Help me pick some winter duds for the FRS

In reply to dculberson :

And that's just it, do I want to drive 1.5+ hours each way to pick up a set of OE wheels, spending my time and gas to do so, then have to spend more time and money taking them to get tires mounted and balanced? Or do I pay more up front to have nice new wheels show up at my house ready to go and spend 20 minutes popping them on in my driveway? If I had the time to wait on a set to come along locally that's exactly what I would do, but I don't have time to wait on that right now, nor do I really have time to run all over creation looking at wheels this week. Between working late and trying to find time to show the Jeep, my week is about booked. 

The cheapest complete set of OEM FRS/BRZ wheels on Craigslist is $400 and ~3 hours away in New Jersey, btw, so that's at best a wash vs the Sparcos once figuring mounting, balancing, gas, and tolls into the equation. Most appealing option there currently is a near new set of Blizzaks on steelies outside of Baltimore for $500, which is admittedly rather tempting. I am starting to feel kinda stupid for caring so much about what my winter wheels look like 

And yea, the TPMS sensors...I think I can deal with looking at the idiot light for what they cost. 

Altimax Artics don't seem to be available in a suitable size. The X-Ice and Continentals both run about $110 a piece in the 205/55, while the Blizzaks are about $125/ea, so if the Michelins are pretty close in performance maybe that's the way to go in that size. If I step down to the 195/60 16s, the Blizzaks drop to $95 and the X-Ice to $87.

Another biased Terra owner here.  I think the gravel rally look is cool.  They seem nice enough for how cheap they are.

I put a piece of tape over the TPMS light for my winter tires.   Just check the pressures more often.

In reply to turtl631 :

You sold me on the gray . Ordered them with some 195/60 16 WS80s last night, should be here tomorrow.

Wise choice. 

Furious_E said:

In reply to turtl631 :

You sold me on the gray . Ordered them with some 195/60 16 WS80s last night, should be here tomorrow.

Soooooooooooooo wanna go ice racing with me? :)

In reply to Blaise :

You know, I've been thinking pretty hard about that every time iceracer posts one of his threads. I also have have friends within striking distance of that area, and consequently couches to crash on. Hmm.... 

I usually just hit Craigslist, and find someones old winter tires, already mounted. Never spent over 250, and always have a spare set of wheels to sell or swap. As mentioned, most winter tires are crap after 50% wear, so check your tread on inside, middle, outside of all 4 tires. I always pay 20 bucks to verify theyre balanced, but many do not. This only really works for common bolt patterns, but makes winter affordable here. So far I have sold 4 sets of wheels, 1 for more than I got em for, and only buy sticky summers new. 

I usually run steelies, or closed-design alloys, because I live on an unpaved mtn road. The 1st rock in your caliper makes you rethink some old tuner habits. Every day a rally stage. I will often dress up my steelies with various hubcaps (remember those?) because I am a loon, but beats flat black.

For brands, I like the Blizzaks and Nokian Hakka's. Both seem to hold up to abuse and fast sweepers without being scary. Open to input on tire choices as I feel mine may be getting dated as compounds change.

In reply to Nugi :

The newer Hakkas would probably be my pick for use on dirt.  I got 4 years out of my last set (from new) under the heavy Jeep, including several rallycrosses.  Tread was down to about 3/32 in the center and 4/32 on the outers at the end of last winter, so they got replaced for this year.  They wore pretty well (had about 21k miles on them) and only had a few minor tread cuts / chunks from hooning them around on dirt and gravel.  They're kinda expensive new, but at the same time, they seem to last longer than my similarly priced summers, so the cost isn't a big deal.  

I'm happy with my decision

Look's great 

That looks awesome. It’ll be easier to keep them clean in the winter compared to the white!

Any updates on this thread?  I have an FR-S and need snows for this season. I live in se Michigan, and our winters are not what they used to be. So I'd rather a bit more dry pavement friendly snow tire. I've had Michelin in the past and been happy with them. I still want them to do well in snow, but will give up the last bit of snow performance for some dry performance.