I did a search through the Canada section to see if there was an existing thread to jump into... a few close, but not quite what I'm thinking about, so here goes.
Winter is coming. Who'da thunk-it? :biggrin:
I'm pondering my options for winter tires and wheels. I've always bought a set of 'winter wheels' and tires to avoid swapping tires on and off twice a year and to avoid salt damage to the good wheels.
I know I'll get Nokians, since they've been my go-to tires for as long as I can remember. Unless they are shown to be ugly for rolling resistance (other threads don't seem to be concerned that they are). So the rubber shouldn't be an issue.
Which brings me to wheels. I bought the basic 19" rims for my car. They look OK. Just OK. So I see two options for buying new rims:
Option 1 is what I've always done... but I'm giving Option 2 some thought since I think I could easily get a better look for summer than with the stock wheels.
Option 2 would allow me to go up a size if I wanted... I've seen that 20" seems possible. I don't think I'd go to 21" because I don't want to sacrifice ride comfort or be stuck to pay for expensive low profile tires that don't wear well.
I'll probably have close to 20,000 km on the Primacy's by the time I do the swap, so I'd have a partially worn set of tires to deal with if I change rim size. I've been happy with the Primacy's (although they apparently don't repel roofing nails...).
So... wondering about Canadian experiences with different aftermarket rims. If possible I'd prefer to avoid bringing them over the border (tire rack dot com comes to mind) if possible. I'd like something a little nicer than the usual Core Racing from Kal Tire. What wheels turned out to be a good deal and which should I avoid?
Winter is coming. Who'da thunk-it? :biggrin:
I'm pondering my options for winter tires and wheels. I've always bought a set of 'winter wheels' and tires to avoid swapping tires on and off twice a year and to avoid salt damage to the good wheels.
I know I'll get Nokians, since they've been my go-to tires for as long as I can remember. Unless they are shown to be ugly for rolling resistance (other threads don't seem to be concerned that they are). So the rubber shouldn't be an issue.
Which brings me to wheels. I bought the basic 19" rims for my car. They look OK. Just OK. So I see two options for buying new rims:
- Cheap(ish) wheels for winter - 19" presumably, with the expectation that they'll look like crap after a few seasons.
- Nice wheels to replace the stock 19's for summer use and sacrifice the OEM 19's for winter use.
Option 1 is what I've always done... but I'm giving Option 2 some thought since I think I could easily get a better look for summer than with the stock wheels.
Option 2 would allow me to go up a size if I wanted... I've seen that 20" seems possible. I don't think I'd go to 21" because I don't want to sacrifice ride comfort or be stuck to pay for expensive low profile tires that don't wear well.
I'll probably have close to 20,000 km on the Primacy's by the time I do the swap, so I'd have a partially worn set of tires to deal with if I change rim size. I've been happy with the Primacy's (although they apparently don't repel roofing nails...).
So... wondering about Canadian experiences with different aftermarket rims. If possible I'd prefer to avoid bringing them over the border (tire rack dot com comes to mind) if possible. I'd like something a little nicer than the usual Core Racing from Kal Tire. What wheels turned out to be a good deal and which should I avoid?