Just a quicky for tonight. I finally got a chance to mount my winter wheels and tires this past weekend, so I thought I’d share the final result. If you want to read about what I chose for my winter setup you can read the original post for the details. First impression is that I like the style of the rims, but don’t really care for them being black. Visually, they blend in too much for my taste and lose the definition and detail that you’d normally see with the lighter toned stock wheels. To use photographic terminology, they block up and lose detail in the shadows, which I don’t care for. For winter use though, it’s fine, but when it comes time to grab a set of summer rims, I definitely want some shade of grey or bronze in order to not lose that detail.
Regarding the physical characteristics of the wheels, despite being 17″ they are noticeably heavier than the OEM 18″ wheel/tire combo. That surprised me a bit. Unfortunately, I didn’t take the time to weigh them for comparison, but just going by feel the difference is obvious. You can also notice it when driving as well – there is a slight hit in acceleration that is tolerable, but noticeable. It feels very similar to having another person in the car. That said, I’m not going to be tearing up the roads in the crappy winter weather anyway, so it’s fine. Hell, the extra weight may even help traction a bit.
Apart from the weight, my other initial driving impression is that you can feel the softness that the extra sidewall height brings to the game as well as the squishiness that is inherent in a tire with a significant and deep tread pattern. It’s not horrible, but the steering response and overall sharpness of the car’s handling is quite a bit duller than with the OEM summer setup. On the flip-side, the ride comfort has increased and is not quite as jarring as the OEM setup, which is actually what you want for winter because it will help with surviving the potholes and other road damage that naturally occurs in winter in areas with snow and slush. Overall, they feel just fine, but there is less feedback and precision communicated to the driver. As for winter grip in snow and slush, we’ll just have to see because that shit hasn’t hit here just yet.
And there you have it. They’re cheap but seemingly sturdy rims and the tires I know are top-notch as I’ve had them on both of my previous WRXs and they were fantastic performers. Once I get some actual winter driving under my belt with this setup I’ll drop back in here for an update, so until then enjoy the fall weather and I’ll see you soon.
