djlynch

I'm going to be buying a set of winter wheels and tires for my C4. The dealer has 20 inch carerra s wheels with Sottozero tires for $5300 for set. I can't easily get the Michelin Alpin 4s, which I think I prefer.

I will be driving them mainly in cold Cincinnati conditions, rarely will be used if snow on roads, unless I get stuck at office in snow, etc.

What do you all think. Are the Sottozeros Series II ok or am I making a mistake not getting the Michelin alpin 4s?

Secondly, I have Sport PASM and worry that a 19 inch wheel option would make the car ride lower...my driveway is already a slight scrape. Would the 19 inch make the car ride lower?

stealthboy

I got a set of 19" sottozero tires for my winter wheel set and I really liked them. Very comfortable ride and performed well. I have 20" for the summer, but chose to go with 19" for winter to provide a little higher sidewall.

uhear

I too live in Cincy and pretty much put mine away for the winter.

My issue is not traction or is the car capable in the snow. Its not even how I drive the car or do I feel safe doing so. The issue is all the mini vans, SUV's and trucks with big tires and wide gap tread for winter traction which ends up spewing salt and grit and small rocks all over me while I drive behind them, even at a safe distance.

Trust me it sucks when all you hear is ding-ding-ding-CRACK-ding CRACK! It literally made me cringe last year and motivated me to just keep my 911 in the safe cozy comfort of my temperature controlled warehouse.

Buy a Jeep, lift it and put big tires on it. Never get stuck and have some winter fun just the same. That's what I did.

djlynch

GREAT LOOKING JEEP!

I hear you. I didn't drive it last year, but having an all weather 911 is why I bought the C4. I just LOVE driving the car too much to put it away for the entire winter. Now, for the snows you have pictured, I'll drive my VW GTI or Honda Pilot.

But for the other 80% of just cold weather days, I wanna DRIVE!

djlynch

Thanks. Were they the Sottozero Series II?

docmalone

Good lookin Jeep, uhear.
Great idea for bad weather car. We are a family of blue freaks, obviously!!!

djlynch

Does the 19 inch wheel make the car ride any lower? I have SPASM and really do not want any lower due to driveway issues.

Also, do they look "punier" or dramatically smaller in a funny way?

signes

You need to maintain the same overall diameter as your summers on 20s so the ride height will not drop. Important to do this for the traction and stability control systems, as well as things like keeping your speedometer accurate. When you go down in wheel size, you compensate by having a taller sidewall so the overall OD is consistent with the OEM specs.

You can see the effect on a tire calculator like this one: http://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Tire-Size-Calculator

stealthboy

Even though the wheels are 19" the sidewalls on the tires are thicker, so as far as I could tell the overall tire diameter is the same. I didn't notice any change in ride height.

paradocs98

Another option to consider: since you have to buy another set of wheels to do this anyway, take the opportunity to get a really nice set of wheels you've always wanted--BBS, HRE, etc. Then use those nice aftermarket wheels as your summer setup with some Michelin Super Sports, and get Sottozeros mounted on your original OEM wheels for the winter. You would maintain a 20" setup year round, so you wouldn't have to worry about sitting too low and scraping on driveways. To achieve the stock wheel/tire outer diameter with a 19" setup, you'd need to increase the sidewall height to a point where the handling might be less crisp and responsive compared to the 20" setup. Stick with 20" winter tires and this becomes less of an issue. Since this would mainly be dry winter driving, the typical snow traction recommendation of going narrower and smaller in diameter doesn't apply. Maintain the OEM sizing to keep sharp handling.

I currently have 20" Sottozeros on my OEM Carrera S wheels for winter and like them. They are described as being more of a performance/handling-oriented winter tire, with less absolute ice traction compared to Blizzaks, so that sounds perfect for your needs.

And, BTW, get your tires from TireRack rather than getting gouged by the dealer.

chuck911

Let me get this straight- the OP will be driving this winter, but only on dry roads, unless maybe he misses a weather report and it snows while he's at work. For that one odd occasion, which could be easily handled without changing a thing, we got recommendations for everything from doubling down with a track setup to going Full Monty 4X4. Man I love RL!

djlynch

Great advice. I really like my 20 inch sport technos and have decided to stay 20 inch and get the sottozeros on the carerra S wheel for winter cold weather driving. Thanks for your helpful insight. My dealer gets tires from tire rack and stores and delivers extra service I like. The price for 20 inch carerra s and sottozero series II come to $5300. Checked sun coast and it's in line.

djlynch

It is kinda funny. I thought about just keeping my pzeros on my sport technos but they were awful in cold weather last year. They just aren't a good cold weather tire IMHO.

paradocs98

Seems a bit much at first, but the strategy has worked well for me. I typically lease cars for 36 months. Often the car is delivered on a tire I'm not particularly fond of--Continentals or PZeros or older PS2s in the case of my 2011 M3, and PZeros in the case of my 2014 991S. Since, at lease end, the car needs to be returned with the original equipment tires (or a type considered comparable by BMW, Porsche, etc.), and those tires need to have substantial life left in them, I just remove the delivery tires when I start the lease, and stick them in the basement or attic. I then buy better-quality tires to enjoy and use up during the lease term (Pilot Super Sports in the case of the M3, or Yoko AD08Rs in the case of the 991), and mount them on nice, upgraded wheels for summer use. For winter use, I get high-performance winter tires and mount them on the original wheels that came with the car. That way I have good, safe winter performance, and maintain an OEM look. Summer, then, is a bonus, with the great-looking, higher-performance wheels and tires I bought. At the end of the lease, I throw out my used-up, upgraded summer tires that I had bought, likely also throw out the winter tires since they've been through three seasons of decent mileage, and then remount the original equipment summer tires on the stock wheels.
Excellent point. Even if it's a dry winter, summer tires need to be swapped out for winter tires. The summer rubber compound becomes too hard below 45° or so, and the tires become slippery plastic rollers. Especially on a relatively high-powered sports car like the 991, winter tires should be used.

djlynch

I have decided to get the 20 inch Carerra S wheels with the Pirelli Sottozeros. I think they will serve my needs well.