Snow tires and wheels

[WNY]

These should give me some good winter traction. Michelin Xice x3

215/55/R17 on the stock rims. Ordered thru TireRack.

 

[Taiwwa]

So the year is 2015 and I am wondering what is a good spare wheel to get? For my C-max. 

[tr7driver]

I'm starting to look for rims on ebay and Craigslist.  What year/size focus wheels fit the c-max?

[WNY]

I believe as long as the rims are 5 x 108mm bolt spacing, they should fit. the Ford Focus, Fusion, some older Taurus, and probably others. 
Tire Rack has the basic black steel wheels also. 

[obob]

So the year is 2015 and I am wondering what is a good spare wheel to get? For my C-max. 

 

http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/1116-spare-tire-solution-for-c-max-hybrid/

[redpoint5]

The year is now 2018, and I'm wondering if we have a more comprehensive list of wheels that will fit properly? I'm looking for used wheel/snow tires for a friend, and people tend to list what car the wheels fit, and not the actual specs of the wheel.

 

So the year is 2015 and I am wondering what is a good spare wheel to get? For my C-max. 

[DarenHayes]

For my winter set i use 215 60 16r , they fit fine, theyre just the black steel ones, but i  bought very cute(IMO) plastic wheel covers for them hehee.. i think they look nicer than the factory ones  . 

Edited November 20, 2018 by DarenHayes

[Classpro]

I am pretty confused about this whole tire/wheel discussion. 

 

My local junkyard has a 2012 ford focus with 4 wheels that I believe are 16x7 5 lug - aluminum wheels will cost around $50 each, which is half the price of a new steel wheel. 

 

I think the lug spacing is the same as my cmax - 16x7 5 lug.

 

The question I have is whether those 16" wheels will fit my cmax, and what is the best size tire to put on it. 

 

Tirerack recommends a 16x6.5 inch steel wheel with either 215/60-16 or 215/55-16 tires. 

 

The Focus wheels come with 215/55-16.  Can I put 215/60-16 tires on a 16x7 wheel, or should I use a 215/55-16 snow tire, or will the Focus wheel not work right? 

 

I don't have a clear understanding of what tire size fits on what wheel size and will work best for snow tires.

[fbov]

Welcome!

 

C-Max has a lot in common with Focus, so the wheels look like a good deal. I have Tire Rack's 16x6.5 steel wheels with the 215/60's and it's a match to the OEM speedometer calibration running Michelin X-ice 3. But I see you're in Syracuse... they may not be aggressive enough if you regularly drive north at all. 

 

You may find it confusing that Tire Rack's spec tables show two rim widths, a "rim width" and a "measurement rim." Any wheel within the former range will work with the tire. The "section width" data that follows, however, is specific to one rim width, so TR also tells you what rim size was used to mount the tire for the measurement. 

 

The X-Ice 215/60-16 wheel range is 6-7.5, so your 7's would be fine. The section width will be a little wider on the 7" wheel, but you're starting 0.5" narrower than OEM.

 

HAve fun,

Frank

[Nervous but Excited]

Any 2021 updates for best snow tire options? Or are we sticking with 215/60-16 and Blizzak/X-Ice tires?

[fbov]

The only thing that's changed is the development of "all weather" tires that features significant winter grip, with all-season wear rates. It's a combination of aggressive tread patterns with cold-weather tread compounds that retain traction below 40F.

 

The tradeoff is ice traction, especially for the snow tires you mention. I have a set of too-small X-Ice from th eC-Max. I put CrossClimate 2 on the Escape. I won't know until February how that's working out. 

[Nervous but Excited]

On 1/13/2022 at 9:38 PM, fbov said:

The only thing that's changed is the development of "all weather" tires that features significant winter grip, with all-season wear rates. It's a combination of aggressive tread patterns with cold-weather tread compounds that retain traction below 40F.

 

The tradeoff is ice traction, especially for the snow tires you mention. I have a set of too-small X-Ice from th eC-Max. I put CrossClimate 2 on the Escape. I won't know until February how that's working out. 

 

 

Thanks fbov!
Although all season tires are very tempting I am too scared to risk it. I'm in Boulder Colorado and plan to head up I-70 frequently for skiing.

 

Why are your X-Ice's too small? Or do you just mean that they are 215/60-16 instead of 225/50/17?

[Nervous but Excited]

Urg! @fbov!
You've made me think too hard about this! haha.

According to CODOT
Tires that are marked with M+S are legally acceptable for all conditions. Even when there is a sign next to the highway indicating that chains are required to proceed (I've pasted the law below).

I currently have the following tires on the car:
Sentury UHP 
All weather 
225/50zR17 98w
M+S

 

And then there is theoretically also the option of tire cables if the weather gets really really ugly.

Sooo... Given the above... is it really necessary to go through the hassle of storing and rotating snow tires?! And if your answer is "yes", but only because these are not the best M+S tires... Then maybe I should just buy some top rated M+S tires instead?!

At the moment I think that the current tires would be good enough for 95% of our driving... but that 95% probably ain't good enough, and that we should get Blizzaks to cover the last 5%. Especially since we plan on driving up I-70 a few times this winter to go skiing.

 

Any insights would be great! I'm from South Africa and this is my first winter so I am trying to figure everything out - thanks for the help!

 

******************************************************************************************

Traction Law (from https://www.codot.gov/travel/winter-driving/tractionlaw#collapseTwo)
During winter storms, or when conditions require, CDOT will implement the Passenger Vehicle Traction Law. CDOT can implement the Passenger Vehicle Traction and Chain Laws on any state highway. During a Traction Law, all motorists are required to have EITHER:

4WD or AWD vehicle and 3/16” tread depth
Tires with a mud and snow designation (M+S icon) and 3/16” tread depth 
Winter tires (mountain-snowflake icon) and 3/16” tread depth 
Tires with an all-weather rating by the manufacturer and 3/16” tread depth
Chains or an approved alternative traction device

[WNY]

I had the Michelin Xice x3 snow tires 215/55/R17 on the stock rims and had no issues and good traction here in western NY and we sometimes get a lot of snow here. 

Anyone around Western NY area need a set of factory rims with these snow tires?
unfortunately, I no longer have my cmax (Totalled), but still have the factory rims/tires. 
 

[fbov]

On 1/16/2022 at 8:43 AM, WNY said:

... I no longer have my cmax (Totalled), but still have the factory rims/tires. 

Me, too, except I traded... look at my sig. My condolences.

 

This Escape Hybrid has 225/55/19's with a far greater load rating than for the C-Max (despite little weight difference). 

 

On 1/15/2022 at 8:35 PM, Nervous but Excited said:

You've made me think too hard about this! ...

That's the goal; informed decisions.

 

The "all weather" tires I'm suggesting you consider feature the 3PMSF designation, and the best of them are the equal of snow tires until you hit glare ice. There's a guy in the UK who has done a lot of very rigorous tire testing in dry, wet and snow. While he's using European-spec tires, not sold in the US, the general result are useful because he includes a top snow tire, and a top summer tire when comparing all-season or all-weather tires. The specialist rarely win outside their specialty. He also does head-to-head comparisons, like this one between FWD on Snows vs. AWD on All-Weather. 

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by fbov

[Nervous but Excited]

Thanks @fbov.
Great video - I'll look into some more of his work.

 

You've reinforced my opinion though. Bottom line is that we are going to buy dedicated snow tires exclusively because we are worried that at some point in the winter we might hit some glare ice. If we could be guaranteed that there is no glare ice I would probably just buy a pair of 3PMSF tires and forget about seasonal rotations.

 

Feels kinda crazy to go through all that effort for such a marginal improvement. I think the extent of my risk aversion is in large part due to my ignorance of winter conditions in CO. I don't really know how frequently we will encounter glare ice... But I don't want to find out the hard way.

 

 

[fbov]

On 1/17/2022 at 7:31 PM, Nervous but Excited said:

... But I don't want to find out the hard way.

Understandable. 

 

I backed into this recommendation. Starting in 1973 with studded snow tires, I've tried everything but cheap tires. These new all-weather products are a game changer for my needs. But this really is something you need to back into... see what top-quality snow tires buy you before settling for less. 

 

You may be interested in Tyrereviews comparison of 5 Nokian tires, summer, all season, all weather, snow and extreme Nordic. The best snow performance comes at a price, paid in the wet and dry. 

Edited January 18, 2022 by fbov

[Nervous but Excited]

@fbov urg... the saga continues.

We wanted to go to Rocky Mountain National Park this weekend, but we realized that we would be required to have chains on the car (even though we have Blizzak snow and ice tires on the car).

...So... Any recommendations for which "snow chains or alternative traction devices" I should buy for our once or twice a year trip to a location that needs them?

 

[Nervous but Excited]

On 2/11/2022 at 8:30 PM, Nervous but Excited said:

@fbov urg... the saga continues.

We wanted to go to Rocky Mountain National Park this weekend, but we realized that we would be required to have chains on the car (even though we have Blizzak snow and ice tires on the car).

...So... Any recommendations for which "snow chains or alternative traction devices" I should buy for our once or twice a year trip to a location that needs them?

 

This is the first thing that Google spits out, but it would be nice to have a referal.

https://www.etrailer.com/Tire-Chains/Ford/C-Max/2016/PW1034.html

 

 

[SnowStorm]

I have no experience with C-Max traction devices but both my son and I have bought from etrailer and think they are great.

[Nervous but Excited]

Great! Thanks!

[fbov]

more links....