[Wes Galyardt]

I have a limited with 20" wheels. I am looking for a set of snow tires and wheels - I want to go to 18" wheels. I haven't been happy with the 20" wheels on gravel and off-road so far. Does anyone have suggestions for aftermarket 18" wheels that will fit the ascent and a good snow tire? I guess I will also need the TPMS sensors.

 

[FourMoBro]

what is your price range? are the 18s strictly for snow? do you want to run 18s year round? do you need 2 sets of tires?

 

[David Romero]

You might check out the Cooper Discoverer True North in the 245/60/R18’s at Tire Rack’s website. I am not a big fan of Blizzaks but you can try searching for more tires. If you stuck with the 20’s I would say look at the Yokohama Iceguard IG51V. Good luck!

 

[Wes Galyardt]

Yes, I want two sets of tires, so for now I will run the stock tires on the 20" wheels and snow tires on 18" wheels. I've never used snow tires - always had big SUV with AT tires like BFG KO2s, so switching snow tires is all new to me.

 

[JVL009]

You might check out the Cooper Discoverer True North in the 245/60/R18’s at Tire Rack’s website. I am not a big fan of Blizzaks but you can try searching for more tires. If you stuck with the 20’s I would say look at the Yokohama Iceguard IG51V. Good luck!

Is 245/60R18 a good size for dedicated snow tires? I also have the limited and I believe they are sized at 245/50/20. TireRack recommends 245/60/18, but with snow tires, woudln't you want something much narrower than the stock 245? Just curious.



Also am looking for a complete 2nd set of tires/wheel for snow.

 

[Jigger]

I went with 245/60/r18 Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 and RSSW touring rims model AZZ851TGM. For my winter set these are from Canadian dealers. The Hakkapeliitta are a very high rating winter tire from Finland.

 

[Sparkland]

Just be aware when you switch to snow tires, there will be a constant hum from the tires on the roadway. It is quite noticeable on our Outback. I guess that is the trade-off for traction.

 

[pro10is]

Just be aware when you switch to snow tires, there will be a constant hum from the tires on the roadway. It is quite noticeable on our Outback. I guess that is the trade-off for traction.

This is true, with snow tires you should wait as long as possible to put them on, and then take them off as soon as possible after winter. They should only be used when snow or ice is likely. They're noisy and they wear quickly because they're soft by design to provide better snow and ice traction, but they are poor tires for dry conditions.

That said, snow tires provide unparalleled traction in snow or ice. In climates with harsh winters where snow and ice are often encountered, they are much better than all-season tires which are often poor performers in such conditions. The Bridgestone all-season tires that came with my Forester were downright dangerous in the snow and I had to quickly purchase snow tires.

Everything has tradeoffs, winter tires are no exception.

 

[MAGNUMB]

This is true, with snow tires you should wait as long as possible to put them on, and then take them off as soon as possible after winter. They should only be used when snow or ice is likely. They're noisy and they wear quickly because they're soft by design to provide better snow and ice traction, but they are poor tires for dry conditions.

That said, snow tires provide unparalleled traction in snow or ice. In climates with harsh winters where snow and ice are often encountered, they are much better than all-season tires which are often poor performers in such conditions. The Bridgestone all-season tires that came with my Forester were downright dangerous in the snow and I had to quickly purchase snow tires.

Everything has tradeoffs, winter tires are no exception.

Had some Nokian WRG2 on a RWD Dodge with a Hemi that i left on year around and they lasted close to 40k before they were toast. I rotated every 8-10 and floored it at every 3rd light Great tire and still handled decent and was a beast in the snow. Probably softer tires out there, but they were a good balance for wear and performance. They do wear quick, but if you rotate they are not terrible.

 

[Karpediem]

This is true, with snow tires you should wait as long as possible to put them on, and then take them off as soon as possible after winter. They should only be used when snow or ice is likely.

This is not what I have heard, read, or do. Every place says to put them on once the temps are consistently below 50 degrees F. Winter tires don't just help when there is snow/ice, but also when there are colder temps.

If anyone finds a deal out there for rims and tires please post it. Right now I am finding 20" Yokohama Ice Guards for $568 after $160 off in rebates. Free shipping. -Discount Tire Direct Ebay.

 

[Carl Abrams]

This is not what I have heard, read, or do. Every place says to put them on once the temps are consistently below 50 degrees F. Winter tires don't just help when there is snow/ice, but also when there are colder temps.

If anyone finds a deal out there for rims and tires please post it. Right now I am finding 20" Yokohama Ice Guards for $568 after $160 off in rebates. Free shipping. -Discount Tire Direct Ebay.

Actually 45. That may seem like a nitpick for 5 degrees, but that temperature difference can make a difference in the life of the winter tire. And new ones need a little time to get broken in.

I certainly remember growing up in Indiana we had two sets of wheels and tires in the garage for all our vehicles - but that was also in the day when it wasn't an issue to have studded tires, either. Down here, that really doesn't apply, even though we get winter weather, simply because it just doesn't stick around. Yeah, it'll get down to 10 and we'll see snow and ice ... and then three days later, a week at most, and it's back in the mid 50's or even low 60's. So in one respect, I do miss Indiana for being consistent, once the snow falls, you know it's going to be around for a month, but ... no, wait a minute, I really don't miss that at all. :devil:

 

[Sparkland]

We have 3 Subaru's and they all have two sets of tires/wheels. The boys basically have slicks for summer tires on their WRX and STI. The Outback could have probably gotten by with just all season, but we are traveling to Breckenridge this week where it is supposed to snow 4 out of the 7 days we will be there. First time to test out the Outback in the snow.

We had the all season Bridgestone's removed and put on the Blizzak's. Discount Tire charged us $115 for dismount/remount/balancing the 4 tires. I just purchased the spare wheels that were available from a member on this forum. The cost will be offset in two years of not having to change to snow tires and back again twice a year.

 

[Schism]

Winter Performance Tires

We've had several subies, always utilized performance winters.
Living in Grand Rapids, MI, much of our winters have dry roads. In the process of trying to find a performance winter of the correct size... Let me know what you guys think...

 

[pro10is]

This is not what I have heard, read, or do. Every place says to put them on once the temps are consistently below 50 degrees F. Winter tires don't just help when there is snow/ice, but also when there are colder temps...

You can do whatever you want, but in temps above 45 degrees F or so, All-Season tires are in general much better tires all around. They have considerably better wet braking, dry braking, and handling, not to mention they wear much slower. The only thing snow tires do better than all-season tires is snow traction, braking on ice, and grip in cold weather (below 45F). Otherwise, they're inferior to all-seasons. That's why you want to use snow tires only when absolutely necessary, and for as short a time as possible because they wear so fast.

Where I live, if I put and kept snow tires on when the temps are in the 45-50 range, they would need to go on in mid-October and not come off until mid-May. That's way too long. I put them on in late-November and they come off in early April. This has worked out ideally for me for decades.

 

[FourMoBro]

Costco, starting on Halloween, has Bridgestone (Blizzaks) on sale for $70 off for the month of Nov. If you buy before the 15th, you get 1cent installation. Since it seems to be tough to unload the 20" stock rims, I think I may just throw Blizzaks on them for the Thanksgiving thru Spring Break season. Got 2 weeks to finalize.

 

[other.guy]

Costco, starting on Halloween, has Bridgestone (Blizzaks) on sale for $70 off for the month of Nov. If you buy before the 15th, you get 1cent installation. Since it seems to be tough to unload the 20" stock rims, I think I may just throw Blizzaks on them for the Thanksgiving thru Spring Break season. Got 2 weeks to finalize.

I did. Bought 20" V2s with $70 off and swapped them already. They look great on Ascent and very quiet. We also got our first snow on Saturday night, but not enough to test the rubbers yet, still I am pretty confident, that it is going to be great.

 

[JVL009]

I did. Bought 20" V2s with $70 off and swapped them already. They look great on Ascent and very quiet. We also got our first snow on Saturday night, but not enough to test the rubbers yet, still I am pretty confident, that it is going to be great.

Did you just buy the 245/50/20 Blizzak V2s and used the existing stock 20" rims that came with the Subaru? Or did you get a 2nd set of wheels specifically for the Blizzaks?

 

[other.guy]

Did you just buy the 245/50/20 Blizzak V2s and used the existing stock 20" rims that came with the Subaru? Or did you get a 2nd set of wheels specifically for the Blizzaks?

Yes I got the 245/50/20 Blizzak V2s and used the stock rims . During the appointment, I mentioned the Costco guy, it is just 12 days old car. He personally told me he took good care swapping the tires. Man, these are massive tires. I had the third row down and still struggled a bit fit all four wheels. I will try to take couple of pictures of the winter tires and will post here later.

 

[JVL009]

Yes I got the 245/50/20 Blizzak V2s and used the stock rims . During the appointment, I mentioned the Costco guy, it is just 12 days old car. He personally told me he took good care swapping the tires. Man, these are massive tires. I had the third row down and still struggled a bit fit all four wheels. I will try to take couple of pictures of the winter tires and will post here later.

Sounds goods, thanks! I'm interested in seeing the photos later.

 

[other.guy]

Here are the pictures