Im looking to get a set of winter wheels for my 06 coupe with sport tune suspension. It orginally came with the Rays 19s but im looking to buy a set of 18s for the winter. The dealer said i would run into suspension speedometer, and alignment issues. has anyone ever done this and experienced any problems? I honestly dont think it will be that bif og an issue but just wanted to get your opions. Thanks

 

the dealer is full of sh_t.

 

Haha thats good news for me. So i shouldnt see any issues correct?

 

Nope. Hell, why not 17s if they're just winter beaters?

 

It crossed my mind but i found a set of aftermarket 18s and dunlop sport M3s (with 90% thread)for 1350. I hear the dunlop sport M3s are amazing winter tires and alone they cost more than 1000 for all 4. It sounds like a deal with the extra wheels.

 

The dealers have no idea what they're talking about. I been switching to my stock 18s from my 19s during the winter for the past 4 years and have had NO problems regarding the speedo or alignment.

 

as long as the overall diameter of the rim and tires are equal, you should be fine.. I would prob go with 17's since it would be cheaper when you would go to replace tires. would you want tp put out another grand for winter tires to match the exisitng dunlop sport m3s?

 

In 18", they are $190 each, so $760 can get you 4 new ones.

In 17", they are $137 each, so $548. That's a pretty big difference in price between 17 and 18"

These prices are from tirerack, so you gotta figure in mounting and balancing if you get can your local tire place to pricematch. At my place, it's $9 per wheel M&B...so the 18's would cost me under $800.

Plus the whole idea of winter wheels is to put on crap wheels with narrow, big sidewall tires (in case you slide inthe a curb, you have a better chance of bouncing off)


I've had great luck with Blizzaks, and they are a cheaper tire. Not trying to say what you should do, but i'd find some OEM 17's for cheap and get some blizzaks in the narrowest size you can fit on the 17's. The whole setup should run you under $1000 and will be an ideal winter setup.

 

very true about dishing out 1000 to match the dunlops....but i figure the tires should last 3-4 years, assuming i only use them for the winter. Spread out over that time span its not that big of a deal.

 

Rethinking about getting the 18s....i found 17s for 465 shipped. But i cant seem to find blizzaks or sport M3s in the following size Front: 225/50/17 Rear 235/50/17. Can anyone help me? Mustang you said you found them on tire rack?

 

I looked up 215/55/17's.

What size 17's are these? 17x7 or 17x7.5". Or are they a staggered rim size setup? I'm a sedan owner so i'm not sure on coupe rim sizes.

If it's 7" wide you want to stay around 225mm width. If it's 7.5" wide, you want 245mm. However, with winter tires you want to go as narrow as possible, which is why i selected the 215's. They would fit a 7" wide rim fine.

Your OEM rear tire is 245/40/19 correct? Matching the rear tire will keep your speedo accurate. Also, you don't want too much difference between front and rear or it will throw off the VDC and ABS systems. The front tire is 225/40/19, so the factory difference is ~ 0.6"

So you have a few choices

245/40/19 = ~ 26.7" in dia
215/55/17 = ~ 26.3" in dia
225/50/17 = ~ 25.9" in dia
225/55/17 = ~ 26.7" in dia
235/50/17 = ~ 26.3" in dia
245/50/17 = ~ 26.6" in dia.



Each manuafacture's sizes may vary a bit, so you might want to look up on bridgestone's website what the true diameter is.

Unsure if bridgestone makes a snow tires in each of these sizes. I only looked up the 215/55/17 when i priced the 17" snow tire.

Hopefully that gets you started in your research as to what to do.

 

The 17" wheels im looking to buy are 17x7.5 and 17x 8. Thanks for all the information! im pretty new to buying tires and wheels and dont quite understand the numbering system. What do the 1st two numbers mean? I knoe the 3rd number represents the size of the rims.

These are the wheels im looking to get http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/4-INF...Q5fAccessories

 

first number is the width of the tire in millimeters

So 225 would be 225 millimeters wide

the second number is the aspect ratio which is the sidewall height in percentage of the tires width. So a 50 in this spot would mean the sidewall is 50% of the tires heights. SO a 225/50/17 would be a tire 225mm wide on a 17" rim and the sidewall would be 50% of 225 mm or 114.5mm in height.

That seems like a pretty good price for those wheels.


Ok, so for a 17x7.5 and 17x8, here's the sizes i'd run. The general rule is you want a tire 2" wider than the rim, so if it's a 8" rim, you want a 10" tire which is 254mm. You have a little leeway, so a 245 would fit fine.


245/40/19 = ~ 26.7" in dia
225/55/17 = ~ 26.7" in dia in Front
245/50/17 = ~ 26.6" in dia in Rear


Here are the tires i've found for the front
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...nce=W&x=34&y=8

And for the rear
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...ce=W&x=63&y=11


Unfortunately you may have to mix and match since they are odd sizes for snow tires

Are all coupe wheels staggered sizes? The sedans have 17x7's. Unsure if you can run those but then you could get some 215/55/17's which are a more abundant snow tire size.

You could also ask other coupe owners what they do for a dedicated snow tire/wheel setup. Perhaps they can give you better answers based off pure experience with an actual coupe since i'm a sedan owner. Hopefully i helped you out with understanding sizing.

 

I believe they are all staggered. I have yet to see coupe wheel that arent. Due to my lack of experience about tires, dont take my work on this though.
Thanks! This is definitly a learning experience. I appreciate all your help and input.

 

i'd take the dunlop's over the blizzak's...

i'm not impressed at all with my blizzak's

and 17's are perfectly fine. actually, you'll find out how much the ride quality has improved going to a smaller size.