Winter driving and car wheel/tire setups

[crxnco]

Currently I am driving my 1990 Honda crx on some 15" enkei wheels with nitto tires. Lets just say that its less than optimal in the snow. I grew up driving in the snow in Michigan so I can get by, But it's probably not the safest. I have some stock honda 13" wheels I could get some winter tires put on for the front, anyone see any problems with this? My crx is lowered a bit, but to my understanding as long as the overall diameter stays the same ie bigger rims/smaller tires or smaller rims taller tires I shouldnt have any problems?
What works for you guys?
Thanks,
Nick

[Bedlam]

Should be fine as long as your current drop isnt SO much that oem wheels/tire wouldnt fit...they may rub a little..hard to say.

-Bedlam

[wild.irish]

might be ok, but i personally woudn't do it on my car. unless, like you say, you gained winter skills from the very beginning, you probably know what you're doing anyway ;)

[STIBungy]

13"s should be fine on the crx. Just dont try to take the corners like you would with the 15"s on.

[V8SpankR]

Winter tires?? ;)

[crxnco]

They make those??????? j/k, thanks guys for the input. I just wasnt sure what you all do in the snow in terms of shoes for the car.

[Talus]

Get some snow tires on the 13's. I have 14's with studded snows and they are a little taller (70 series on 14" as opposed to 60 series on stock 14" stock) but even with a 2" drop, they fit and dont rub unless snow gets built up. Just be carefull with snows only on the front axle because if those are the only ones with traction, you can get some wicked over-steer.

[crxnco]

Thanks Talus

[STIBungy]

Amen to that. My Hakka 10s are more mud tires than snow. No sipes, just knobby tread.

Get some snow tires on the 13's. I have 14's with studded snows and they are a little taller (70 series on 14" as opposed to 60 series on stock 14" stock) but even with a 2" drop, they fit and dont rub unless snow gets built up. Just be carefull with snows only on the front axle because if those are the only ones with traction, you can get some wicked over-steer.

[BenCrx]

You can put 13's on a lowered CRX, my is lowered 2 inchs And I've got 70series tires and never have had any rubbing issues, but the Crx still sucks in the snow

[STIBungy]

Prolly sucks cuz of the tires. My civic does fine.

[BenCrx]

I think it's the weight, mines an 88 hf so it's pretty light, 1850 curb weight ya know
I'm gonna give some studded tires a try to see if it helps

[JL LGT]

Driving on the pavement (no snow) will eventually (not long) wear those studs off.

I purchased a set of BFGoodrich Traction T/A's that work great on snow/ice and handle well on dry pavement as well. They're an overall good tire.

[floored4door]

I am runnin si rims with Yok YK 420's and they do pretty well. Not the best on earth but works. My car is also almost as low as skunk 2 coils will go and I get no rubbage unless I turn the wheel as far as it will go one way, otherwise none.

[hsunchen]

I couldn't use 195/60-15 studded snows on my lowered '93 Civic, and it's not that low (maybe a 2 1/2" drop) - it rubbed up front pretty badly every time I hit any sort of bump, even in a straight line.

Ideally, a 185/60-14 snow would be great (right diameter, fits under lowered cars, nice and skinny for snow use, and it's a CHEAP size) if you have 14" steelies or whatever. That's what's on the wife's Integra right now.

I had to get 185/55-15s to fit under my Civic, which is an oddball (i.e. expensive) size for snowtires.

[crxnco]

Thanks for all the imput, I think I'll get some tires for those 13" rims. I should be fine even with my Skunk 2 drop springs

[Mario]

The smaller the contact area of the tire to the snow, the better traction you will have as you are putting more weight on a smaller patch. So basically, the smallest tire you can go with. :)

[Talus]

One thing I would caution on is that studs suck for dry pavement traction. Immagine walking on dry concrete in cleats. If I could have afforded it I would have got some high quality studless snow tires like Blizzaks, and they would have given better traction in all conditions than the studs- tirerack tests confirm this. But if you get no-name tires, the ice traction is less than good, so the studs do help out there.

[STIBungy]

Not so much the smallest in regards to tire size but tire width.

The smaller the contact area of the tire to the snow, the better traction you will have as you are putting more weight on a smaller patch. So basically, the smallest tire you can go with. :)

[white_n_slow]

i run 195/60/14s in the winter and they do the trick quite nicely. I'd reccomend getting snow/all-seasons for all four wheels rather than just the front. If you hit a patch of ice while turning your car will spin like a top.

[endless616]

use this link, it should help, go down to tools then click on tire size calculator http://www.toyotacelicaonline.com/links.htm

[STIBungy]

I might have some snow tires on steelies for sale in a couple of days.