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winter time in a fiesta st..


Spidey2721

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my sister has a '14 st. looking for winter tires. either using 16'' steelies or the factory rims and size. going with a 16x6.5 steelie would a tire size of 205/55/16 work well for a winter tire? the factory are 17's at 205/40/17. would love more input from the tire guys.
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As long as the wheels clear the brakes, use the smallest. Prices generally get cheaper with smaller wheel diameter. I suggest a slightly larger tire OD to boost ground clearance if there is space.

 

205/40/17 has a 23.6-23.7" OD while 205/55/16 has a 24.8-24.9" OD. You will have to measure if there is enough space for a tire that's over an inch taller. 205/50/16 is around 24.1" OD which is closer to but still taller than OEM size.

 

Can the car use 15" wheels?

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have to be 16's to clear the brakes. checking on tires for the other size you mentioned. i do know of someone from a st forum running 215/55/16's

 

I know focus st guys running that size, so I do think steelies will work but need something like a 195 55 16 to be best

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I just threw all seaons on my factory wheels. I survived last year just fine.

 

@Not Brian...these cars come with summer only tires, you're crazy if you don't put at least all seasons on the car. Sub 40* they are like ice pucks on the road. Mucho butthole puckering.

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Winter tires on a fwd car? I mean, I get it, but..

 

Given they come with Summer only rubber it's a must. Especially on a Turbo FWD where slipping into boost even by accident could result in a head on collision.

 

How I made it through one winter in the GXP on them is beyond me. I got stuck once in year two though.

 

I attribute my being able to with the fact that it was a V8 with plenty of lbs up front and a larger sedan overall tied to a slushbox.

 

For giggles I tried going out in snow in the MS3 with summer only rubber and turned around at the end of my street. It was ridiculous and I'm really surprised I made it to where I did.

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Given they come with Summer only rubber it's a must. Especially on a Turbo FWD where slipping into boost even by accident could result in a head on collision.

 

How I made it through one winter in the GXP on them is beyond me. I got stuck once in year two though.

 

I attribute my being able to with the fact that it was a V8 with plenty of lbs up front and a larger sedan overall tied to a slushbox.

 

For giggles I tried going out in snow in the MS3 with summer only rubber and turned around at the end of my street. It was ridiculous and I'm really surprised I made it to where I did.

 

Had blizzaks on my srt4 in the winter and it was beast in the snow :lol:

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I'd go tall and skinny for snows. The 195s would be a good fit. That is what I went with for my old Mini. Had found some used cheapo 16's on CL and was good to go.

 

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a299/iwashmycar/Mini/Snows1220101.jpg

 

16's make a huge difference...these are the 17's for comparison

 

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a299/iwashmycar/Mini/0630102.jpg

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My first direction would be to use whatever the OEM says to use a snow tire. They've confirmed it works well with the systems in their car on actual snow and ice surfaces. Doubly so since the car is a summer tire only car off of the showroom floor.

 

Second is, if you go with a different size, make sure the overall height is as close to the same as reasonable. Like Tom said, that aftermarket tire you suggested is much taller than the OEM tire. That big difference in tire height could cause performance loss issues with the electro-mechanical systems in the car not working quite right (esp ABS/TCS). If you are far enough off, you could throw an abnormality code, but this size shouldn't be far enough off to cause an issue.

 

http://tire-size-conversion.com/tire-size-calculator/

 

At the very least, your speedometer is going to be incorrect. When you put a bigger tire on it's the 'bad' way (speed reads lower than actual). Easy way to get a speeding ticket. It's always a good idea to confirm speed accuracy by GPS if you put different sized tires on the car.

 

Could you put a low boost tune on it? I wonder if Brian could do a very quick and dirty 'tune' and just change some max/requested boost 1 parameter change. Could make a very nice 'winter' setting on the car. Especially if the drive is not used to high TQ FWD (boosted) cars.

 

It looks like Ford says you should use a 195/50r16 http://www.fiestast.org/forum/fiesta-st-discussions/315-warning-fiesta-st-owners-about-winter-tires.html

 

Looks like for about $850 from Tire rack you can get tires, rims, mound & balanced with TPMS sensors http://www.tirerack.com/snow/WinterPackageMain.jsp?autoMake=Ford&autoModel=Fiesta+ST&autoYear=2014&autoModClar=

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yea i gave her the options. i thinking she going to go with factory size snow tires on the factory rims. even though she is going to have to pay to have em swapped each year, and take a chance of a tps or three breaking. or getting a bad balance. i was playing around with different sizes due to the fact that in say, the 195/50/16's (for steel rims) choices seem very limited. although the yoko's tire rack carries do seem to be a good tire. they have enough experience in rally anyway. i had been using a tire calculator to check things. also going by what others have run from lurking on some sites. i was wondering though with all the tech built into cars today how much a tire size change would effect the esc. like you commented on trouble.

 

Turbo what company are you thru? we are up in lima, not down in the columbus area.

 

i havent looked into the hankooks to much. i always have liked their tires for summer. had not even thought of them for winter. thanks for the input all.

 

also as far as changing tune for a lower boost and such. she actually drove the car with the summer tires last year. that thing would get stuck on flat ground compacted snow. much less any incline or deeper snow. the tires just are not anywhere near competent in the snow.

Edited by Spidey2721
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  • 3 weeks later...

Have you looked on eBay at all for cheap rubber, I mean if you're only going to run them for the winter you may find a steal on there. Thats were I got my winter setup for the MS3 and for $400 for all 4 really couldn't beat it.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-NEW-195-55-16-HANKOOK-I-PIKE-RS-W419-Winter-Snow-55R-R16-TIRES-/191124818203?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Tires&hash=item2c7fed491b&vxp=mtr plus $100 off

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well she has decided to go with the 16 inch steelies and tires. thankfully. prolly going to end up with the Yokohama iceGUARD iG20 as they are about all i can find in the ford recommended 195/50/16. the 50 series tires in 16's for snow are hard to find. has anyone had any experience in these tires?
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i need to get over there and look a little closer at the factory fit. also i cant leave well enough alone. i noticed tire rack has a 15 inch steelie now. they didnt when i was first looking. soooo now i looking at the Pirelli Winter Carving Edge in 195/55/15

 

 

edit: well shit they sold out already tires till 12/31 and wheels till 12/01

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