Hi all,

I'm moving to a colder weather climate in December, and it will be the first time I've driven in snow/ice conditions. Being new to all of this, I have some very basic questions for my G37S (summer tires...of course):

1. Do most of you use the stock wheels in winter? Will the salt, etc. damage and pit them?

2. Is it preferable to purchase new (cheap) wheels with tires?

3. Do you keep the staggered sizing on new wheels/tires for winter?

4. Do you buy a decent jack and do the wheel swap yourself, or are you guys dragging wheels to a mechanic every spring and fall to deal with this?

Thanks for the help.

 

I bought a set of wheels, tires, and TPMS so it's a quick swap between winter and summer. I have an AWD G so no staggered tires for me. The dealer store the tires for me so now worries there. If not I'd take them in myself to the dealer. It's a bit awkward but it's only twice a year so no big deal.

 

We have new car choices narrowed to a G37S Sedan (rwd/6mt) or an STi. Since they both come with summer tires I am going with a dedicated winter setup.

I have found 18" wheels for about $150 each and snow tires at about $160 each. I am not going with the staggered sizes and will swap them myself with the oem setup when the temp dictates. I will probably will run the winter from late Nov./Dec. to about March.

 

I used winter tire on my stock rims. This will give me an excuse to get new ones later on and them I will use the stock wheel only for winter. I used a square set up for winter, 225-50-18's all around.

 

I bought a nice winter wheel/tire set from tire rack.

I swap them in when daytime temps drop below 40 degrees.

No need for a new jack but a nice floor jack sure makes things easier.

No need to keep the staggered setup, mine are square.

If you go for a wheels/tires set there is no need for tpms sensors either unless you're planning to visit the dealership and hand them $100+ each time you change wheels so they can recalibrate the car. The tire light on your dash will be on the whole winter if you choose no sensors/recalibration, so it's up to you.

Mine went away once spring came and I swapped back to the summers.
Saved close to $300 for the year not recalibrating the car each time and I could have saved more if I've done my homework and ordered the set with no sensors .


Stratos.-

 

I've always purchased a 2nd set of winter wheels/tires in a size smaller that OEM for a quick swap. If you don't have a jack or garage, you can find a tire shop (Discount Tire, Belle Tire, etc) to swap your wheels for cheap (under $20). Since you only have to swap 2x per year, its not expensive at all.

I usually build a set on Tire Rack website, and now is the time to buy. If you wait until end of November or December, you will be hard pressed to even find any left in stock.

 

Interesting - my IS350 had the ability to keep track of two sets of sensors, probably for this purpose. You could change it from "primary" to "secondary" sensors for winter or other wheels.

I'm surprised to hear the G37's sensors require recalibration each time the wheels are changed. Thanks for the info.

 

1. Do most of you use the stock wheels in winter? Will the salt, etc. damage and pit them? I bought cheap steel rims for winter. It's not pretty but it's also great to have since I will just install the summer wheels myself. And I don't care if the salt damages $45 rims. I also didn't bother with TPMS

2. Is it preferable to purchase new (cheap) wheels with tires? see above

3. Do you keep the staggered sizing on new wheels/tires for winter? on my Xs I went down to 17" (225/55) to save money.

4. Do you buy a decent jack and do the wheel swap yourself, or are you guys dragging wheels to a mechanic every spring and fall to deal with this? I'll buy the necessary equipment to take off the tyres next spring