Hey everyone

I bought my G Coupe this summer and unfortunately I will be driving the car in the winter. It's getting to be late september and I am starting to think about what I will have to do to prep my car for the winter.

1.) Winter tires

Now I know that it is almost a necessity for the coupes to run some type of dedicated winter tire (Blizzaks) but I was wonder what everyone does for the rims.
My coupe has 18's and I was wondering if it would be more beneficial to get a smaller rim and a bigger tire. I don't want to go overboard on how much I will have to spend but I'm not sure if I want to put my nice rims through all of the snow/salt that we get here in upstate NY. I was wondering what would be a good alternative rim, or even just a plain steel wheel and where would be the best place to get these.
Also, does anyonen know if Blizzaks ever go on sale cause they seem pretty expensive...also what's the best places to order these from. Tirerack.com seemed to have pretty reasonable shipping rates for tires

2.) Oil

I don't know too much about car engines but I was wondering if it would be better to use a certain type of oil for cold winter months. The previous owner of my car religiously used Mobil 1 syn and I have kept that going since I bought the car but I was wondering what the best type of oil to use would be. Or, should I just stick to using the Mobil 1 syn?

3.) Rust protecion

I live in upstate NY (Rochester) and we can get a LOT of snow sometimes...up to 10-15" in one night is not unheard of here. Since we get so much snow our town likes to use a LOT of salt. I was wondering if anyone has done any rust protection to their car to protect the undercarrage of the car. My previous car was a honda prelude and I had to fix the exhaust of the car multiple times due to holes created by rust and I don't want that to happen to my G. Has anyone seen positive benefits to doing this?

4.) Body protection

I plan on keeping my car clean and waxed during the winter but are there any special types of waxes meant for winter protection?


I know that I have a lot of questions but I appreciate any input anyone has. Thanks in advance!

 

Well i just bought some blizzacks LM-60's for the rears and LM-22's for the fronts. Did the Lm60 cuz the rear is 245-45-18 and LM22 for the front 225/45/18. I've read blizzacks turn almost any car into a tank in the snow.

i bought nice new wheels and am using my OEM 18's as my winter wheels since they have bad curb rash.

If your leaving your car out in the snow, id recommend a good wax job once a month to protect against dirt that freezes to the car when its dirty and really cold.

Im here in colorado so i know snow sucks. Maybe even get 50+lbs in the trunk to help push those tires into the snow for grip. Also check your fluids, most of the containers have lines for cold/snow driving.

But this coming winter will be my first with a RWD car, anyone here on the forum know any snow secrets for our cars?

 

Here is Denver we have some stuff called PolyShield/PolyGaurd for the salt/mag chloride we use. Its supposed to be the best stuff for rust etc, only place to find it though is the car washes with the brushes and hand towel dry service.

 

i'm actually selling my winter setup - let me know if you're interested.

https://g35driver.com/forums/marketp...ter-setup.html

 

I have the 18" stock wheels on my 04 coupe. Winter setup is 225/55/17 " Dunlop M3 Winter Sport snow tires front and rear....keeps the diameter in the 3% stock range, and I can rotate the tires each season.....I mounted them on ASA KA3 7.5" aftermarket rims...(now discontinued i believe)

Have had no problems with the traction control, and the tallerside wall gives that extra grip needed for traction.

They help considerably, we get an occassional bad storm in Jersey and they do just fine. but remember its a RWD car, use common sense and you should be okay for most situations.

 

There are 2 benefits to getting different wheels for your winter setup. One, you'll save your stock 18" from winter use/abuse, and two, 17" winter tires will be cheaper than 18's. I run my stock Sedan 17's in the winter with Nokian WR G2's and bought a set of Coupe 18's for summer use. Our climates are very similar and my winter tires have been outstanding.

 

ive been thinkin about this myself and am still on the fence about what to do as far as snow tires or possibly a second car i been thinkin of going the beater route tho

 

Living here in Chicago, I am also working on my winter setup. Does anyone know if 205/50R/17 wheels will work on my 06 coupe?

 

I would go with some oem coupe 17s with 225/50s all around

 

Those are a little too small, especially for the rear tire. I wouldn't go smaller than a 215/50-17.

 

You might want to try tiresdirect.net if you're in Chicago. I plan on picking up some 225/45-17 General Artic Altimax from them in a few weeks time. Best part is you can go there and have them installed. $20 a corner (and disposing) for mounting and $99 for a 4 wheel alignment.

 

The 225/45 is even smaller than the 205/50. You're likely to have VDC issues with a tire that small (more than 5% smaller than stock diameter). Manual says to stay within 3%, and the VDC doesn't care how cheap they were.

Besides, $20 a wheel and $99 for an alignment are actually pretty high. You should be able to find $15/tire and about $75 for an alignment (4 wheel on a Hunter).

 

Well thanks for the heads up, I forgot about the 5% rule. Guess I'll have to buy them from tirerack and have them shipped to me or try to find an installer I can trust.

 

215/50-17 25.5", or 3.22% smaller than stock
225/50-17 25.9", or 1.72% smaller than stock
235/50-17 26.3", or stock size (technically 0.22% smaller than stock*)
215/55-17 26.3", stock size
225/55-17 26.7", or 1.65% larger than stock
235/55-17 27.2", or 3.29% larger than stock

Avoid the 215/50, since it will only get smaller with time. The rest will work, even the last one since it will also get smaller with time. But I'd stick with 3, 4, or 5.

* that's based on mathematical calculations, but it's basically 26.3".

 

I am going to use Continental ExtremeWinterContacts on my 17" wheels this winter. From everywhere I have read, these tires are rated quite highly and weren't that badly priced.

Check 'em out.