might look "too cool" but when you ARE facing skyward from a ditch you will probably be saying to yourself: "I was a fool thinking that was cool".

Food for thought.....

Edward
Marystown, Newfoundland
Canada

 

I plan on using the extra set of Scion Tc wheels I already have

 

Who cares how cool they look? In the middle of winter, the entire car is encrusted in road salt and slush anyway. I ran ugly steel multi-fit wheels, and aggressive studded winter tires, on my 2004 Prius with great results

No problems on glare ice, and only deep snow bogged it down. Didn't care how ugly the wheels and tires looked, most folks were amazed this lowly Prius was blowing their doors off at a green light in the middle of a blizzard

Just one important tip if you chose to get aftermarket wheels, especially steel wheels: you MUST use the proper "acorn" style lugnut. If you attempt to use the OEM Toyota lugnut, they will very dangerously loosen up on steel wheels

 

You want a great winter tire? Nokian Hakkapellita. Made in two compounds one a bit softer for even better traction but poorer tire mileage, or the harder one that will handle warm weather as well. Without a doubt, the best winter tire made, IMHO! Think about it, who better to make a winter tire than the Finns, where winter can be 9 months long, or Japan or Korea or China?

Icarus

 

If you get them studded, the Goodyear Nordic from Canadian Tire is an excellent winter tire. The aggressive tread is noisy on dry pavement, but if you live in an area with *real* winter weather, especially winter that lasts a long time and gets down to -40, that tire is hard to beat

 

I had a set of Cooper low profile tires on a 17" rim on an 04" Matrix. Never put the car in ditch especially the way I drive in the winter! I paid an arm and a leg for the package by piecing it together (aluminum rims + lp cooper tires). I purchased a set from TireRack for 06 Rav4 V6 and they are awesome. Painted steel and Blizzak tires. Recommend the painted steel and tires the other's have recommend above.

 

Using alloy wheels in winter is not recommended - salt and grit (if used) can ruin them and in any case you will not have enough chances to show them off with all the dirt, snow, salt, etc. on the roads.
Normally winter tyres should be not too wide and good quality to provide good traction and short braking distances. I would not save money on that. As for the wheels, normal steel wheels will do.

 

I used multi-fit steel rims from Canadian Tire, along with studded Goodyear Nordic (Goodyear Ultra Grip 500 in the EU) on my Prius.

THis is a very aggressive winter tire, but absolutely worth it if you have to drive in "real" winter conditions. Why anybody would try to drive on "all season" tires, especially on ICE, is beyond me

Note that the Toyota lugnuts can NOT be used on generic steel rims, as they will dangerously loosen up. You must use the proper "acorn" lugnut on a steel wheel, that also applies to aftermarket steel wheels on an FJ Cruiser

Fortunately, the proper acorn lugnuts are easy to get at your local NAPA store