Time to shop for winter tire/rim package
 

Hey guys, I want to start looking at winter tire/rim packages. I've read an older post before on some recommendations regarding the tires.

Any winners out there? What is the best/cheapest place to buy them from? I'm in GTA.

Thanks.

See Lou at Mississauga Tire and tell him Ray from the RX8 club sent you. He should shave off a few decent bucks off your best quote. I went with Michelin Pilot Alpines. Love them. Others have jad good success with other brands.

Thanks, will check it out.

Do people buy 215/55/17 or 225/50/17. I would think that the narrower tires hold better in snow.

I see some people bought Hankook - W300 Ice Bear tires. They seem to be getting pretty good reviews and the price is right as well. Between these and Michelin Pilots is $500 difference after taxes.

Wouldn't mind saving $500 if Hankooks are good.

I wnet with 225/50/17 because I wanted to stick to the stock height as much as possible wehile also maintain a beefy look as much as possible without sacrificing grip in snow.

Has anyone gotten ASA JH3 rims? Do you like them?

Shamblerock, I am looking for a package - rims, tires, and balancing included. Will Mississauga Tire be cheaper or will they beat the price of TireTrends?

Thanks.

Dunlop M3's at the Tire Rack. They have nice rim/tire packages. Delivered right to your door.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....e1=yes&place=2

I hear the blizzaks does a really good job

The only thing, I'm in Canada. I'm not sure it's worth dealing with duties, brokerage fees, and the like.

Hey Falcon, I got my 8 in the summer ( like you did! go SE!) and I'vebeen looking into buying winter tires for the last couple of weeks.

so far I found that tirerack.com by far has the cheapest price ( $200 CAD/each vs local $300cad/each), but im looking into 18s so the difference is more extremely. I was also comparing 17s and tirerack.com is still cheaper but not by like 50%.

and yes, from what i found out, if you do order from tirerack.com you will get raped with brokage/custom/duty. apparently tirerack.com only uses UPS ground to ship their tires/rims ( and FedEx for smaller parts), so on top of the usual duties/custom ( which is not that bad, its like paying GST, you have pay GST no matter what), the brokage fee will probably be ~ $150 - $200 CAD at the door. in some cases that is still cheaper though comparing to local price.

After much thought about that i've decided to buy locally ( or within canada). Some site people pointed out was tiretrends.com and 1010tires.com ( they are having a winter tire sale atm). All their prices are pretty close to each other, and im trying to see if my local tireshops can match their price ( so I can save on shipping), other wise i'll probably be buying my tires from tiretrend.com

Dying Here, so you decided to go with 18"? I guess you're not buying rims and be just swapping the tires?

This is a solution, but each time you will have to pay someone to swap the tires and most likely have them balanced as well. Rims will take a toll once they go through few winters as well. Also, once they swap the tires, you will need someone else to take them back to your house as they won't fit in the RX-8.

I am looking at getting rims and tires so that I can swap them myself and this way it is much easier. The cost for this either 1400 or 1900, depending on the tires I buy.

Yes Mississaug Tire does these packages. Lou has already fitted a dozen RX8's at least over the past 2 years. I would definitely put Tire Trends' quote in his face and ask him to compete. After that, its up to you to decide which way to go. remember Tire trends will charge shipping and you'll have to pay for installation I guess. So factor these things in. Also, if you have a problem with tire Trend product, what is your recourse? At least you can work right in to Mississauga Tire and get it addressed immediately.

Noted, but perhaps worth pricing it out for comparitive purposes.

"Canadian Customers: UPS will collect additional taxes, duty and customs brokerage charges prior to delivery. Please contact your local UPS office for estimates of these charges.

Delivery may be delayed by customs procedures."

I've got the 06 SE too and am looking at 18" Blizzaks.

Tiretrends has them for 279.95 each, that the same for both LM 22 and LM 25.
Usually the LM 25s are more expensive, so does anyone know are the LM 25s actually the better tire?

I just received a set of ASA JH3's with 215/55/R17 Michelin X-Ice's from the TireRack. UPS collected $208cdn (GST/Brokerage/Duty). Even with that 208 bucks, I believe it was still cheaper than going Canadian. I may be wrong about that, I'm sure one of you guys could probably find a better deal locally. I was quite happy with TireRack's service and product, and it only took 6 business days for the tires to arrive.

I wasn't particularly interested in appearances or speed ratings so I went with the skinnier X-Ice's, I just want to survive the winter in this car:)

Hey Falcon

Have you tried www.talontires.com ... they're out of Montreal (?) and I believe that they had a group purchase price for rx8's.

Also a number of guys here in the west (including my father) swear by the guys in BC at www.tiretrends.com

Falcon:

yeh i've decided to go 18. I know it will cost ~ $60 per mount so ~ $120 per season just to mount and remount. But i figured if i were to get 17s + rims, the rims itself will cost ~ $500 ( used) which = ~ 3-4 seasons of mounting and remounting. Also I already curbed like 3 out of my 4 rims ( OPSSS) so I figured if I come acorss a set of nice new aftermarket 18s sometime in the next year or two I can use my OEM as winter rims.

I've managed to find pirelli 240 sottozero 225/45/18 for $250/each everything included, just a little bit more than 17s, so im going w/ the 18 route.

U should not buy 18''. Get 17'' one. Tiretrend do not charge shipping. I used 19'' last winter. The car stared to slip in snow everytime i put over 3000 rpm and i couldnt barely drove over 50. Just want to share my experience. Dont try to save few hundred bucks and risk your safety.

according to tiretrend online shipping they sure charge shipping.

I doubt 18 winters are consider risky in the, there are quite a few ppl on the forum that uses 18 winter tires and I dont recall reading about any complains.

How much should I be looking to spend on tires and just steel rims...I was offered 1000 for new hankooks w/ 17" steel rims...

I got my Pilot Alpin's V rated with alloy rims (RTS) through Lou at Mississauga Tire in November 04 - no complaints at all.

Great. That's my set up too. I am also really happy with the set up. I think that they changed their name because I recommended Lou to a freind and he said they are not called Mississauga Tire anymore.

It was a great outfit. Oh well.

I think 1000 is a bit much. The tires are 600, rims shouldn't be more around 250-300.

Went to Lou at Mississauga Tire. He couln't match online prices which is fine.

Ended up buying from TireTrends out in BC.

I had an option of getting the setup from US, but in the end came to a conclusion that I won't be saving much. I work for a transportation company, so it would've been even cheaper for me to get them here. In the end, I would've saved around 200-250 maybe a bit more. Seemed like to much hassle to me.

Once I get them, will post some pics. I went with 17" setup and 215/55/17 tires.

Yea thanks...I think I'm just gonna park my baby in the winter and use my civic...
Maybe next year she'll get to taste some snow