[JLong]

Is it ok to drive the 2012 wrx's stock tires in dry conditions below 30 degrees?
Im probably going to get mine in Feburary and I want to drive my current car when there is a potential for snow so I dont have to swap tires until next winter.

Thanks

 

[GarrettKoonsman]

I believe '12s come with summer tires. Any pure summer compound will lose performance under 40 degrees. This will obviously lower your grip and could cause additional wear. It is doable just be safe about it

 

[rage-wrx]

^^^ what he said.The summer tires lose grip below 40 degrees & wear faster.The car will not go anywhere on the summers in the snow.There is no traction,braking & handling in the snow on summers..

Just get a cheap set of steelies(used or new) & look for used winters with low miles(try craigslist or the forums) if you do not feel like spending much.

 

[JLong]

Yea they do come with summer tires. Darn, I guess ill just have to swap tires for a few months. Its going to be hard for me to wait till Feburary to get one, let alone till the winter's over. Ha

 

[rage-wrx]

I am not much of a fan of all seasons but if you are alright with them try this guy's all seasons .http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/personal-sale-wanted/134350418-4-new-yokohama-avid-envigor-h-v-400-a.html

 

[JLong]

Yea thanks!
I'm gonna get winter tires. Id hate to get over a foot of snow or have another blizzard and not have winter tires on.

 

[JLong]

I see alot of people go down to smaller tires for winter. Even 16 inch steelies. How do I know which rims will fit properly before I buy?

 

[rage-wrx]

Going down a tire size is what is reccommended.I have a 16 inch.

The narrower the tire the less effort needed to drive through snow.Although this would be of more help when you drive through snow & not in the dry..Plus 16 inch tires are cheaper.

 

[BigDaddyRex]

Winter tires are worth the investment. With them on these cars are great in bad conditions, and once you buy the first set you ultimately add life to both sets before replacement. I stuck with 17s because I still want as much grip as possible when conditions are good (most of the time), and the 17s did great in the slippery stuff for me.

 

[JLong]

Hi thanks for the reply.

2005 Subaru Impreza Sti wheels with dunlop wintersport m3 tires

Those 05 STI rims would fit a 2011/2012 wrx right?
I dont think 600 is a bad price. Might get those for winter.

 

[JLong]

Ahhh nevermind. They are 5x114 . Darn!

 

[rage-wrx]

The only STI wheels that will fit the WRXs are off 2004 STIs(5 x100 bolt pattern).There are many for sale around the forums.

Otherwise look for any 5x100.

 

[JLong]

Alrighty, thank you sir

 

[teflon_jones]

Going down a tire size is what is reccommended.I have a 16 inch.

The narrower the tire the less effort needed to drive through snow.Although this would be of more help when you drive through snow & not in the dry..Plus 16 inch tires are cheaper.

Eh? That's not the reason. It's so that you have less surface area on the tire so you're not floating on top and get down to good hard snow underneath.

Personally, I think that whole reason is crap since 99.999% of people live in places where they have this thing called the snowplow and there's never much snow accumulated on roads. I'd rather have a wider tire because you're driving on packed snow and the more surface area the more grip. Snow plowing in this country didn't use to be as good as it is today or anywhere close.

And people use smaller wheels just to save money, though sometimes people quote the reason that there's more potholes and in general rougher roads in winter so you want smaller wheels to soak up the impacts. Road conditions have vastly improved across this country in the last 20 years so the main reason for smaller wheels and tires is to save money.

 

[CopperTop]

I went with a set of 16" steels and Dunlop Graspics from Tire rack for my 11. Total cost mounted balanced and shipped to me was only 750. So yeah, it was mostly a money saver. Though the town I work in is redoing the sanitary sewer so lots of temporary patching on the roads in town coming toward winter, so I can't say the higher sidewall wasn't part of the logic.

 

[JLong]

I know its not recomended but what if i decide to just use my stock wheels at first. What size should I get? I dont know how to tell what fits. Tire rack doesnt show anything but the stock size. I was lookin around, couldnt find anything.

 

[rage-wrx]

You want to mount winters on your stock wheels?Bear in mind if you decide to use the same set of wheels for both sets of tires you will have to pay each time you change tires.

Tire rack may not be showing your model year because the 2012s are just rolling out.Enter 2011 model year and you should have more options.Or call them.

 

[CopperTop]

I would just point out that if you are going to buy winter tires for your stock rims between the cost of the tire and the mount and balance you are going to end up pretty close on cost. Dunlop DS'3s which are around the cheapest studless snow for the stock size are ~$556 for 4 tires. Once you add ~100-120 for mount and balance you are within about $100 of the 16" steels with tires on them shipped to your door. Then you are either paying to have the summer tire put back on the wheel in the spring or buying new wheels for the stock tires which are going to cost you more than the $100 you saved. Unless you were planning to buy lighter wheels for the summer tires next year anyway the downsize steels are the cheapest route.

 

[Eric05mx]

I would just point out that if you are going to buy winter tires for your stock rims between the cost of the tire and the mount and balance you are going to end up pretty close on cost. Dunlop DS'3s which are around the cheapest studless snow for the stock size are ~$556 for 4 tires. Once you add ~100-120 for mount and balance you are within about $100 of the 16" steels with tires on them shipped to your door. Then you are either paying to have the summer tire put back on the wheel in the spring or buying new wheels for the stock tires which are going to cost you more than the $100 you saved. Unless you were planning to buy lighter wheels for the summer tires next year anyway the downsize steels are the cheapest route.

I agree. You won't be saving much after paying for mount and balance twice plus the tire's are more expensive.

Check your local Craigslist, forums, newspaper, etc.. for a good deal. Never know what you might come across. I didn't want to run the steel rims so I picked up a used set of 09 oem wrx rims and put 215/50/17 Blizzaks on them. The 09 rims are only 7 inches wide so you can run a narrower tire which saved me a few more bucks.

 

[JGhost]

i have a 2011, put snow tires on! lol, ppl keep tellin me oh u have all wheel drive u dont need snow tires, i got it the first day in feb and had a big ass snow storm, threw some general altimax tires on there and had no problem, i havent put the snow tires on yet but, a couple of weeks ago we had a lot of snow, in october i think it was, and the stock tires were horrible, all over the place...took about 3 hours to get home which usually takes me 40 minutes