Need Winter Tires & Rims For 2009 1.8L Vibe

[parentd328]

I have a 2009 Pontiac Vibe, 1.8L, manual trans vehicle. Been running the OEM tires, Goodyear Eagle RSA, P205/55/R16 since I purchased it in Sept of 2008. I live in South East Michigan and now I am ready to get a set of winter tires & rims, no way I am going to run this winter with crappy all season tires again. Way too scary !!! I'm a believer in 1 set of tires for summer and 1 set for winter. Looking for recommendation of good winter tires to run. 1) Saw a recommendation to run with smaller tires/rims, 15 inch steel rims and 195/65/15 tires. Lower cost than running 16 in ? Can I be assured that any 15in steel rims will fit ? I saw some issues from others regarding 15's fitting.2) I've personal run with Hankook tires for winter on another vehicle with good results. I'm leading toward Bridgestone Blizzaks right now. Are the Blizzaks good on icy roads ? 3) In my area it is not so much deep snow but icy conditions that I need good performance. Most of my day to day driving is city at lower speeds 40-50, not highway.4) This time I'm also going to get a set of steel rims for the winter set. I don't know much about rims just looking for cheap steelies. Any recommendations would be helpful I've already reviewed previous recommendations on the forum.

[star_deceiver]

I run Firestone Winteforce, fully studded. These are the best winter tires I've ever owned!!! Don't believe what they can do, click and watch a few of my "Winter Freeway Driving" vids on youtube. If you want the best ice traction, stud the tires. Hands down, no comprimise ice is no challenge!

[keithvibe]

I also run the winterforce tires, not studded thou. Great winter tire. A bit noisy on dry pavement tho. I don't think I would invest in these tires again, but they are holding up very well. I should be able to get 5 maybe 6 seasons out of them. I run my snows from, black friday to April 1st, every year.I have also run a tire made by federal, triangle 777. These went to my wife when she got her new car. She loves them on the dry, wet and feels confortable in the snow as well. I ran them on my vibe for a season, and I LOVED these tires. Very quiet, handled great on wet, dry and uberfantastic in the snow.If I could find them again I would buy them in a heartbeat! Sadly they are very, very difficult to find. Because you, like myself, drive in lots of ice storms. I would recommend getting studded tires. I can't take the extra noise but that's just me.Blizzak tires are over priced and don't last. Why pay triple the price for a tire that can be out performed by a tire 1/3rd the cost?If I were you go to a few web pages and price out tire cost between the 15" and the 16" tire. You may just find the cost difference is very small. Granted you should run a skinner tire in the winter but you may also find it difficult to find the rims in the size. I run 16" oem alloy rims with 205/60/16

[Fermi]

I have a 2007 5MT Vibe. I read test reviews on Tirerack that showed the Winterforce (with or without studs) was the worst performer, but YMMV. I wonder if they do those tests blinded (not literally, i.e. the test driver just doesn't know which tires are on the car).Anyway, I went with the General Altimax Arctic since they got top reviews on Tirerack for ice and light snow traction and were the cheapest. I originally ordered Hankook ipike w409s, which look nearly identical to the Generals and were the same price, but the Generals were readily in stock and the sales guy told me he had used both and they were basically the same across the board. They do look very similar in person.One thing I notived when looking closely at the Blizzak WS70 in person was that the siping only cuts through the top 1/4 of tread or so, which was not the case with any other tire I saw. I presume this is to make it less spongy on higher speed driving and cornering, but I would be unsure of the ice traction after that siped layer wears off in 1 season.I downsized on rims/tires to save $ and ended up getting some nice alloy wheels for only $10/rim more than the $55 steelies. I think bare black steelies with snows look pretty cool but my wife (who mostly drives that car) thinks they're ugly.They seem to perform fine We've only gotten a light snow so far but this weekend's forecast should provide some good testing conditions.

[star_deceiver]

Quote, originally posted by Fermi »I have a 2007 5MT Vibe. I read test reviews on Tirerack that showed the Winterforce (with or without studs) was the worst performer, but YMMV. I wonder if they do those tests blinded (not literally, i.e. the test driver just doesn't know which tires are on the car).Yup, they could be better on ice. I went with Firestone because, up here anyways, they were $100 cheaper then the Generals... that and the generals were out of stock in my size while I got one of the last sets of Winterforce.Here's the review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaIfx_IV0vUHere's a review of studdless tires: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1JjxdWO5QgJust remember, consumerreports is full of ____! (In mine and many others opinion) Talk to your local independent tire guys, they'll point you in the right direction! My tire guy (I went to HS with him and have known him for over 18 years) uses the Generals, fully studded. He says they're the best on ice but that the Winterforce do better in the snow! But whichever you chose, studding them greatly improves both tires traction!

[j42.snyder]

Just thought I'd make a quick comment from my experience with Blizzak WS-60's.This is the 3rd winter running these tires, and so far the wear rate is much better than I anticipated. Two of them measured 10/32", and the other two still near the original 11/32" prior to installation this year. They had about 24,000km on them at the time.They do very well on packed snow, but I don't think anything shy of studded tires will be great on ice. Here it's illegal to run studded tires, so I tried to get the best possible otherwise. They cost about $30 more each than the Winterforce when I bought them.They're certainly the quietest winter tire I've ever owned. Some slight noise from the siping, but even that's only really noticeable when the roads are wet. The ride's a bit softer than the factory RSA's, but I don't really mind that. Some of our roads aren't the greatest either...Overall I'm happy with my choice. I believe prices have increased somewhat since I bought mine however, so it's hard to say what I'd do now if I had to buy again. Hopefully I can get another 3 or more winters out of these before I have to make that decision. Probably will have all new choices again by that time anyway...John

[Fermi]

Quote, originally posted by star_deceiver »Just remember, consumerreports is full of ____! (In mine and many others opinion) But whichever you chose, studding them greatly improves both tires traction!I don't trust Consumer Reports on tires since I got a set of Falken Ziex 512's for my Subaru based on their #1 all-season rating for handling and snow. They were the worst tire I've had in snow.Studded are not legal here in MN, so I went with the studless Generals last week. Very happy so far after driving in a wet (later turned to icy) 4-6" snowfall this weekend.

[Notchy]

I run Blizzak Revo 1's. No complaints. Really quiet compaired to the Pirrelis I ran last winter.