Fall approaches, when a young man's mind turns lightly to winter tires. I've been considering getting a set of Michelin winter tires from the Tire Rack but notice that although different width front and back tires are offered for the S2000 (I'm running a 2003 with 16" wheels), they are available mounted on the same width front and back wheels. Is this going to create a problem with handling in terms of preserving the stagger that I'd have with the stock units? I'm concerned that similarly sized front and rear wheels will compromise handling on ice. Optimally, am I better off mounting these on stock rims, instead of squeezing the rears on rims as narrow as the front?

Also, is there a down side for me going tothe 2004 and up 17" wheels for my 2003 winter tires? Or am I better off sticking to 16"ers?

Zeiss

 

I ran staggered winter tires on non-staggered rims for 4 winters. Lots of people have. I now run my winters on the OEM 16" rims.
Depending upon the actually width of the rims, you may pull in the bead on a particular size of winter tire and pull out the bead on another size. This translates into a need to experiment with tire pressures to maintain the proper tread contact with the road. A tire that is pulled in (like a wider tire on a narrower rim) would need a bit less pressure and a tire that is pulled out will need a bit more pressure. This will not affect handling in the slippery stuff as you don't get much in the way of lateral sidewall flex, however, such a figuration on dry winter roads can show itself in the form of instability at speed while driving through curves or corners. Not a big thing in winter as I don't tend to drive that way with winter tires anyway.

The one most obviously downfall with going to 17" winter tires is cost. 17" winter tires tend to be much more expensive than 16" winter tires.

Why not get a set of staggered winter tires AND a set of staggered rims from TireRack?

 

Both sets of rims that are offered from The Tire Rack for the 2003 S2000 appear to be the same width front and back, unless I am reading the site incorrectly. I can find reconditioned S2000 rims for $179 U.S. each in both the 16" and 17" sizes, but the Tire Rack are more attractive pricewise at $99 a wheel.

Zeiss

 

I see what you mean. I appears as thought TireRack don't presently offer a very extensive line of 16" staggered rims for our cars. They used to. I would suggest that you pick a winter tire and then find a set of OEM 16" rims in the "4 sale" section of this forum. You can also search winter tires by brand and size and see what other kinds there are. I noticed that they don't even show the Blizzak line, which is one of the more popular winter tires around.
For example, here are all the returns for front tires:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.jsp...ter=16&x=14&y=6
Note that there are 19 of them.

Here are the returns for the rear tires:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.jsp...eter=16&x=9&y=8
Note that there are 9 of them. Now you simply go back to the first list and look only at the same brands and models as those that offer the rears.

 

So do you guys think it would be a good idea to buy the front wheels from the AP2 strictly for winter tires for the thinner wheel-to-road contact?

Andre

 

Not sure what you're trying to do here. Please fill in the spaces. Say what you intend to do with tires sizes front and rear and what rims you plan to use for the rear.

It's never an ideal situation to mix and match rims or tires. The "best" idea is to get winter tires that are the same as our OEM 16" sizes and the same specs on our rims as well.

 

xviper,

What did you do with your former winter rims? I'm in the market.

Zeiss

 

I sold them (and the Blizzak winters) to "Trunger" in Edmonton. I think he may have sold them to someone else since. You can PM him and ask if he still has them. They were ADR, 16", 7" wide, 44 offset. You can also get your own set from Contemporary Motorsports here in Calgary. They're about $100.00 Cdn each. You'd also need to buy a set of lugnuts.