17" or 18" in the winter??? - MBWorld.org Forums

Nov 29, 2002 | 05:22 PM

felix k

Thread Starter

Newbie

Joined: Nov 2002

Posts: 22

Likes: 0

17" or 18" in the winter???

any advice on driving my C240 with 17" or 18" rims in the winter?

i've been told that i should stick to my 16" stock wheels for now, and get a nice 18" wheel for the summer.

problem is......i want to enjoy my car year round, and not just in the summer!!! i hate the stock wheels!

any advice / personal experiences???

ps. i live in toronto, canada

Nov 29, 2002 | 05:47 PM

Maeds1

Almost a Member!

Joined: Sep 2002

Posts: 26

Likes: 0

From: Bucks county PA

2002 C230 coupe

It's been 13 years since I've driven a rear wheel drive car in winter weather. At that time it was common to just put 2 snow tires on the rear and use the standard tires on the front. My memory tells me that I got around in snow with that set up about the same as I did with four all-season tires and front wheel drive. I think the tires on my rear wheel drive car were 195 width, the same as my front wheel drive car. So, based on my experience, I'm assuming that fwd with all-season tires is about the same as rwd with winter tires (assuming the tires are the same width). For that reason I decided to get 17" OEM wheels and tires for spring, summer and fall and a set of 16" wheels and winter tires for winter driving. I was concerned that 17" 225 width all-season tires with rwd would be less effective in the snow than I would like.

Nov 29, 2002 | 05:50 PM

Franco

Member

Joined: Aug 2002

Posts: 132

Likes: 0

2002 C32

I live north of Montreal. If I were driving the car in winter I would stick to the 16''. Better traction especially during January, February and March.

I would get 18'' for the rest of the year. The car looks better with the 18'' and lowered of course. However, if you want to be practical, get the 17'' less chance of damaging the wheels on bad roads.

Nov 29, 2002 | 07:43 PM

taylor192

Guest

Posts: n/a

Re: 17" or 18" in the winter???

Quote:

Originally posted by felix k
any advice on driving my C240 with 17" or 18" rims in the winter?

i've been told that i should stick to my 16" stock wheels for now, and get a nice 18" wheel for the summer.

problem is......i want to enjoy my car year round, and not just in the summer!!! i hate the stock wheels!

any advice / personal experiences???

ps. i live in toronto, canada

I have 15's on for winter. Smaller wheels, especially thinner wheels (width, not diameter) are best for snow. 18s are a definite No No for winter, save a nice set of rims for summer and just be justified with your stock rims for winter, they are still better than the steel rims most put on for winter up north here, all the crap they dump on roads would just ruin any nice rims you buy.

Nov 29, 2002 | 10:18 PM

E_Corleone

Member

Joined: May 2002

Posts: 192

Likes: 0

From: Ohio

2001 Silver C320

buying rims to run in the winter is a waste of money, stick with the stock in the winter. i run my factory rims from the end of november to the end of feb and then switch to the chrome 19's. besides its good to give them a good inside and out cleaning once a year at least.

Reply Subscribe

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)