Need some help on my shopping for winter tires.

I have a 03 G35 coupe 6MT, that unfortunately I’m going to start drive next winter (or this winter if the beater craps out on me) and I’m in the market for winter tires and rims. I’ve heard positive feedback on Dunlop Winter Sport M3, Bridgestone Blizzacks, and Toyo Garitis. I live in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario.

My questions are:
1) 17”, 18” or 19”?? I would think 19” is good for additional ground clearance but I’ve read numerous times in the forums 17” is the way to go. Any thoughts?
2) Dunlop Winter Sport M3, Bridgestone Blizzacks, and Toyo Garitis are all apparently favoured on the forums. Any brands/models I should stay away from?
3) Does the fact that I have brembo affect the rim choice?

Any thoughts or comments greatly appreciated!

 

I can't help you much with your rim choice questions, but I can give you my opinions on the Toyos.

I have the Garit HTs on 17'' sedan rims (i think 215/55) and they are great in the snow. For the most part, great tires but I do notice that they get quite loud past 60kph (subjective thing).

 

The 17's won't fit Brembos. Pretty sure you must go 18's.

I've used Blizzaks on a few cars and liked them.

Make sure the circumference is the same (within 3%) when you buy, or the VDC and ABS will act up and your speedo will be incorrect.

C.

 

^WHS, you will need 18s
I switched to Blizzaks for the first time & found them a significant improvement over Dunlop M3s

 

i was wondering would 17s steelies fit on 06+ coupes with any problems??

 

Im pretty sure, you dont have brembos.

 

17's do fit brembos, you just have to be careful which rims to pick so they clear the calipers. I have Pirelli's 210 Snowsports with 17's ASA JH3's.

http://www.lakeshorewheelandtire.com/wheels/asa-jh3.JPG

Hope this helps.

 

If you want a cheap alternative for 17's wheels.
Mustang cobra wheels fit over the brembo brakes..
Smaller the better, more sidewall will give you a better ride over all the uneven pavement and when you smash those nice potholes the extra side wall saves you again.

 

I ran these same wheels in 17" on my 350Z which had Brembos, with no clearance problems. I used Dunlop rubber (M3s I think) and they were great in snow, but a bit squirmy in the dry (they had a lot of tread-block movement).

I currently run the Pirelli 210s on cheap aftermarket 17s (Spyn is the brand) and I hate them. I'm down to about 60% tread, my wet traction in non-existent, and these tires will spin at 1/4 throttle on dry pavement.

I'd recommend anythink but the Pirellis.

 

I picked up a package at tirerack, good experience, they helped me out along the way.

I don't have brembos, but I picked up some 17' sport edition A7's, and Continental winter extreme contacts for the rubber. I don't have much experience with different brands of winter tires, but I'm more then happy with them (used to roll my prelude on all season Toyo Proxes).

I was originally going to get the Michelin Alpin PA3's becasue they are more performance orientated, but they didn't have any available at the time.

Oh, and this was a really helpful link to me:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=122

Gives you some performance numbers.

 

Right now I'm running Nokian Hakkapeliitta R on my factory 17 inch rims, had to buy winters since my winter car started having problems at -30 weather lol, this tires are one of the best tires out there right now, I had the previous models on other vehicles and most of my family is using them for winter, I like them better than the Blizzaks and michelin,

 

Hands down blizzacks. Ran them for two years. I dont have experience with other winters to tell the truth, but these winters were full proof! Like im talking I would go out in the middle of messed up storms and lots of snow to drive cause it would be toooo fun.
But full disclosure im selling mine, But not necessarily on this website, so truthfully Blizzacks are the way to go. They are expensive, but i think the golden standard of sport winters.
Im selling my 19" oem infiniti rims with blizzacks...Definitely not a cheap set up, but baller status none the less. 225/40/19 fronts 245/40/19 rears. will clear your brakes. the front tires 90% rears 25%.
msg if you want em. if not, go blizzacks.

 

I have Dunlop Winter Sport M3 for a few years on my 6 MT sedan. They are great on dry and wet roads, almost as good as the OEM Goodyear NCT. They don't do as well in deep snow or ice. I'll probably be replacing them next winter to Blizzaks or Hakka. Only reason I went with the M3's were the raving reviews on Tirerack.

 

You don't get additional ground clearance with larger rims. The main principle you must follow is that the total diameter of the wheel and tire together must be close to the current set-up. So with 19" you would need a lower profile tire, which is bad for winter driving. That is one of the main reasons most people recommend going down one size if you can.

E.g. one link: http://www.apa.ca/template.asp?DocID=91#"Minus%20One"%20and%20"Minus %20Two"%20Conversions

 

I believe that "Winter Sport" tires are too much of a compromise between dry and snow/ice traction to be effective, and they're not much better than all-seasons.

I'm going with a true snow tire for my next set--something like the Blizzaks.