Winter / Snow Tires (Oct 2012 Thread)

[Mister]

(See my last post on P.2)
***I discourage any member from taking this route for winter tires and rims***
Original post below:
___________________

Good day,

Ran some forum searches, however some info regarding tires change on an annual bases. Was wondering what the folks in the 'Snowbelt' are using for the 2012-13 winter season.
Please post below and include brand, dimensions, and price.

I was able to find 1 (!!!) set of the "proper" Insight winter tires in my region - The Blizzak MZ-03 at 165/65/14 @ $120 ea. + shipping.

Below is my setup of choice (or lack of it) I'd like to ask if any of the experts see any problem with the low caliper clearance or anything else that comes to mind. (These items can be returned if left unmounted)

Rims:
13" / 5" Wide, 4-100, 43mm Offset - Steel Rims ($171, tax inc. new from Wal-mart)
Snow Tires:
GoodYear Nordic 155/80/13 ($178 tax inc. new on sale from Cad Tire)

Rims / Tire Calc

[Mister]

Caliper clearance is very limited but the rim rotates without touching anything.







I'll post updates on ride quality and MPG if this setup will be installed.

[MN Driver]

Just be sure the rims you get have the right size center hub. Someone told me that Toyota Tercel 13" rims would fit on the Insight so I bought two at a junkyard for next to nothing, brought them home and the center hub is larger than the Tercel rim.

FWIW, the 165-65-14 Blizzak tires are a big hit to MPG, I put them on and it is noticeably harder to maintain highway speeds with lean-burn.

EDIT: Looks like you posted them installed before I had a chance to read/respond to the multiple threads I opened in different tabs.

[Cf-105]

Thanks for the info. I just wonder how good the Goodyears will be on ice.

Canadian Tire doesn't even list them on their website. Not in that size.

As an aside, it sure is nice to be dealing with cheap tires again. The last set I priced for my other car were 245/45-20's.....

[Mister]

Originally Posted by Cf-105

Canadian Tire doesn't even list them on their website. Not in that size.

Yeah, I was calling all the tire shops around. Found these from Cad-Tire only on the phone, it was a good surprise to find a brand name tire for $35 + fees + tax
I hope this setup will work out OK... I know Dougie used the Civic 13" rims on his Insight (Link)

Still waiting to hear if anyone had good experience with the type of 13" steels I'm using.

[diamondlarry]

I went to Tirerack.com and they had 0 snow tires for the Insight. The closest I could come up with were some Blizzack WS60's at 175 65 14.

[Cf-105]

Originally Posted by Mister

Yeah, I was calling all the tire shops around. Found these from Cad-Tire only on the phone, it was a good surprise to find a brand name tire for $35 + fees + tax
I hope this setup will work out OK... I know Dougie used the Civic 13" rims on his Insight (Link)

Thanks for the heads up. Just seems weird to me to buy tires THAT small. I guess I just have to adjust!

[Cf-105]

Originally Posted by diamondlarry

I went to Tirerack.com and they had 0 snow tires for the Insight. The closest I could come up with were some Blizzack WS60's at 175 65 14.

I noticed that too. Kinda shocking.

[Erik]

Using Nokian Hakkapeliitta tires on Civic alloy rims, very happy with their performance.
Got the tires from KalTire.

[Mister]

Originally Posted by Erik

Using Nokian Hakkapeliitta tires on Civic alloy rims, very happy with their performance. Got the tires from KalTire.

Thanks Erik,
I like the Nokian but wasn't able to find them at my preferred price range.
Their website don't list anything in OEM size.
What did you get ?