snow tires

[Nabber]

I got a quote for four 17" Blizzak's when winter arrives, and 18's for comparison.

• WS60 BL Blizzak 225/55R17 installed and balanced for $717.
• LM-25 w/UNI-T BL 235/50R18 installed and balanced for $1133

My question: Do I need to know anything special when I order cheap wheels other than 17" X ~7.5 width?

 

[wallymn]

yes, you need to be aware of the offsets... The caliper is hard to get around with 17 in rims...

 

[wallymn]

sorry had to look up the specs.

for 17in

Size: 17X7.5 (4)
Offset: +35mm Backspacing: 5.66" Bolt Pattern: 5-114

 

[mk1]

I got a quote for four 17" Blizzak's when winter arrives, and 18's for comparison.

• WS60 BL Blizzak 225/55R17 installed and balanced for $717.
• LM-25 w/UNI-T BL 235/50R18 installed and balanced for $1133

My question: Do I need to know anything special when I order cheap wheels other than 17" X ~7.5 width?

What is the concensus on the Blizzak LM-25's?

 

[wallymn]

LM-25 (in my opinion) is best compromise of real snow tires on a High Performance car, Your price seems high, I just quoted 500$ for LM-25 (set of 4) in 235/50/18

 

[Nabber]

sorry had to look up the specs.

for 17in

Size: 17X7.5 (4)
Offset: +35mm Backspacing: 5.66" Bolt Pattern: 5-114

Great info... Thanks!

 

[musher51]

What is the concensus on the Blizzak LM-25's?

I've had two sets of LM-25s that I used on a couple of BMWs, and I was very happy with their performance in snow.

When I used tirerack.com's search features to identify options for my Genesis a year ago, the WS-60 version of the Blizzaks popped up. I'm sure I looked into the intrinsic differences between the LM and WS series at the time, but I don't recall what I read. At any rate, I bought the WS-60s ($119/each for 225/55R17s) and ran them for 10,000 miles this past winter, and I found them to be just as competent as the LM-25s.

All that said, I'm sure there are good alternatives to the Blizzaks, and I've seen other postings where people have raved about other brands of snow tires. One suggestion is to spend some time on tirerack.com, which is full of reviews, customer feedback, etc.

 

[crhbobby]

I hate to bring this thread up from the dead... but after buying my Genesis, I have a bit concerned the winter months ahead.

For work, I often have to drive to different places all over the state, and spend the week there. Oftentimes it can be in places that have lake effect snow - Northern Indiana.. I want to feel secure in that I can get where I want to go.

Where do you recommend buying the wheels? Ebay? I found some on Ebay, and they state they do not come with the Tpms sensors... Is this a big deal? Can these be replaced, or do they need to be replaced? (Will the car have warnings, etc?)

It looks like the Blizzaks are priced pretty good on Tirerack... It is one thing to buy tires, but to buy another set of rims jacks the cost up quite a bit.

Just wanted to get your guy's input.

Thanks and take care,

Bob

 

[wallymn]

Rims, If you plan to swap every season mounting and unmounting tires is not a good idea, thus the need to buy a second set of rims.

You need to look at the bolt pattern and offset (v-8 has a large offset). It gets a little harder if you want to downsize to 17in on the v-8 due to the size of the 4 piston calipers.

This thread contains all the bolt pattern/offset information for the 18in rims...

When looking for a rim for snow. weight doesn't really matter (cheaper rims are often heavier) but one thing I do recommend, avoid tight spokes.
The stock rims don't make a good snow rim because it is easy to get snow packed into the spokes. look for a good cheap 5 spoke rim.

 

[crhbobby]

I was kinda thinking about oem wheels... I prefer the look of a factory wheel... My question was... if I buy oem wheels off of ebay, some do not have the tpms sensors.. is this a big issue, or no? My old car did not have these.

Thanks

Bob

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[wallymn]

it is your option, without the sensors your TPMS warning light will always be on.
I don't mind it and it saved about 200.00 ...

 

[jwaters943]

How did you save $200? You can get a set of tire pressure sensors for under $90.

 

[wallymn]

Great! where? The rebuild kits for the Genesis were being quoted to me at around 200.00 last spring.

 

[mk1]

Rims, If you plan to swap every season mounting and unmounting tires is not a good idea, thus the need to buy a second set of rims.

Why is this not a good idea?

 

[wallymn]

Why is this not a good idea?

what I was told is it puts undue stress on the sidewall of the tire.

 

[dtreter]

LM-25 (in my opinion) is best compromise of real snow tires on a High Performance car, Your price seems high, I just quoted 500$ for LM-25 (set of 4) in 235/50/18

Who did you get this quote from? Was this through a tire dealer? The cheapest I could find is $183 each plus tax (Costco) and I am still looking.

 

[wallymn]

Who did you get this quote from? Was this through a tire dealer? The cheapest I could find is $183 each plus tax (Costco) and I am still looking.

Price is $484.00 for LM -22
http://www.tirerack.com/snow/Winter...199&Qty1=4&Qty2=4&Qty3=4&Qty4=4&Qty5=4&Qty6=4

Or $484.00 for the LM-25

http://www.tirerack.com/snow/Winter...199&Qty1=4&Qty2=4&Qty3=4&Qty4=4&Qty5=4&Qty6=4

Sorry for the links to another site, but easiest way to to show what was asked.

 

[mk1]

So I went to buy the discounted Blizzak LM-25's from Tirerack and they are sold out.

The person I spoke with suggested I buy new 17" wheels and tires (I own a 4.6) as it will give better traction. I saw someone else here recommend the same thing....should I buy a set of 18" wheels and tires instead of dropping down to 17"?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Monandy]

Hi,

I ordered & purchased four (4) P235/50R18 (101V) Hankook W300 Icebear winter tires along with four (4) Macpack winter rims for my 2009 Genesis V6 3.8L sedan at Frisby Tire Co. in Kanata, Ontario, Canada.

It was no bargin that is for sure... $253.08 per tire and $165.00 per rim.

Counting all the additional charges and taxes it came to a grand total of $1983.91 (those 18" tires & rims are expensive - that's my sad story)

Tires to be installed at beginning of November 2009.

Anyone has any experience with the Hankook W300 Icebear winter tires?

 

[musher51]

Wow, a lot of price variation here. For the record, I paid $119 each for Blizzak WS-60s from tirerack.com last October. The wheels I picked were $235 each, but you'd expect a wide price range for rims. Initially, they quoted me $148 per TPMS, but after I challenged them with a much lower 3rd party price, I received a refund that dropped the per unit price to $52. jwater's post of 8/27 suggests that the sensors can be had for $23 each, but you'd have to ask him where.

I'm not familiar with the Hankook's, Monandy, but you can look over the reviews at tirerack.com if you want to get a feel for how they compare to other offerings. Even taking into account the CDN/US exchange rate, they're pretty expensive, but may well be worth it.