Winter Prep

mfarnham · 10-19-2009, 07:37 AM

Is it bad to run my wheels through the winter? I have the Prodrive PFF7. My brother tells me they will get pitted by the salt. However, I don't really have the money for winter wheels and tires, so I don't want to spend the cash if I don't have to.

airplnmdls · 10-19-2009, 10:05 AM

Ehhh...I feel like that's a personal choice...First off, do you have summer tires or all seasons? If you have summers then I would def. reccomend at least getting a set of all-seasons and at least switching the tires out...And I feel the same way, I would love to have a separate set of rims with winter tires...But I really don't have the money and the tires I have now are all-season...My car has never seen snow before...however it will this year

What I will do and will suggest (if you have all seasons)is that you just keep on what you have and try to keep them as clean as possible. Wash off the salt once a week or more if you can and if you're driving it alot...they shouldn't get that beat up if you keep them clean...

man show · 10-19-2009, 11:54 AM

You could always clean them really good and throw a coat or two of wax on them while the weather is still nice.

booosted09 · 10-19-2009, 03:11 PM

i'm in the same boat...still trying to put some money together to buy tires for the winter...i think we'll be fine as long as we keep em clean.

mfarnham · 10-19-2009, 07:52 PM

I think I have summer tires right now and unfortunately I have to drive 70 miles a day to school. I'm definitely going to try and pick up a good pair of all-season tires. I had heard about waxing my wheels before, so I think that is what I'm going to try. Tirerack.com sells wheel/tire combos really cheap but still I'm a student with no job right now, so I am screwed. Thanks for the advice guys!

airplnmdls · 10-20-2009, 11:55 AM

Yeah I'm a student too...I'll be happy in a year when I graduate...but even if you have to scrape by I think that getting those summer tires off for the snow is a MUST...can't say I know by experience, but the last thing you want would be to crash into something because of snow or ice...since you have a summer set maybe you could get a winter set? That way you'll have the best of both worlds, while if you get all seasons they would be ok for both...or option #2, try to sell the summers and get all seasons...

Hondafan · 10-20-2009, 02:37 PM

I literally just placed my order on TireRack for a set of 4 Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3Ds. I am still using my stock wheels which have been refinished in graphite. I've gone both ways with having separate wheels/tires and just swapping the tires over on my regular rims. I recommend doing what Man Show said and just wax your wheels and you'll be fine. I've never had the road salt do anything bad for my wheels. Really, anyone who's concerned about ti will just was their car. I'm more concerned about the paint of the car, but when I wash the salt off the rest of the car logically the wheels get cleaned too. My biggest concern in winter driving is hitting an "invisible" curb. As I drive through snow drifts in limited visibility that's when I worry about my wheels the most. That was my justification for taking my 18s off and switching to my old 16s on my last WRX and my TSX after that. This year I'm keeping the stock wheels and going to see how it goes. If you get snow or ice I DEFINITELY recommend a set of snow-specific tires and not wasting your money on all seasons.

mfarnham · 10-20-2009, 06:31 PM

My car is in need of new tires anyways. I think I might have to go with all-seasons, so I don't have to buy different tires in the spring. I'm not worried about whether I have winter or all-season tires. I used to have an '84 Mustang and I made it through the New England winter just fine with all-season tires. I was looking at the Kumho Ecsta ASX on Tirerack today. I have the Ecsta SPTs right now and they are just fine. Why mess with a good thing, right?

Can I use regular car wax on my wheels?

newtothegame · 10-20-2009, 07:56 PM

I just got the Kumho Ecsta ASX about two months ago. It was the best tire I could find in the little town I caught a flat in. I havent ran them in snow yet, but they have done just fine in a decent amount of rain. And the weather the past couple days has been nice and they stick pretty good. Thats just my limited experience with them.

mfarnham · 10-20-2009, 08:31 PM

Good to hear another opinion on them. Now I just need to save up some money quick before winter hits.

Hondafan · 10-20-2009, 10:59 PM

And yes you can use regular car wax on your wheels.

ghostlight · 10-29-2009, 10:31 PM

i live in a pretty snowy place. not alaska or anything, though.

until recently i had the same rims and tires on my 07 and they held up fine. i only replaced them because they were going bald.

i never had pitting or dry rotting or anything. and i'd leave the slt on my car for at most a week two weeks. i really hated to do that because of paint and rust.

the only reason i did is because when ever there's a threat of snow the salt trucks eith dump a huge load out for very little snow and when it snowed a lot they didn't even touch it.

... even though their trucks are jacked a foot......

but i still have paint. and my tires are still drivable.

never lost air. not once. even though the traction sucked with the stockies they were pretty durable.

i'll let you know on my new dunlops.