Kizashi Club

I have the front wheel drive version with the 18 inch wheels. Was considering buying steel wheels for the winter and putting studded tires on the front. Possibly thinner wheels as well. Has anyone done this? Does the traction control still work still?

I have the Automatic Transmission by the way.

I'm no snow driving expert, but I'd suggest having high grip tyres on the front and low grip on the rear would be a disaster waiting to happen. Especially where snow and ice are concerned.

Ha, forgot to say on the front and back. I can't image the nightmare of just having front studded tyres.

Would be great for drifting.

(And I much prefer oversteer to understeer, all joking aside)

You do not need studded tires unless you live in an area that has icy roads most of the winter. Studs really do not provide any advantage in just snow. The traction control will still work. You should always use the same tires on all for wheels when it comes to snow tires; unless you are a world rally champion and have insane car control skills.

I don't know where u are from but I have a sls with a 6mt and fwd and I use my normal everyday tires. I have Goodyear eagles on mine and havnt had much issue and I live in northern New York/ fort drum to be exact and we had 21 ft of snow last yr only got stuck one time trying to get out my sloped driveway without shoveling cuz I was late for work ... U should be fine with out snow tires. If I ever felt like I was going to get stuck I turned traction control off and shifted to 3rd and let torque and wheelspin carry me through works like a charm

Best snow tire I have ever found for the buck are General Altimax Arctic Tires. They are studable.

I run studded front General Altimax Arctic tires on my Mazda Protege 5.

The rears are my regular hard summer tires. You learn really good at car control as the car is always at its limit. The only probably I have now is when I switch from my Subarus to my Mazda. So far I have not had any major accidents with the mazda, but it will pinwheel around if you get on the breaks hard. You just have to be ready to catch it. (That car also does not have ABS or stability control)

For the most part, I do my best not to drive the Mazda in the winter. I now realize I was quite the rally driver back in the day. I never realized how dangerous/fun that car was until last winter when I was forced to drive it for a few weeks.

I ran 4 studless General Altimax Arctics on my saab92x aero. (stupid good in the snow) That is the only car I have ever driven where I was significantly more aggressive on snow then on dry roads.

I have four X-Ice Xi3 on my Forester XT.

The X-Ice Xi3s are quite a bit quieter and better at highway speed, but they are nowhere near as good on the snow and ice.

I'm really mad at myself for selling my Generals with my Saab 92x aero.

Diskord wrote:I have the front wheel drive version with the 18 inch wheels. Was considering buying steel wheels for the winter and putting studded tires on the front. Possibly thinner wheels as well. Has anyone done this? Does the traction control still work still?

I have the Automatic Transmission by the way.

We went with the acclaimed Altimax Arctics in a smaller size on our SLS sport AWD. I actually used stock 16" sx4 wheels and they cleared all the suspension and brakes perfectly fine. I can't remember if we went with 215s or 205s, but it was much narrower than the beefy summer tires.

Results? Traction was so good that in fresh 5-6" snow, we could safely travel almost 2x the pace of traffic including suvs and other vehicles with snow tires. The snow tires are MILES better than any other type of tire in snow because of their dedicated design (no matter what anyone says), and their performance deteriorates quickly in temperatures over 50 degrees, although it's fine for driving at 80 degrees if you have to (been there, done that).

When going to another set of wheels, the TPMS system is what you will need to make sure gets appeased in order for full TCS to work like normal. Luckily, I figured that out so we don't need a dealership or fancy tools. Just be sure you get the right sensors as I know of one situation where the wrong sensor caused all sorts of issues with the TPMS not relearning.

Another vote for Altimax Arctics. Great snow tires for the money