Being old, I have driven many real wheel drive cars in the snow, including two 124 Spiders, so I know that, with proper tires, they do fine.

We don't get much snow here in Seattle, but I would like to be able to drive my car in the snow if necessary. So, I will need to get snow tires in the future. I'm perfectly happy getting inexpensive steel wheels with tires, which I can put on in a few minutes on the few occasions which require it. However, I'm curious about a couple of things?

1. Can I do just the rear wheels? In the past, I have always run snow tires only on the rear wheels of a RWD car, and that's been fine for even the deepest snow.

2. Should I get 16" wheels for the snow tires (mine's an '04, with 17" OEM wheels), and just get a higher aspect ratio? If so, what is the right size for the rear tires, and, does this change the answer to 1?

Thanks.

 

I used to drive my RWD cars with two snow tires all the time, in Washington DC, which only gets a couple of real snows per winter. There was more rain than snow during the winter, and real snow tires were terrible for braking and turning in the rain, so I didn't want snow tires on the front. As I'm sure you know, the cost of having snow tires at only one end was a change in handling, with the rear coming loose more easily - but that was better than both ends coming loose at once!

There have been some changes in snow tire technology since then. The main one is the development of silica tread compounds, which are far superior to normal tire rubber in snow, albeit at the cost of high wear on dry roads. Because the new tread compounds are so much better, snow tires no longer need as aggressive a tread pattern, which means that they are much better than they used to be in the wet.

I've been using four of the new style snow tires for a winter and a half now on my RWD car, and they quite competent in dry and wet, and amazing in the snow - more important now tht I'm in Boston. Unlike old style snow tires, they are fine for the front wheels, so there's no longer any real reason to use only two snow tires. And the car handles much better with the same tires at all four corners than it did with different tires front and back.

So I strongly recommend getting snow tires for both front and back.

The tires that go on the stock 16 inch wheels on the older S2000s are 205/55R16 front, 225/50R16 rear on 16x6.5 inch front wheels and 16x7.5 inch rear wheels. That's what I got for my new S2000, but it's probably not worth springing for alloy wheels in areas with less snow than Boston. You could call up the Tire Rack (sponsor of this forum) and talk to Jim for more specific recommendations.

 

I agree with Warren. The snow tires of today offer a much better mix of performance and snow traction. I would not even seel two tires for the rear of this car. You have a summer performance tire on the front that won't stop at all or steer to keep you on the road. You would be better off stuck than going and not being able to stop or steer.
If I can help let me know.

 

Thanks. I've PM'd Jim, but I am curious as to whether one would use the pre-2004 sizes on a 2004 car, with pre-2004 wheels? Is the final diameter the same? Would one use these sizes for, say, Blizzaks?

 

Hi 124 Spider,

All 4 corners no question. I run Blizzak LM22's. But if you want the ultimate in adhesion and don't mind sacrificing some handling for the winter months opt for Blizzak WS50's.

I see you're a former Fiat Spider owner. I dropped out of college in 1973 to drive cross country in a brand new one in the summer of "73".I bought one myself, used, in 1978. The 124 Spider was so vastly superior to all the crap the Brits were sending over here in the late 60's and thru the 70's until they ultimately all went out of business.

 

That's what I used. The final diameter is within a millimeter or two (less than 1/10 inch).

 

And there's no issue with clearing the brake calipers when putting, say, '01OEM wheels on an '04 S2k? Given how inexpensive used S2k wheels from pre-04 models are, that certainly seems to be the way to go.

Great--now I'll have three sets of tires/wheels; one for summer, one for winter and one for the track. My wife will be thrilled.

 

Didn't she just get a new RX-8?

 

Damn, Mike, you're good! Yeah, she's placated, but we're drowning in tires and wheels. The fact that my son has taken over the garage to pull the engine on his Alltrac to change the clutch has not helped the situation, but he should be done with that soon and back to college.

BTW, to hijack my own thread, I think I've convinced her to take the Proformance driving school, so she doesn't kill herself in that hot car she's driving now. She's not charmed with driving on a track, and is convinced that I'm going to kill myself driving on a track, but she acknowledges that it would be good for her to learn what the car can and cannot do.

 

Hankook Winter iPike FTMFW!!!!!