Hi, Guest
01-13-2016, 10:05 AM
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some before and after photos of the Taurus with winter and then summer tires and rims.
![[Image: G5thAtv.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/G5thAtv.jpg)
This is my old Taurus wagon with the stock 16 inch alloy rims and Michelin X-Ice winter tires (just before we installed the summer rims/tires.)
![[Image: w77nSB2.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/w77nSB2.jpg)
This is the same Taurus, with 17 inch alloy rims and Michelin Hydro-Edge summer tires (the after photo). My opinion, a much better looking setup than the stock rims. We swapped rims and tires just before the first snow (October) and back in April or so.
The expense was up front. Once you have two sets of tire, winter and summer, each lasts the same time, but you do not need to replace them as often because each set is only used half a year. What offends me is aesthetics. You buy a gorgeous car and either drive it with inferior tires in winter, with less control (i.e. greater risk) or you go to the tire store, pay them to swap your tires twice a year or you buy those crappy steel wheels at exorbitant prices.
In winter, if you check out the rims on many cars, you can tell who is using winter tires with those ugly, black, no hubcaps, steel rims. Good for them, they are safe, but ugly. If they swap tires, they are paying quite a bit twice a year, but again good for them because they are safe. But if you search Kijiji (or similar sites) you can find slightly larger diameter rims that look good, mount lower profile tires (Plus One) on them, get better handling, for summer use. Swapping complete units twice a year is straightforward. Just don't forget to torque your rims after you do so.
This is my old Taurus wagon with the stock 16 inch alloy rims and Michelin X-Ice winter tires (just before we installed the summer rims/tires.)
This is the same Taurus, with 17 inch alloy rims and Michelin Hydro-Edge summer tires (the after photo). My opinion, a much better looking setup than the stock rims. We swapped rims and tires just before the first snow (October) and back in April or so.
The expense was up front. Once you have two sets of tire, winter and summer, each lasts the same time, but you do not need to replace them as often because each set is only used half a year. What offends me is aesthetics. You buy a gorgeous car and either drive it with inferior tires in winter, with less control (i.e. greater risk) or you go to the tire store, pay them to swap your tires twice a year or you buy those crappy steel wheels at exorbitant prices.
In winter, if you check out the rims on many cars, you can tell who is using winter tires with those ugly, black, no hubcaps, steel rims. Good for them, they are safe, but ugly. If they swap tires, they are paying quite a bit twice a year, but again good for them because they are safe. But if you search Kijiji (or similar sites) you can find slightly larger diameter rims that look good, mount lower profile tires (Plus One) on them, get better handling, for summer use. Swapping complete units twice a year is straightforward. Just don't forget to torque your rims after you do so.