I dunno hwo far up north you are, but in ontario the salt does some pretty decent damage to rims over time. I gladly put my stock rims away for steelies if it saves them from salt

 

its a stock rim.... what is there to save? its 18x7, stock, over weight, and hold up to salt very well.

 

never said buy 18's please read. I said use your STOCK rims, with 18" winter tires.

What are you saving the STOCK rims from?

Oh, and in canada, the car starts at 32K my bad on the pricing mistake. I have a kid, and a wife, and 2 mortgages, so i feel the cash punch. I wasnt referring you just you, but the whole 16 inch + lousy rims scene in general. Just because winter in here doesnt mean you need to take your investment you bought for performance and looks and more it perform less and look crappier, when in MOST cases, its a small monitary difference between the 2.

 

Narrow tires handle a lot better in snow then wide tires because they cut into the snow rather then have a snowboard like effect and slide everywhere

That being said, id rather buy a 17" narrow rim with nice winter tires over a wider 18" rim with Wider tread

 

You have no idea what you are talking about here. Next you'll say 285s are better than 205s in the snow

In snow, 16s will be better. If dry or ice, 16s are still better. Stiffer sidewall will not allow much movement. That means you are relying on the tread to do all the work to stop the car.

Narrow and taller for winter. Wide and low for the summer.

As AMS has mentioned -- less worry about curbing the 16s.

OP - great deal for a winter package.

 

The smaller and the more "baloonish" the tire (softer edges), the better for snow... If you look at WRC cars, take a look at their tires... They're 160mm wide or something... Those wide cars on those tires look like bicicyle tires when they're jumping around...


@Westbound&down: for the safety of everyone, please stick to public transportation until you gain some understanding of physics, after that work on that driver's license...

 

Great deal on the wheels, better price than a set of steelies and looks better.

As for the arguing about size, narrower is best, 16" snow tires will cost a LOT less than 18" ones, and they'll both handle the same on snow/ice (there's not enough grip on ice to take advantage of a stiff sidewall.) Dry handling will be different, but be realistic, we're talking about a winter setup, it all looks like **** when covered in salt.

 

i have no idea what im talking about ? ROFLLLLLLLLLLLL

i've sold tires for a living for years. Please don't pretend to understand the change in attitude pertaining to tires from climate to climate.

Winter isn't about "Snow" its about "ice and snow" co mingled with harsh temperatures and the tires ability to stay softer in such weather.

A narrower taller tire will work terrific in snow, and brutal on ice. The exact OPPOSITE in correct for ice, and shallower wider tire handles much better on ice.

Finding a wonderful mixture is the everyday struggle for manufacturers and consumers alike.

The REASON an 18x7 on a lets say 225 40 18 winter tire is BETTER then a 195 55 16 is simple. The notion that the 195 will cut through snow better well is technically true, the acutal amount will be almost un noticed with an awd car.

Additionally, the 225 width on a wider wheel (assuming most 16's are 6.5 which is common) will allow for better braking on ice or snow cover roads, which is the MAIN issue in an awd vehicle, or any vehicle in the winter. The wider and thus larger contact area gives a better braking distance.

Now Handling in winter is no different then summer. A lower profiled side wall allows for less flex and better handling. Weather is 90*F or 10*F its still the same.

Believe it or not, even in canada, it doesnt snow everyday, and the roads for periods of time do get dry and uncovered. In that time frame, then lower profile, closer to our stock sizing allows us to drive the vehicle as we should and would want too.

Its not a hard theory to understand.

 

You sold tires. Congrats. You still have no concept of tire design. Only one pretending to understand anything is you. And yes I am WELL qualified to make that statement.

Like Toxin also pointed out -- WRC is a great example of an extreme case - handling and traction. Guess what - 16s.

Cost per tire - 16s.

Availability of brands with winter tires - 16s.

225s v. 195 -- you really really need to think about what you posted. You just made yourself some skis. Think about (yes math) the load per contact patch. Why do you think semi-trucks can truck though heavy snow storms when cars are screwed. Weight per contact patch on relatively narrow tires to the size of the truck.

Handling - seriously? 90F = hot track = more grip from the compound in the thread. 10F = harder tread compound (even if an A/S or snow tire) = less grip.

The ONLY thing you have right is part about finding a tire that will work for the area you live in. Cold and no snow, some ice = general A/S tire. Ice > snow and snow > ice. Might lead to different brands.

 

For your argument about a stiffer sidewall on ice. Again, you will want some flex v. no flex. Why? No flex means you will have instant traction loss. The weight of the car will cause the sheering of the contact patch quicker than the flexible sidewall (which is going to take some of the weight transfer before sheering). Both will sheer, just a matter of how fast.

Narrower/taller, more weight on contact patch will give the better results for general winter driving.

EDIT: Think about drag racing -- inversely. Why do they want wrinkle-wall tires for launching?

 

God help the people that buy tires at your place however I guess I'd recommend 18's over 16's anytime if I was making a living out of selling tires as well so I don't blame you on that one, but you are talking nonsense, you need to realize that.

 

Great winter setup for the cash but they look so Tiny!

 

Good lord this thread took a turn for the worst. LOL

let's all just step back and just simply bask in the awesomeness of the car for the moment

Canada guy-32K canadian, so that's like almost 40K american? Wow. It's been a while since I've been in the great white north. I know you weren't being personal, but I've seen a lot of guys harp on stis that do stuff like use parts of plastic trash bins to make mudflaps. I understand the logic that if the guy has the money to buy an sti, spend the extra 150 and get rallyarmors. But I think a lot of people like to just see what they can do. You should have seen a project I did with my sti where I attempted to make a rear air diffuser having zero fiberglass experience. it came out insanely awful, and people had a hay day bashing the fact that it looked so bad. I took it off because I knew it looked bad of course. But it was more of a proof of concept than anything. I didn't take it personally.

 

its sad you are still missing the main point here.

This is for winter tires on a 2009+ AWD ralliart. Whats overall best for a snow/ice/sleet/drifted snow conditions. For this particular car, the stock sizing in an 18inch asthe stock tire is, is still better then a 16inch, regardless of what you think.

Oh, and yes i do sell tires for a living, but to get to where i am, i worked production in the new glasgow nova scotia michelin plant for 2 years.

But thanks for assuming yet again.

At the end of the day, your right, im right, and its all opinion. The general opinion here, where winter actually happens, for this particular car, is the widerish (215-225) 17 or 18 inch packages are better suited. Both for handling, and braking purposes.

I would much rather get stuck because of a 40 series side wall then die because my 185 65's didnt have a large enough contact patch to stop in time.

 

The one missing the main point is you. Re-read what others have also said. Its YOU that does not get it.

Car does not matter, call it a WRX, STI, Evo, RA - its just AWD. EDIT: And AWD is not the end all of traction. Better, yes. End all - no.

Again, really think about it -- Wide example: 100 lbs on a 10 inch square area is 10 lbs/in2, right? Narrow example: 100 lbs on a 5 inch square area is 20 lbs/in2. You have MORE weight on a narrower tire. That is going to give you better braking and weather traction. See my semi-truck example. Hell, go talk to a trucker.

This is NOT opinion this is design, 120 years of tire production, racing, etc. Your opinion (which I have shown is just that since you have no reasoning here) is marketing to sell the more expensive tire. Good on you. For what its worth, yes, I should be pushing for that option to as it goes to my paycheck.

Sincerely,

Your resident Tire Expert (take the hint)

Want a second:
http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/...sp?techid=126&