snow tire questions

[sickntwstdtoy]

Ok let me start off by saying this tire sizing thing no matter how hard I study it is a blur to me. 2nd my car is not a street race machine, I use my supra year round but this winter has already proven my avid st's are not capable of doing what needs done. I have found a tire that I fell in love with called the hankook winter I-pike. The only sizes available in 14's that are even close are 195/70's.....195/75's.....and 205/75's..........will any of these fit the car and not look rediculous or sacrafice all of my handling. I own trucks if the weather gets out of control but I want to be able to use them as little as possible seeing as how the eat fuel in massive quantitys and pretty much always break when used hard(the only way i know how to use them). If someone knows of a better fitting yet not expensive winter alternative I'm all ears. I'm a bit strapped as I work in trees and landscaping and tis not the season so fancy high end snows are not an option. Thanks for your time.

p.s. I have read the tires that fit stock wheels section and have been unable to find any decent snows in those sizes so please dont refer me to said thread as I am not a noob and I have read a shit ton of posts before postin this.

[silverton]

I have studded tires on one of my supras. 215/60's Steel Radial Winter SRX is what's on the tire. I've noticed the rear end likes to skip out a bit when turning, but that's to be expected with studs. No more spinning tires when trying to get out of a muddy spot in my driveway.

[Greg G]

Hey Russ... no shit I have a pair of Dunlop Winterpower 225/60's that fit the OE P-Type rims.

They might even be studded... hvnt looked at them in years.

I was saving them for posterity, but convince me otherwise.

Just shoot me an email when you get a moment.

[lechner]

Although those 225/60 snow tires would be uber-cool to own and would look the best, narrower tires are more effective in the snow. I would go with the 195/65 or 195/70. (Mount them on L type rims if you can find some.) The Supra will look much cooler staying out of the ditch with narrow tires then in it with wide tires. And cheaper not-so-rare tires would be good considering your sig quote.....

[MattiK]

The stock winter tire size (as supplied by the importer in Finland) was 195/70R14 - they were mounted on the P-type rims.

195/70, 185/70, 195/65, 185/65 would be some of the most suitable
winter tire sizes (that exist) for our cars. You can fit all of them on either
P- or L-type rims, although the 185/65 is not recommended for wider than
6.5" rims by most tire manufacturers. 195/75 or 205/75 will be silly tall, and have horrible sidewall flex.

The Hankook tire you mention is a decent winter tire for most conditions, except ice where it performs poorly. For better winter performance, look into Nokian, Michelin, Bridgestone, Continental, Gislaved. But with better ice performance, you get poorer dry tarmac and wet tarmac performance.
Make the choice depending on what the conditions are you will be driving in. Forget the other budget tire brands, Hankook is indeed better than those.

My choice was Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5's - they are truly great in low traction conditions (just drove through a blizzard for 2 hours at 70+ without any sweat - except when the visibility got too poor to keep the pace). But if the weather is a lot above freezing, they will be very soft and perform poorly. Price around here is about $550 for a set (installed).

Here is a link to one winter tire test - in Finnish, I'm afraid... but you can at least see the ratings for different conditions using the translations below:
http://www.tuulilasi.fi/tekniikka/?subarea=renkaat&article=146899&page=12
Jää = ice
Lumi = snow
Loska = slush
Märkä asfaltti = wet tarmac
Kuiva asfaltti = dry tarmac

[jrok]

The stock winter tire size (as supplied by the importer in Finland) was 195/70R14 - they were mounted on the P-type rims.

just have to go through kaltire and 195 70 14 fit a 7 inch rim and have the same diameter

[Road Ripper]

I'm using some 195/75 14's mounted on P-type rims on the rear of my Supra right now (thanks again, Garrett!). They look a little skinny on those rims, but still work. They would look better on some skinnier rims like some steel Celica rims. They did make a big difference in the recent snow we got here. Now I want to get the other pair I have mounted on my Celica rims, and put them on the front!

They are pretty close to the same size diameter as my regular wheels, so my speedo stayed the same (still reads 5mph faster than actual speed).

[sickntwstdtoy]

Thank you to all of you. I think the 195's will be my best route(and the cheapest at only 55.00 per tire for the hankooks and probly cheaper for anything else.

[ABQMK2]

I run 4 of those new hankook winter i pikes on my subaru outback and my car kicks ass in the snow...youll lovem!

[jefe_not]

There's much less sidewall flex if you go up to a 15 to 16 inch rim with the 195 size... BTDT. Even for those of us that aren't boy racers, it makes a difference for a sudden lane change!

[Greg G]

I wld never argue those old 225 Dunlops are as good as a set of 195 series snows... was just offering something rare and IMO, cool.

Just for fun, I dug up some old print ads from the late 1980's...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/greg84mk2/Forums/CelicaSupra/TireDunlopSnow.jpg

And heres the OEM Potenza 137 excerpt shown in the original Bridgestone catalog.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/greg84mk2/Forums/CelicaSupra/TirePotenza137V.jpg

Russ, I'll let you know when I dig them out... hopefuly thids weekend.

[silverton]

I love how back in the 80s, a 60 series tire was "low profile"

[sickntwstdtoy]

Good deal greg just let me know. dennis i was thinking the exact same thing, do they now make a 30series snow tire?

[jefe_not]

I see that Nokian offers a 35 series and 40 series but I haven't seen a 30 series yet...

http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11899&group=1.01&name=Nokian+WRG2

[SylQuebec]

I run 4 of those new hankook winter i pikes on my subaru outback and my car kicks ass in the snow...youll lovem!

Snow in new mexico??

[82MKIILtype]

I currently have a set of 185/65/14 streached onto P Type rims.

The only reason I have that small a tire is they were left over from another car and were brand new and free.

They perform suprisingly well and have very stiff sidewalls from the streach.

Unfortunatly .... they look very silly. (It doesn't help that I only have two of them on the back and stock 225's upfront:rolleyes:)

Your car will look extremely silly in the ditch ... 195/70/14's on the stop rims will work great ... and not look too bad.

[ABQMK2]

I dont know if I should laugh at you or give you a geography lesson....I will make it simple...Think Rocky Mountains and 7500' above sea level....temp usually drops 3 degrees per 1000' feet you ascend....add water and viola'=snow!!!....google is your friend....just pullin your chain.


heres a pic of the little we have left...parts car in the background
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x30/abqmk2/DSC05026.jpg


heres a pic from my window

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x30/abqmk2/DSC05793.jpg

heres the hankooks
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x30/abqmk2/DSC05027.jpg

[Wolfgang]

Pretty, Will post pictures of mine soon..

205/55/16 on xxr 501's General Tire Altimax Arctic..

http://www.generaltire.com/tires/T13/Altimax-Arctic

Studding them tomorrow...