Apparently nobody makes matching snow's for the 17" TurboTwists anymore
 

I have a set of stock 17" wheels with Blizzak's that are pretty done...at least the rears. I can't find the rear sizes anywhere. The closest I can get is to change all four but with Falken...and even then they won't be matching series. Fronts are HS439 and the rears are HS449. I'm guess this won't matter too much.

Chris

EDIT: I may just have to get All Seasons for the winter...I don't drive it in the snow but just need the different temperature range for the cold months.

If you're not driving in the snow, I think 4 season tires will give you a better choice/performance result. Less noise than real snow tires too.

Lots of choices if you run a narrower tire on the rear. Anything from 225-255 will fit on a stock rear wheel. As long as the outer diameter is nearly the same (25") you will be fine. I often run a 225/45/17 on a rear wheel to good effect and a narrower tire offers better hydroplane resistance in rain and snow than a 255.

I wasn't aware you could reduce the width and actually get it to fit on the wheel. Interesting.

I was thinking that too. Then the transition is a little smoother and if I get caught in a light snow, which has happened, I will still make it back fine. I drive it a lot but have a Tacoma which got me through las year and snows on my Rabbit.

Chris

All street tires have a range of approved rim widths they will fit. A 225 will typically fit 7-8.5 rims. look at the tire specs for the ones you are interested in to see if they will fit.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=198




A good comparison between All Season tires and full snow tires to decide which best meets your usage needs:
http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index.jsp?video=23&tab=winter

All seasons in CT? Hmm.... I don't think that's a good idea. It's NOT the snow,it's the ice the that's the issue. All seasons don't hold a candle to a winter tire in this respect. I almost wish people would stop calling them snow tires because that overlooks the more crucial element of ice patches in fluctuating temps. What is wet during the day can quickly become a sea of ice at night.


I can't tell you how many times I've been out when wet road became snowy road and even on my full winter tires I was jjjjjjust making a turn. The thing is during winter many people are driving on all seasons that have little or no bite on ice beyond what a summer tire can muster. You want your car to be as nimble as possible to avoid a collision with one of those errant drivers. It takes very little in damage to total a Boxster as far as the insurance company is concerned. If you're going to be out $800 on snow tires either way, then getting a set of 18" winter beaters is worth the added manoeverability, way worth it. All season tires only have the correct compound for below freezing temps, they do not have the best tread pattern to permit a quick escape over ice patches. Also, full winter tires will last you easily four seasons maybe five. So what you may have to spend on larger wheels you'll get back on not having to run one tire all year that wears out sooner. Come summer you can can put a proper tire on a world class roadster. If someone wants to put jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none tires on a Porsche, that's their choice but me personally that's not why a bought the roadster that has always set the bar in this category. If I had the space, I wouldn't run the Boxster during winter at all, I'd just get a beater Jeep. But if I'm going to have to drive during NorthEast winters, then the car deserves full winter tires.

Jump to 2:18 in this video. Pretty much says it all on how limited all season tires are for the price.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlYEMH10Z4s

I hate all seasons for the most part...I call them no seasons. It just means I have to find the right size to use for the rear that happens to have a matching set for the fronts...otherwise I'll use Falken's with the different series.

Chris

I've been driving the car every winter since 2008 when it is dry out. These are not museum pieces but are meant to be driven. As I mentioned I have other vehicles for the bad weather but if it is dry I take her out (to work and such). Usually that means just once or twice a week if I'm lucky.

Chris

So if I understand it correctly I should be able to fit a 235/45R17 on the rear? If so then I found a matching set of Falkens.

On a side note Discount Tire has a neat calculator to show you the differences.
Tire Size Calculator - Discount Tire Direct

Chris

I run blizzak 225 in back and 205 in from for the last 2 winter and they are very good. The narrower back work great in lots of snow and we have lots of it here in Québec. It only look bad with narrow tire lol.

Daily driving side way in snow is fun.

Later
Chris

I was driving on my new 17 inch Michelin A/S plus tires recently in about 2 inches of snow. Once the snow got more than that they could not handle the snow as well. Traction was poor. So I switched to my 16 inch rims with Blizzaks and that is way better. A/S tires in my mind are not recommended for any kind of serious snow.

I'm with you. Drove in today in the snow. I'm running all seasons tho, so we'll see how that works. The roads were mostly wet this morning. As to my 928 - put away until spring and the roads are clean again.

Yes, you have several choices. :cheers:

235/45/17s will fit fine
225/45/17 will squeeze onto an 8.5 rim within factory specs
245/40/17 will also fit very well

oops it was 235/65R17 but by changing brands I found more options.