19 inch winter wheel questions

[skinnyb]

I live in East TN so virtually no really bad inclement weather to speak of. I went with Michelin Pilot All season 4. They grip really well in cold weather and wet weather. Not sure when things get slippery though. I run the stock 255 and 275 size on the PP wheels and run summer tires (20x10 and 20x11) in the warm months. That said, I have an AWD SUV I run when weather gets too bad, but I do take my Mustang out unless it's just terrible.

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[Dana Pants]

Yeah, but figured on dismounting and rotating tires to wheels every other year to even out front vs. back. I'm trying to find an endgame use for the 9x19, 9x9.5 staggered heavy stock wheels once I burn through the PZeros and go to a square 19x10 setup with decent summers after that.

I don't love the look of the stock PP wheels enough to get a second set of PP takeoff wheels to mix and run square 9x19 winter and 9.5x19 summer with the 5mm spacers in front. That is the cheapest option though I think.

Realistically, If you ran back wheels on the front with spacers every other year the car would feel just the same. Only you would know probably.

 

[RagmopInKona]

I would try to avoid buying the FP wheels. They are extremely heavy and rather expensive for a set of non forged wheels. I'd look into some SVE wheels or Apex.

If the PP wheels are a non negotiable then stay with the factory size 255/40/19 as a lot of tires have that size

Heavy is good in winter. . The rotary forged. Aka cast wheel with barrel mandrel widening are lighter because less material in the hoop . Not ideal for a wheel that might hit pot holes or a curb.

 

[RagmopInKona]

Started searching tire rack again for winter wheel options, (planning ahead) and comparing prices i think i will go with another set of 19x9 ford performance pack wheels like i have now on summer setup. they only cost like $50 or so more dollars than enkei's would and not whole lot more than 18's. for tire size would it be better to stick to the factory size of 255/40 19 or go with a 235/45 19 or 245/45 19? & has anyone had experience with the vredestein wintrac pro tire? has good reviews and good price and only one listed for 255/40 19 at the moment, thanks!

You want narrower tread in the snow to put more weight on each part of the contact patch. Wider tires spread out the weight. You want the tire to dig into the snow not float on top of it .

 

[Jstang23]

Heavy is good in winter. . The rotary forged. Aka cast wheel with barrel mandrel widening are lighter because less material in the hoop . Not ideal for a wheel that might hit pot holes or a curb.

I can understand the weight for winter and snow driving, but lighter wheels does not mean they are necessarily weaker. My new wheels have the same load rating as the OEM ones did and are 10 pounds lighter a piece.

 

[Austin1992]

I put 265/40 19 Michelin alpin 5’s on my stock pp1 wheels and ordered some sve 19x10 and 19x11 for summer tires. Really like the alpin 5 tires, decent dry traction, more than the as3+ I ran previously and much better in snow.

 

[RagmopInKona]

I can understand the weight for winter and snow driving, but lighter wheels does not mean they are necessarily weaker. My new wheels have the same load rating as the OEM ones did and are 10 pounds lighter a piece.

They are weaker ALOT weaker as the barrel the material is stretched and thinned . This causes the barrel hoop, to chatter when you hit a pot hole or curb. Load rating has zero to do with it . There is more than a few you tube videos showing a rotary forged ( cast stretched wheel that has shattered. I'd rather with more material that is less likely to shatter in the winter. But that is just me. YMMV .
It isn't hard to do. I've done it to 3 wheels as the roads in winter in New England are more pot holes than surface.

 

[Jstang23]

They are weaker ALOT weaker as the barrel the material is stretched and thinned . This causes the barrel hoop, to chatter when you hit a pot hole or curb. Load rating has zero to do with it . There is more than a few you tube videos showing a rotary forged ( cast stretched wheel that has shattered. I'd rather with more material that is less likely to shatter in the winter. But that is just me. YMMV .
It isn't hard to do. I've done it to 3 wheels as the roads in winter in New England are more pot holes than surface.

Load rating has a lot to do with it, in addition with tensile strength. The process called flow forming rolls the barrel of the wheel into shape resulting is a nearly perfect metal structure similar and comparable to forging wheels. You can obviously buy cheap forged wheels with not a lot of load rating or tensile strength, but you can also buy nice ones that can and will outperform the OEM counterparts. And to be fair, if there are that many potholes you shouldn't be driving a car with 35 or 30 profile tires anyway. You're asking for it to shatter at that point. But if these are winter wheels only then weight doesn't matter performance wise anyway, so if you can get OEM wheels cheaper then go for it.

 

[RagmopInKona]

Load rating has a lot to do with it, in addition with tensile strength. The process called flow forming rolls the barrel of the wheel into shape resulting is a nearly perfect metal structure similar and comparable to forging wheels. You can obviously buy cheap forged wheels with not a lot of load rating or tensile strength, but you can also buy nice ones that can and will outperform the OEM counterparts. And to be fair, if there are that many potholes you shouldn't be driving a car with 35 or 30 profile tires anyway. You're asking for it to shatter at that point. But if these are winter wheels only then weight doesn't matter performance wise anyway, so if you can get OEM wheels cheaper then go for it.

Whatever you want to believe metallurgy doesn't change because some marketing dept. Makes a claim .

 

[RagmopInKona]

O/p. There are a ton of wheels for sale on this forum. Find a set of oem going cheap and local to you and get a set that if you curb them it doesn't hit the wallet as hard and if you do you know you can get a replacement because ford installed thousands of them.
Aftermarket wheels are nice and all but when you need a replacement now not in 4 to 10 weeks or years of looking because they don't make that wheel anymore .
Winter wheels get a set of take offs for sale on here and mount the same height tire to keep your speedo happy . BONUS they'll most like use the same lugnuts on your car now and you can use one in summer as a full sized spare .

 

[geep81]

X-ice/snow is just as good as Blizzak right now. I run them and they are great.

 

[Cory S]

X-ice/snow is just as good as Blizzak right now. I run them and they are great.

100%. Blizzaks are best for ACTUAL snow covered roads, but also have a shit lifespan. Not good for long drive commuters unless they want to buy a new set every 2 years. I get 4-5 years out of my X-ice’s. Usually 37-43K miles. Our roads and highways are rarely ever snow covered like the mid/northwest.

 

[Dana Pants]

Again and again: Nokian is the tire you want. not blizzak. not Michelin. Not Generals or continental whatever. Nokian has all the traction and all the lifetime.

I’ve owned or driven every imaginable commonly suggested snow tire.

 

[Mark23GT]

I went ahead and bought the 19x9 performance pack 1 wheels with 245/45 Michelin X-Ice Snow, the tire rack guy said they did not have a lot of the PP1 wheels left so went ahead and got them now, tire rack does not offer the Nokian winter tires, so went with Michelins over the blizzaks this time, thanks for the advice on sizes and everything!

 

[geep81]

Again and again: Nokian is the tire you want. not blizzak. not Michelin. Not Generals or continental whatever. Nokian has all the traction and all the lifetime.

I’ve owned or driven every imaginable commonly suggested snow tire.

Nokian has the grip, but Michelin has other benefits as well as the grip.

The smoothness & quietness with Michelin can't be beat, along with all the other pluses to the tire. X-ice/snows are really quiet on dry pavement as well. Other snows give more road noise and personally would annoy me a lot.

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