Winter wheel + tire Group Buy
 

There was a thread once about someone looking into creating a Group Buy for a winter tire + wheel combo since so many of us will need to pick up a set. To get an idea what most people wanted to get as a package, read this thread:

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...tire+group+buy

Is anyone looking into this at all anymore? It sure would be nice to get this going in the summer to save some $$ (no one buys winter stuff in the summer as opposed to marked up stuff in the late fall due to demand) and hopefully a Group Buy could save us some additional $$ too!

Anyone, are there any takers to get this going?

From summarizing the above poset, the ideal configuration would be to downgrade to a 7.5" rim (alloy or steelie, but I think most preferred alloy) with a set of 215/50/17 or 205/55/17 Michelin Arctic Alpins (The Blizzaks were a close second choice).

The reason for the narrow rim is that you can fit a narrow tire with higher aspect ration on it and also to get more of the tires into the fenders to avoid all the salt and crap being kicked up onto the side of the car. There is no 16" rim that will over the brembos up front, is there?

I'll set up a poll to get more offical numbers of what people would want to get... (so make your vote)

---edit----

I tried to make a poll, but I must of messed up as it did not show up. Maybe a moderator can fix this post and make it into a poll. Here were my poll questions:

1. Stick with Stock Sized Rim Width (8")
2. Downgrade Rim Width (7.5")
3. Prefer Steel rim (cheaper, heavier, stronger, uglier)
4. Prefer Alloy rim (more $$, lighter, less strong, maybe nicer)
5. Stick with Stock Tire Size (235/45/17)
6. Downgrade Tire Size to 225/50/17)
7. Downgrade Tire size to 215/50/17)
8. Downgrade Tire size to 205/55/17)
9. Tire Manufacturer Preference: Michelin Arctic Alpins
10. Tire Manufacturer Preference: Bridgestone Blizzaks

Are there any steel rims to fit the EVO. It would be a really cheap alternative. In addition, 205/55/17 will also be relatively cheaper than the 235/45/17's. In my experience, wider tires do suck in the winter!

Neal said the other day there is no 17" steel rims.

Im looking at an all season tire, there was a really good thread here. Also the cheap alloy wheels.

A group buy in the summer time might be a very good idea!!

My take on All Seasons: No good in the spring, summer, fall or winter. I'm sticking to 100% winter tires and 100% summer tires.

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...threadid=33564

Referring to this thread? Tire Rack does not have any Steel rims, according to the above thread and only two alloy rims for the EVO (both kind of ugly).

No offence to Tire Rack (I bought from them many times with great results), but there are other places that sell rims and tires too. :)

darn no steel wheels! I am sure you can get alloys from www.wheelguyz.com or www.wheelmax.com and mount a set of winter tires.

Am not sure about EVO, but for my truck it was imperative to keep the diameter of the wheel/tire combo more or less identical to stock, or else it send all the electronic stability control gizmos into a state of confusion which rendered the truck basically undriveable.

Did anybody check how much deviation there is from stock in the options listed and whether it will be a problem?

Without taking speedo readings into consideration, as long as the diameter of all 4 wheel are the same, you should be fine, if one is off then it will cause a problem on a 4 wheel drive system.

FYI, fortunately the EVO is still one of the few cars that has a lack of all the electronic gizmos. Too bad it is probably the last of it's kind, all new cars now have the stupid (for me) traction controls, stability controls, drive by wire, and other BS for drivers that can't drive. Some have buttons to turn these things off, on some cars they only partially turn off, but it is getting worse. Pretty soon, you will not be able to drive at all, you'll just be a passenger in your own car. This will SUCK!!!

Anyway, back on topic. If you change the ovarall diameter of the tires, only the speedo and odomoter may be off a bit (which I don't care about), but you will not run into any problems with the car as long as all 4 wheels/tires are the same.

How about a group buy for the best looking, decently priced, "same size as stock" wheels with quality snow tires?

I'd be down for something like this..

"...traction controls, stability controls, drive by wire, and other BS for drivers that can't drive..."

Unfortunately, there are more of "them", then there are of "us" ;-)

BTW, in a snowstorm, right after a thaw/freeze cycle, if I have to go out I'd be taking our ML - all those gizmos are real life savers, literally. But for the other 2 weeks (winters last forever in MN ;-) I couldn't agree more - let "us" DRIVE!

Yep, I forgot about speedo and odo, but if otherwise unaffected - count me in. Stock wheel size and quality snow tire would be my pref.

To answer the orginal poll. I'm in for a set of steel wheels in the 205/50/17 size Michelin. If needed due to load rating could go with a wider tire. Would much rather have the steel as the alloys will get ruined with the salt used around here.

I'm with you on that, however the winter-only tires must perform/wear well on dry & wet pavement also, since the roads are often cleared. But I also need to be able to drive in snow because I live in the PA mountains and we get dumped on sometimes. I just want to make sure my winter tires don't completely suck on pavement, since most of my winter driving is on mostly cleared roads. I mean wear-wise.

As for the poll, I would like the cheapest wheels possible with as narrow tires as possible. And I would definitely be interested in doing this any time, would rather get it taken care of BEFORE winter.

Mr. tirerack can you hook us up with some nice deals?
pilot A/S or conti extremecontacts will be good choices.

I'm in for something as well. I'm going to see if I can do anything through where I work as well.

as an upstate New Yorker, I am very interested in the winter tire group buy. I'm not very familiar with the whole switching from summer to winter tires/wheels (never did it on my Accord). Hopefully Neal from TireRack can come in here and educate us a little more.