I've been trying to decide between a dedicated set of summer tires/wheels and winter tires/wheels, or just swapping the rubber. I know the stock size isn't exactly the greatest for traction (wide, low profile) and 18" winters are pretty pricey. That said, when shopping for wheels/tires as a set, I generally end up around a similar price point as I would for just swapping the tires.

What's the general consensus? Dedicated set, or tire swap? (I have no plans in any way to "upgrade" my stock wheels. The Focus is the DD, the mod money goes to the Miata.)

Personally, I would try and just get a cheap set of wheels with some nice winter rubber. That way you can easily swap back and forth by yourself without having to worry about teenagers screwing up your summer wheels.

I too prefer to have a second set. Lots possibility for damage to the good looking wheels in winter driving, + frequent changes. I also think storage of full sets is better as you can hang them on the wall as I did without damaging the rubber somehow.

Dedicated sets, get 17"s for winter and tires will be way cheaper

Dedicated set for sure. This is something I still have not done. Been over 10yrs with the 8 and it has never seen winter rubber. Now that I have 2 extra sets of RX-8 wheels in decent condition I'll probably some winter rubber for the Grey 8.

geo2maz wrote:Dedicated sets, get 17"s for winter and tires will be way cheaper

I can actually fit 16s on there, too. I've been searching for random OEM wheels, but may just go steelies if I can't find them. I'll most likely get a dedicated set, not entirely what I'd like to spend money on, but I already know I won't even get up the driveway on the Goodyear F1s in even light snow.

The search continues!

Dedicated winter wheels & tires. Here's my rationale:

-Going with a set of 16" wheels & tires could potentially be cheaper than just 18" tires alone. There is one drawback though: extra set of TPMS sensors; but they're cheap on eBay.
-After they're assembled, you can mount them yourself for free in your own garage.
-You can run a thinner tire setup with a taller sidewall. This is generally desirable in the snow.
-No need to worry about damaging your nice stock 18's in the winter.
-When you sell your car, you can sell your winter setup as a package in order to recoup part of the money you spent on your setup. I've had good luck with this on past vehicles & have been able to recoup as much as ~70% of my investment; which is a small price to pay for winter safety... Actually, if you can find a used setup someone else is selling, you can sometimes end up getting all of your money back for it long term. Something to think about.

roninsoldier83 wrote:Dedicated winter wheels & tires. Here's my rationale:

-Going with a set of 16" wheels & tires could potentially be cheaper than just 18" tires alone. There is one drawback though: extra set of TPMS sensors; but they're cheap on eBay.

(snipped)

All very valid points, but my first thought when you mentioned 16s was brake clearance. Looking at the pictures in Huzer's thread about his ST (http://www.coloradomazdaclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9111), it doesn't look like those brakes would ever clear 16s. 17s might even be hard to fit depending on the wheel (at least in the front, those brakes seem to take up a large amount of space inside the stock 18s).

Learjet45 wrote:All very valid points, but my first thought when you mentioned 16s was brake clearance. Looking at the pictures in Huzer's thread about his ST (http://www.coloradomazdaclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9111), it doesn't look like those brakes would ever clear 16s. 17s might even be hard to fit depending on the wheel (at least in the front, those brakes seem to take up a large amount of space inside the stock 18s).

I hear what you're saying, but since I own one (Focus ST) I've already researched this topic & Tim should be able to run 16's. After build dates of 3/31/14 Ford changed the front brake sizes & they require at least 17" wheels to fit over them. I unfortunately have a post 3/31/14 build date & had to get 17" wheels/tires (which clear the calipers without issue!).

From my previous thread, Tim already mentioned his car had a 3/12/14 build date: http://www.coloradomazdaclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9152

^^Pre-3/31/14 build date FoST's come with a 16" spare & 16" wheels clear the front calipers- albeit just barely. Easiest way for Tim to double check: simply look at the spare tire in his trunk; but according to his build date, 16's should be just fine.

Even in the case of my car though, I found a set of extremely cheap OEM 17's and the cost of them + 17" snow tires was still relatively similar to what stock sized 18" snow tires alone would have cost me. But I now have all the other benefits listed above for around the same amount of cash I would have spent on 18" snow tires alone.... Granted, if Tim had to buy 17's (he shouldn't) he would have to get lucky like I did to find a set of OEM wheels for dirt cheap & keep costs similar (took me a few weeks to find the wheels), but it's still a good investment nonetheless.

Just my $.02

Neither because awd plow haha we'll see how winter goes. Ive never been one to use snow tires though

Those of you who never run snow tires... you are missing out... I have a used set of snow tires on a set of probe wheels that cost less than $200 for everything and have lasted 6 years and still going strong. They change the MSP from a nearly uncontrollable death box into an almost indestructrable winter workhorse.. can't even imagine what it would do for an AWD car. They also extend the life of my warm weather tires since I run the winter wheels 4 months out of the year.

Best $200 I have ever spent on a car.

I've picked up some used wheels, used for 1 season tires, and will be getting them mounted up. 16" Taurus alloys and some big squishy 215/60s Michelin X-Ice. I know they're a little oversized, hey, I'm cheap, they fit, and they'll work well in the snow.

Nice! I'm a bit jealous that you can get away with running 16's, but nice find! Those aren't all that far off from the stock 235/40/18's diameter wise. The old diameter calculator says with those you'll be going 66.93mph when your speedo reads 65mph; not too bad IMO. Not enough that I would care at least.

Thus far, my FoST with Blizzaks has performed pretty well. My driveway has been a non-issue, as has my multiple commutes across town. The first day of snow, the T/C light came on a couple times, mostly while accelerating up a steep hill that was a bit icy; I up-shifted and it wasn't a problem. Other than that, my T/C light hasn't come on once... probably due to me being a bit lighter on the throttle. Overall, the FoST with snow tires has been pretty confidence inspiring. We'll see how the rest of the winter goes.

I'm curious to hear how your setup works as well.

I'm gona be running a 15 inch wheel with studded tires I got for the first time and I'm excited to see how it does in snow!

It may be a similar price point the first year to just get snow tires put on your main wheels, but the price goes up for that setup twice a year when you have to go get the other tires swapped back on. Mounting and balancing is usually ~$20/tire so you're looking at an extra $160ish a year going that route. This is why if I'm not going to run all-seasons, then I just get a separate set of winter wheels/tires. Plus then I can swap them back for free on my own time without having to drop it somewhere and wait for it.