I plan to use my stock wheels/tires for the normal 3-season (spring/summer/fall) driving but I'm looking for a wheel/tire package for the winter. From what I understand, narrower tires are better for the wet and snow, so would using a narrow tire give me as much traction as possible in the snow/ice?

As for the diameter of the wheel and tire, I want to keep it identical to stock specs so I don't screw up the odometer/speedometer readings. Given that the snowing season could potentially last up to 4-5 seasons up here, my odometer could end up being significantly inaccurate.

And lastly, given that I want the overall diameter to be the same as stock, would it matter if I had say a 15" wheel with a thicker sidewall or a 16" wheel with the same sidewall (as long as the overall is the same)? And if it doesn't matter, which would give the optimal handling and traction in snow?

Is there anywhere I can get a wheel/tire package that is relatively inexpensive (I don't care if the wheels are cheap steelies) that gets the job done? Thanks for listening to a tire newbie.

 

For the S2k I'd just stick with the stock size tire/wheel since most winter tires will already be narrower than the stock tire and any narrower will screw up the car's highway stability.

Getting a smaller wheel is not a good idea, imho. If you start looking now, you might get a set of used stock wheels for a good price - check out the for sale section and ebay. BTW, I have used my stock wheels with winter tires for the last two winters with no problems.

TireRack sells wheel/tire combos, Jim will be able to help you with that or you can check with your local area tire shops.

Remember, the most important thing is the right tire. Do a search for "winter tires" or "snow tires" in the tire & wheel forum for winter tire options and other ideas.

 

For the winter on this car I would go with the OE tire sizes. In extreme winter conditions like Buffalo, you can run the 205/55R16 all the way around. There are not any 15" wheels to clear the brakes on the S2K.
If I can help let me know.
Thank you

Jim 877-522-8473-364

 

Do what I did, go to the buy+sell forums and look for a set of take-off wheels in your area.

I put "all-season" Dunlop SP5000's on my take-off OEM wheels. I don't expect to go through winter precipitation, but the S-02's downright suck in the cold temperatures, even in the dry. 205/55-WR16 in the front and 245/45-WR16 in the back, these should give me better cold weather handling than the S-02's, but I personally would not expect them to do much good in snow and ice.

If I was buying "ice and snow" tires for the S2000, to keep the balance I would go with 195/55-QR16 in the front and 225/50-QR16 in the back. The stock S-02 tires are actually closer to 195, just about any 205 aftermarket tire will be wider.

For instance, the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 comes in these sizes. Only buy Q-rated tires if you can keep the speed below 100 MPH! if not, go with H-rated winter tires and make a move back toward performance at the compromise of ultimate winter traction.