Thinthi

i'm sure we are all tired of this topic, i knwo i'm tired of reading about it, i've read through the wealth of information, and then i posted on one of the snow tire threads some q, but no answers so i'm starting my own thread of q i have left

i live in long island in new york... today when going out my driveway, which is slightly up hill, and i couldn't get up the hill, granted it was a solid sheet of ice, but after having to actually get of the car and breaking the ice with a crow bar i've decided to buy snow tires...... i've read alot on this website, and seems that tirerack is the best way to go, but my questions.
1. do have tire rack deliver the tires to my house, and they are already mouted and balanced and i just take my (18 inch) wheels off and stack them in my garage, ride around till mid feb to early march then switch back..... or do i have tirerack deliver to my tire guy and he balances the tires for me, and i have to drag 4 wheels and tires back to my house??
2. with having hte 18 inch rims, my best bet seems to be 17 inch wheels, but which ones, and what tires.
3. i haven't read much on the air pressure system in the car, do you have to get special tires that would be compatible, as i spoke to a friend he told me that if i put the wrong tires on there that annoying light will come on no matter if the pressure is good or not, and it will damage the monitoring system?
any help would be nice, thanks.

93rdcurrent

Tire Rack is apparently out of stock of their snow tires. However, Discount Tire Co. has them and I think they are a comparable vendor. You should call them since their website says they don't have stock for the 8 but I know they do. I posted a while back giving the local number and prices. I know the tires are around $175/tire and it just depends on what wheels you want. The tires are already mounted and balanced. You don't need to do anything but put them on. You will have to order the tire sensors if you want them and they will need to be mounted before the tires are delivered.

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

1) Tire rack or any company like them will ship the tires/wheels already balanced

2) Yea, 17 inch wheels are the way to go. Look up the 17inch size tirerack recommends - i can't think what it was off the top of my head. I got 17" Kazera wheels and they fit fine and got the Dunlop M3 tires and they have been great in the snow.

3) The most popular opinion on the tire pressure monitoring system is to just ignore the blinking light. The sensors are like $100+ per wheel and they must be installed basically by the dealer because they are very easy to damage and to install them they would have to remount the tire since the sensor is located between the rim and tire. It won't hurt to ignore the light (as far as I've experienced so far after a few months).

Rotary Nut

Question 1: Yes. The Tire Rack will deliver your wheels and tires mounted and balanced and ready to go and yes you can have them drop ship to an authorized installer in your area. Where on LI are you located. I'm a displaced Lawng Islander myself. Bornin Hempstead and raised in Medford (Suffolk cty). Here is the listing from the Tire Rack Installer locator for 11763 just enter your own zip where indicated.

Question 2: I personaly went with a set of All season radials (Sumitomo HTR+) in size 245/40WR18 so I do not have to store another set of them in my already crowded garage.


Question 3 was interesting. Here's why. I was reading in the manual and it seems that you need to watch what type of tire you install at least the construction of the tire itself. It states you should not install tires that have steel belts in the sidewalls of the tire, only polyester, as it will cause the TPMS to fail. I think the use of steel belts in both the tread and the sidewall blocks out the signal to the central computer.

stever

Another option for snow tires is Michelin 235/40/18 which I put on my car. According to their specs, they should be the pretty much the same diameter as the stock tires. It works out to be a little cheaper than rims and tires....

Gord96BRG

1) Yes, TireRack packages are delivered mounted and balanced. It really is as simple as unbolting the old ones, bolting on the new ones.

2) There are lots of discussions about available 17" wheels. Tire Rack has some good suggestions, and in the Canada forum there are two sticky threads that discuss several 17" wheels with pictures. 17" tires - ideally, narrower is better for winter traction - 215/55-17 is better than 225/50-17, which is better than any 235 or 245 option. The intent is to improve winter grip, right? Tire Rack has good articles on line explaining this. Brands - right now, it's almost a "buy what's available" deal, but the Pirelli W210, Dunlop M3, Toyo Garit HT, Bridgestone LM-22 are all great choices.

Re cost - if you're keeping your RX-8 for more than 3 winters, then it is actually cheaper to buy a separate set of 17" wheels and 17" winter tires than to buy 18" winter tires and pay to have them swapped on and off your 18" wheels (mounting and balancing charges) twice per year, not to mention the wear and tear on your wheels from that. I posted the calculations that proved that point several months ago.

3) No, the TPMS transmitter mounts to the wheel, the tires have little to do with it. Many people have just left off the transmitter from their winter wheels and put up with the light - there are a bunch of posts that discuss that. You can also purchase a separate set of transmitters to mount in your winter wheels as well.

Regards,
Gordon