Winter Tire setup

[CTR]

I ended up going with Continental DWS 06 Plus in 265/30/19. Will be mounted to factory Integra Type S wheels on my FL5.

I will report back with how I feel about them for mostly rainy conditions and cold temps. No plans of driving in the snow.

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[Integra23]

I ended up going with Continental DWS 06 Plus in 265/30/19. Will be mounted to factory Integra Type S wheels on my FL5.

I will report back with how I feel about them for mostly rainy conditions and cold temps. No plans of driving in the snow.

I'm liking mine. Seems to handle pretty good. May not be as smooth at higher speeds as the PS4S but I'm not in the triples very often. I went for the 275s for the extra load rating.

 

[RacingManiac]

Immediate term I think I'll be carrying over my FK8 snow wheels and tires to my FL5. A set of FlowOne 18x8.5 ET40 wheels with 235/45/18 Michelin X-Ice XI3. But they are getting pretty old age wise even if they are still pretty well treaded. Based one how mild winter has been in Michigan I might change them to Crossclimate 2 next year....

X-Ice is pretty awful to drive in dry or just wet road, decent in snow but we just don't get a whole lot of that. When snow is deep enough I think the car's ride height became more of a hindrance than actual tires...

 

[MSUGeoman]

1999 Silverado 4x4 is my winter tire setup lol. Seriously tho, being from MI originally and even with inflation being what it is, a beater is still the best option. Now living in TN, the truck will get used when the weather doesn’t suit the type R, otherwise, I’ll drive the thing as much as I can with the OE tires and I’ll replace them with as close to OE spec as I can get when they wear out. My daily route is mountain roads and I cannot compromise on tire quality nor weather preparedness, so for me, the winter tire setup is truly the ole beater. Get creative and find something that will make it through a few winters for the same prices as a set of winter wheels/tires and don’t look back, it’s worth it for sure.

 

[CTR]

1999 Silverado 4x4 is my winter tire setup lol. Seriously tho, being from MI originally and even with inflation being what it is, a beater is still the best option. Now living in TN, the truck will get used when the weather doesn’t suit the type R, otherwise, I’ll drive the thing as much as I can with the OE tires and I’ll replace them with as close to OE spec as I can get when they wear out. My daily route is mountain roads and I cannot compromise on tire quality nor weather preparedness, so for me, the winter tire setup is truly the ole beater. Get creative and find something that will make it through a few winters for the same prices as a set of winter wheels/tires and don’t look back, it’s worth it for sure.

This might not apply to your Si but the Type R has 300 treadwear tires that will crack when exposed to below freezing temps even when just sitting on the car not being driven. New rubber compounds are very sensitive. It might be overblown from the tire manufacturers but there are tradeoffs to the modern grip technology.

Where I live (WA state) it rains a lot and only snows a couple weeks out of the year. I'm perfectly fine driving my car 10/11 months of the year with proper tires. It's dangerous driving on the stock setup when it gets cold. I look forward to having some all seasons with the rainy weather on the way.

 

[MSUGeoman]

This might not apply to your Si but the Type R has 300 treadwear tires that will crack when exposed to below freezing temps even when just sitting on the car not being driven. New rubber compounds are very sensitive. It might be overblown from the tire manufacturers but there are tradeoffs to the modern grip technology.

Where I live (WA state) it rains a lot and only snows a couple weeks out of the year. I'm perfectly fine driving my car 10/11 months of the year with proper tires but it's dangerous on the stock setup when it gets cold.

10000%, both my type R and C7 Z51 with OE spec tires don’t go out when it’s 45 degrees or less. That’s where the beater comes in, not worth the investment nor risk to drive it when the conditions dictate otherwise. Sure, tires/wheels can be added to make it possible, but my personal preference is to maintain the character the car came built with safely and that means parking the type r up when it’s sh$&ty outside. Just my personal preference, heed as you may deem fit.

 

[RacingManiac]

I live a one car life so uh, my car will just live that horrible lifestyle....

My job now also involves traveling for like 8 weeks between Jan to Mar during weekdays(returning on weekends), so my car also get parked outside for those times....

 

[CTR]

For sure. If I had unlimited space I'd probably have a dedicated beater as well but my life situation doesn't allow for it right now. I'm just grateful to have a 2 car garage for my toys!

The trap that's easy to fall into as a car enthusiast is driving your shitty car 8 months of the year and only driving your "nice" car when it's perfect. That's a lot of fun driving and experience with your car that you're missing out on most of the year. The Type R (especially the FL5) is a very nice car to live with daily.

 

[Waspy24]

Do yall know if the regular civic 18in wheels will fit the FL5? I’m also trying to get a winter set.

 

[CTR]

Pretty sure all base Civics are 5x114.3 whereas the FL5 is 5x120. So no they will not fit.

 

[RacingManiac]

Might have better luck getting BMW wheels to fit...only thing is their hub bore are not gonna be the same

 

[CyberCTR]

I want to run this tire for my winter set up. Anyone have any experience with them?

However, I am still on the fence about a winter tire setup because I don’t drive much anymore, let alone in the winter…

 

[MSUGeoman]

Always heard good things from folks we sold Blizzaks and the Alpin series Michelin tires, not familiar with the Pilot series you have there but seems they are a sport oriented evolution of the original Alpin series. Warranty indicates a 300 or so treadwear rating from past experience, which seems right for a winter compound. Tread pattern looks like a mix of a true winter tire and a performance all season. Curious what BMW they are OE equipment on as winter tires tho, that seems fishy unless they were an option?

 

[RacingManiac]

Pilot Alpin are always pretty performance oriented winters and they cost noticeably more than their "normal" winter tires like X-Ice or something, but has closer handling characteristics to their performance tires in winter. If you expect to see more snow than wet/dry road, then you might want to get X-ice or other brands more dedicated winter tires. But TBH I don't even like X-ice because they are pretty awful to drive on most of the time and not even good in wet condition. When I eventually replace the X-ice I might lean towards Cross Climate 2 or whatever replaces those. More of a winter focused A/S(All weather) but better road manner from the reviews than X-ice and only slightly less capable in true winter condition.

Threw the snow wheels and tires on yesterday as the Michigan weather took a dip, was hoping to get another week of not using snows but it started to flurry at work yesterday that I just decided to swap. These are my old snow wheels and tires from FK8 and they are as mentioned,Michelin X-Ice XI3 in 235/45/18(slightly bigger than FK8 tire size so bigger still to FL5's, 4% taller), on some Flow one wheels 18x8.5 ET40

Also first time took the wheels off so interesting to see different lug nut size to the FK8's

And found a nail in one of the PS4Ss....

 

[RUNN1N]

I purchased my winter wheels and tires at the end of August, and got a good deal from TireRack--I went with:

245/40R18 Vredestein Wintrac Pro
18x8 Gloss Black Painted Sparco Record

I'm located in central Ohio, and I likely could've used a less wintery tire, but better safe than sorry. I had no intention of getting winter wheels, but I was able to get the whole package mounted and balanced for about $1,380 and have a $175 rebate coming from Vredestein. That price was just too good to pass up.

I'll share a picture once they're mounted later this week.

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