I started a thread on the same topic a few days back:

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbull.../vbulletin/f72/having-hardest-time-deciding-long-term-wheel-tire-set-up-420514/

I will be gong with 215/65-17 on steel wheels from tire rack. no sensors.

My thinking - I bought a Subaru XT, over say a BMW X3, because of its great bang for the buck, and I don't want to blow my 'savings' by spending a ton on wheels/tires. So I will have a set of snow wheels (steel) and a set of summer wheels (stock). Summer wheels will keep stock rubber until it wears out, which is probably 20k miles or 1-2 seasons, at which point I will get something better. The snow tires should last a few seasons, and I will be doing the changeover myself.

Traction-wise, I don't think there will be much difference between 225 vs 215 or 18 vs 17 rim.

As a plus, one of my winter wheels will be used as a full-size spare, so I am effectively saving another $200.

 

hey Pavster, i read your thread after and noticed the similarities. However, I wanted to know if the difference between the two sizes are huge and also peoples opinion on the two different brand in tires.

I like the look of the stock rims and already have a set of Sparco's for the summer which i plan to use the stock tires on(unless i can find a way to use the 245, 45, 18 on them).

 

Yeah I figured you already have a set of wheels for the summer. In that case can't go wrong with snows on stockers. I run snow tires on 18's on my Porsche (235 front, 265 in the back), and they do just fine.

 

cool thanks. I never had snows larger than 16 before so didn't know how bad 18's would be. I just know that the smaller the contact with the snow the better the traction would be. I'll probably go with the 18's and stock. Thanks

 

There are some interesting threads over at NASIOC like this one:

Wider vs narrower snow tires--any actual data? - NASIOC

It seems we can't really generalize whether narrower or taller is better - that only holds true for very specific conditions and same model tire, etc. There are too many other variables, so no way that a few mm of sidewall height, or even tread width, is going to be noticeable.

 

good find/interesting read. thanks for the info!

With the exception of last year, there hasn't been an incredible amount of snow where i live in the last 5 years. I'm leaning towards 18" and having the better looking rim over the steelies.

 

Ok, I decided on the xi3 over the WRT's for the stock 18" wheels. After reading numerous reviews i choose the xi3 because of the excellent dry and wet road performance along with the fuel mileage. Both are supposedly very good in snow and ice.

I come from using only Nokian and Gislaved winter tires over the last decade so hopefully I will be as pleased with the Xi3. I would have stuck with Gislaved but unfortunately they didn't make a tire in my stock size. Nokian's are hard to find here in Ontario and when you can they charge a hefty premium for them.

I'll throw my review on the winter tire thread later on when i get to test them out thoroughly in different situations.