Winter and the GT

[old man winter]

Who out there is planning to drive the GT in the winter months. I mean up north with snow and down to -30C winter. I am thinking of finding some cheap steel rims and get good winter tires for October to March.

[millster]

I'm with you there. We don't get much snow here. But with the 17s and those Dunlops they mount up from the factory, I don't think it would take much to be a real problem. I've tried to purchase a couple sets of factory 16 inch steel wheels on Ebay, but I usually miss the ending bid.

[NovaResource]

Anybody want to buy my original steel wheels, wheel covers and tires? Just 50 miles on them.Scott(Shipping would probably cost a fortune)

[mu_ohio]

Since I lived in the Cleveland area the last couple years, I purchased a set of Blizzak (sp?) tires and rims from tirerack.com. The package was around $550 which is worth it IMO. They made a big difference since my S-10 had Z-rated tires like my Vibe GT. I'm considering doing the same this year.

[old man winter]

Scott,What do you want for them in USD?, shipping would be to Sudbury Ontario Canada. find out what that would cost from your end. If this is too much I will have to go with mu_ohio's idea.

[NovaResource]

I think it would cost you less to buy steel rims and specific snow tires from a place like Tire Rack (http://www.tirerack.com) or Discount Tires (http://www.tires.com) then it would be for me to sell and ship you my original-equipmemnt, all-season Eagle RS-A. If you want them specifically for snow, specific snow tires would be better.The cheapest I've seen Eagle RS-A tires is about $80 each so I would want about $60 each for mine since there were only used for 50 miles. Add to that at least $40 each for the rims, wheel covers and lugnuts (you need the lugnuts to hold on the factory wheel covers). That's a total of $100 per wheel/tire or a total of $400 for the set and that doesn't include shipping. I'm sure shipping to Canada won't be cheap.
[Modified by NovaResource, 11:45 AM 9/4/2002]

[old man winter]

Thanks Scott,I think you are right, I will start looking around the tire stores in Sudbury for a rim and tire combo for winter.

[NovaResource]

I don't know if this is true for Canadian addresses but shipping was free when I got my rims/tires from Discount Tires (http://www.tires.com).The Tire Rack (http://www.tirerack.com) specifically sells winter kits that come with 4 winter tires mounted and balanced on 4 steel wheels with wheel covers.

[mu_ohio]

Tirerack was nice since UPS delivers the tires ready to go. They where inflated enough to drive on until I got to the gas station.

[millster]

If you try to get the winter kit for the Vibe on Tirerack, be ready. They only offer alloy wheels. The cheepest set I could build was still $700+ (US). I just can't bring myself to spend $100 each on alloy wheels when the road salt will just make a mess of them.
[Modified by millster, 6:38 PM 9/4/2002]

[mu_ohio]

Call up and they have special offers with steel rim sets. Realistically you will have to minus size the rims down to 15s maybe and then get taller tires. That's actually how I got the deal last year.I have a question though on this topic, my snow tires for my truck are about 1/2" taller than my vibe tires. Would there be any harm in using those during the winter?
[Modified by mu_ohio, 1:07 AM 9/5/2002]

[buds71595Vibe]

I just can't bring myself to spend $100 each on alloy wheels when the road salt will just make a mess of them. [/QUOTE]Question: Should I replace my 16" alloy factory rims with steel rims for the upcoming New England winter? I'd hate to have gotten an option that looks cruddy just 8 mos later.

[old man winter]

I phoned around today and got quotes from which range from $700 to $800 CDN for 16" plain steel rims mounted with winter tires.....ouch.

[millster]

Really your choice. I can't say for sure what it'll do to the factory rims, I just know that in the past I've had some discoloration and a few scrapes and scratches. Of course there's also the chance of sliding into curbs. It's just my preference to go with something cheap and simple. If I could count on little snow or ice I'd probably leave my stock 17's but since when has the weather cooperated.
[Modified by millster, 8:44 PM 9/11/2002]

[MrMke]

quote:Anybody want to buy my original steel wheels, wheel covers and tires? Just 50 miles on them.Scott(Shipping would probably cost a fortune)How much would you want for your original wheels and covers?Are they 16"?They would be nice to use in the winter months.
[Modified by MrMke, 9:07 PM 9/13/2002]

[rAge_GT]

Hey Old man winterI'm from ontario as well... Do you think that the GT is really going to be that horrible in winter? The tires we got with the GT are all season right? I'm debating as to whether or not to get the winter tires... I used to drive a rwd ranger... I thought that the fwd GT should be simple to drive after that...Well I don't know... I guess I'll find out my first snow storm! LOL

[old man winter]

No, they are z rated summer performance tires. Most people I have talked to say change to a winter or all season unit. But, since the Gt is FWD it would be slightly better than a RWD Ranger with no weight in the back. If I only use the Gt in town I may not go for the winter tire. I wonder if there is a winter tire for the 17" rim.
[Modified by old man winter, 12:06 PM 9/16/2002]

[BlockDaddy21]

I checked the local discount tire shops, and the best deal I could find were the Blizzaks for around $500 for the set (with crappy steel rims). To take those up to 17", they were going upwards of $800 (without the rims), so that pretty much ended the discussion there. I think what I'm going to end up doing is getting rid of the Dunlops and throwing on some more all-weather Z- or W-rated tires. In the end, it'll be about $600, but living in an apartment currently, it makes it a little harder to store a set of snow tires.

[Keely]

What else should you look for in a winter tire's dimensions? There's the rim, aspect ratio, section width... Am I gathering correctly that a higher aspect ratio like 75 is better for winter than a lower one? And a smaller section width (narrower) is better as well? What are optimal numbers here?

[millster]

In my experience (and from what I read, others' as well), yes, a higher profile, narrow tire will provide better winter traction.Here's a thread with a little more discussion on this topic...http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=1002