Just put on my winter wheels/tires!

Well, I went through quite a few thoughts on whether or not I was going to drive my car in the winter (as I still have my old Audi) and I decided that I bought the car to drive it....so I ordered up a set of 17x7.5 ASA JH3s with 225/45HR-17 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 RFT RunFlats Friday of last week from Gary@TireRack. They showed up today and I put them on the car since we had just gotten another couple inches over the weekend. First impressions are great, it handles great in the little snow I could still find on the roads...but then again that is comparing to the high performance summer tires that were on it so basically anything would be better!

The biggest surprise I guess was just how TIGHT the clearance was for the wheels. I do not think it could be ANY closer. I tried to take a few pictures of it to show what I mean but they may not have come out the best and it was cold when I was snapping the pictures.

I just thought I'd give an initial review in case anyone else is considering winter tires/wheels. On to the pictures

Interesting. I put this info in my brochure for next winter. The wheels are decent looking. Although I may have my car for the end of this winter, I hope I won't need winter tires this season, but you never know. I may have to rent a car if it snows.

What do you mean about clearance--tire vs wheel well or wheel mount on axle?

Also, do you have to recalibrate speedometer or anything (I recall reading somehting about this--speedo or GPS) because of the difference in size?

what about the tire sensors? did you put a new set on your winter wheels? if NOT does the light stay on, or is it just deactivated when it can't find the little transmitters?

also, i guess the BMW roundels pop out of the summer wheels and you just popped them in the winter wheels?

The clearance is in reference to the calipers clearing the inside of the wheel. The space is very tight but it works great and the more narrow tires work better in the snow too. I have not checked to see the difference in the speedometer but I do have a Garmin 350 that gives some feedback about actual speed which I will check next time I am out.

I did get new sensors put on the wheels when I ordered them from Tire Rack, it seemed the easiest to get the whole package delivered and not have to worry about anything more than taking off the old wheels and putting on the new ones. When you consider mounting tires on rims costs nearly $100 each time, it quickly pays for getting the whole setup. The roundels on the wheels are actually just stickers that go over the ASA logos and they were included with the wheels.

So far so good...I'll give a report at the end of the season to let everyone know how they worked in some real winter weather conditions.

tirerack included the bmw stickers at no charge? that must be new, as i bought the same exact setup as you for my G35 coupe and they did not come with infiniti stickers? did you have to ask for them??