snow tires and rims

Hey gang got no winter beater this year and would like to not use the F350 this winter unless its realy bad out. So time for rims and tries for the 05 Cobalt SS (ss=5lugs)

Been to Tire Rack thinking steel rims with Blizzacks but the General Altimax Arctic is highly rated and priced right. looking at $750

Then checked Discount tire direct same rubber on MB wheels not the steel rims are $782 but when i called guy say he can do it over the phone for less then web price @ $742.

So couple of questions for you guys. 1) Hows the quailty of a MB wheel? I'm not one to buy wheels normaly. 2) anyone use the General Altimax Arctic ? 3) is it worth anything to do the steel wheels over the alloy's? with todays MFG quality

I haven't had to buy snow tires (use them? maybe) 'cuz I don't live where it really snows enough. BUT, my experience with other/NON-snow tires from General was poor. Bridgestone brand tires? Kind of depends on the tire, and Blizzacks have a decent rep. I've heard of MB wheels, mostly through Discount Tire, don't have any direct experience.

As far as steel versus alloy wheels for your snow tires...I thought folks used steel wheels because road salt "tears up" alloy wheel finishes? If the wheels in question are clear coated, all it takes is a small "break" in the clear coat to start the corrosion process.

MB's are probably like most cheap alloys. But the alloy's open spoke nature tend to allow more melt off to refreeze, can cause one heck of a vibration.

Generals will be my next set of winter "boots" but another recommendation if its available, Continental Extreme Winter Contacts. I'm mad they stopped making them in 175/65/14, or I would buy them everytime. Not as much super stupid grip as the Blizzaks, better life and more comfortable when its dry or wet out.

My michellin x ice are fantastic, i have read so so reviews with general tires, but the set of altimax on my wifes old RAV-4 were fine while we had them...

Just got my General Altimax Arctic's mounted on my steel wheels. Ordered them last Monday after lunch and got them the next morning from Tirerack. The guy who took my order said "nice choice". And I just realized I'm a HalfDork.

Since the plows are usually pretty active around here, I opted for Dunlop Winter Sport 3Ds, which are a lot nicer on non-snowy pavement than most hard-core snows. I hate the squirminess of snows for daily use; even last winter, one of the snowiest on record, only saw a few instances of driving on anything but wet or dry pavement.

I can't speak to the MB wheels directly, but I much prefer alloys for winter use since they don't rust to the hubs or wheel studs (or anything else).

I've heard that the Altimax Arctic is a rebranded Gislaved NordFrost 3, which suggests good things.

I bought a set of JY Contour alloys for my Fiesta. Much cheaper than even new steel wheels.

I can say I have NEVER used, much less bought, snow tires even living in the great white north known as Michigan. So, I have have nothing to add to this discussion.

Tirerack had a good review of the Generals.

Ranger50 wrote: I can say I have NEVER used, much less bought, snow tires even living in the great white north known as Michigan. So, I have have nothing to add to this discussion.

Unil you do , you won't believe the diference.

05 cobalt.. there has to be a few in the JYs.. any chance you can grab some used rims from there or fleabay?

iceracer wrote:

Ranger50 wrote: I can say I have NEVER used, much less bought, snow tires even living in the great white north known as Michigan. So, I have have nothing to add to this discussion.

Unil you do , you won't believe the diference.

Doesn't matter now, I can just about run hi-perf summer tires all year round now since moving south.

I believe those have a 5X110 bolt pattern, you should be able to use any 5 lug SAAB wheel also.

mad_machine wrote: 05 cobalt.. there has to be a few in the JYs.. any chance you can grab some used rims from there or fleabay?

OEM rims are 18 inch snow rims will be 16's No JY around here have rims for sale anymore. As soon as car rolls in they take the rims off. Scrap value on alloys is so high they don't sell rims....

+1 on the Michellin X-ice. I just got another set for the Hyun-die Acc(id)ent. I actually used mine all year & was happy with them in the dry, rain, and even deep snow. They were a little sloppy in the spring slush, but I already had 20kmi on them by that point.

I had the Generals on my 318is for the past 3 years and loved them. Totally transformed the car. On dry pavement you know you are ridding on snow tires but other than that no complaints. I probably had the ABS kick in less with the Altimax's in snow than with the Falken Ziex 912's in rain. Put it this way, I'm putting the Altimax's on my WRX for this winter and plan to do some ice racing.

In reply to toad9977:

Good to hear since I just got my General's mounted this week on the steelies.

Being a GM car and therefore pretty popular, can you find a clean set of used factory rims from a similar or complimentary car?

Let's do a list of equivalency. "A is to B like C is to D"

Turkey bacon is to bacon like...
Rubber is to bareback
Natty light is to microbrew
GR2s is to Koni Yellows

All seasons is to snow tires

a quick check on fleabay brought up a LOT of rims in the $450 range. Some of them not too bad looking

Taiden wrote: Let's do a list of equivalency. "A is to B like C is to D" Turkey bacon is to bacon like... Rubber is to bareback Natty light is to microbrew Koni Yellows is to GR2s All seasons is to snow tires

Nice

If you want it to go in the snow get the real tire this i know for sure. Have to down size the rim to gain some side wall to lower cost of tires and make some room between the strut and the tire roll out is a few inches different so dia change is not huge but better then the deli slice thats there now. I've driven it in the snow with the all seasons and you could hear the snow being cut off by the strut and it didn't have the best of traction. Seems like the GT tire has good feedback so I'll likely go with them as Bilizax push it up to over $1100 and that ain't going to happen.

In reply to 44Dwarf:

I have a set of Altimaxes on my wife's 2010 Fit. They're on a set of cheapie Discount Tire Direct off-brand wheels (I can't remember the brand at the moment--I'll remember when I mount them up in the near future.

The car is a BEAST in the snow with them, FWIW. I tore around my neighborhood in a snowstorm last year just to see how they did and everything was fine. She took it to central Maine in a snowstorm and did just fine in it.

As I've said a billion times, though--any snow tire, no matter what the cost, will be better than all-seasons.

As for the cheap wheel issue--who cares? They're going to get covered in salt and grime and will generally lead a miserable life. If the finish gets crappy, so be it, IMHO. That's why they're winter wheels. I doubt anything structural would ever be an issue unless you're ice racing the thing.

I got my General Altimax Arctics mounted up last friday. Can't wait for winter to set in and tear up the snow.

this will be my third winter on the altimax arctics. i love them to death.