[Ripterry]

Hello everyone.

Pretty new here. Just got a 2015 FiST at the beginning of December. No complaints about the car itself, but I'm having trouble finding winter tires for it and since I live in Northern Wisconsin I kind of need them. The ford dealer Near me could get some but they were $184 each. Hoping to find some cheaper than that. Also, do I really need to get 4 of them or could I get by with just the front two?

 

[[email protected]]

With snow tires you really need to install a set of four, running only two can result in dangerous handling.

What size are you looking for?

-Steve

 

[KKaWing]

With only two (I'm guessing on the front wheels), the car would end up feeling like having fast food trays on the rear wheels. Car would end up spinning in turns and the rear end trying to swap ends with the front during braking despite traction control's best efforts (because there's no traction to begin with).

Here where I am, we have a tire place (dedicated to tires and wheels only) and they carry a brand called Barum. It's a Continental subsidiary and it's a Czech brand. Tires should be made in Europe. The local place, Simply Tires, sells 195/55R15 Barum winter tires for $410 (CAD) per set, mounted and balanced. Wheels, fees and taxes are extra... maybe you could find a similar deal where you are.

Don't hesitate to get 15" steel wheels from Costco and go shop for tires that has the same diameter. The spare is 185/60R15, and it's considered a full size spare. This will let you purchase much cheaper 15" tires rather than the really expensive 205/40R17 winter tires.

Edit: Typo

 

[Ripterry]

With snow tires you really need to install a set of four, running only two can result in dangerous handling.

What size are you looking for?

-Steve

well I was hoping to get some that fit the stock rims. With my current budget I doubt I'd be able to afford to get new rims and tires. But it looks like I may have to.

 

[Ripterry]

With only two (I'm guessing on the front wheels), the car would end up feeling like having fast food trays on the rear wheels. Car would end up spinning in turns and the rear end trying to swap ends with the front during braking despite traction control's best efforts (because there's no traction to begin with).

Here where I am, we have a tire place (dedicated to tires and wheels only) and they carry a brand called Barum. It's a Continental subsidiary and it's a Czech brand. Tires should be made in Europe. The local place, Simply Tires, sells 195/55R15 Barum winter tires for $410 (CAD) per set, mounted and balanced. Wheels, fees and taxes are extra... maybe you could find a similar deal where you are.

Don't hesitate to get 15" steel wheels from Costco and go shop for tires that has the same diameter. The spare is 185/60R15, and it's considered a full size spare. This will let you purchase much cheaper 15" tires rather than the really expensive 205/40R17 winter tires.

Edit: Typo

Yeah it would've been the front two. I kinda figured I'd be a bad idea but thought I would ask others.

I was hoping to just stick with the stock rims but it looks like that isn't really much of an option. Haha Thanks for the input!

 

[Ripterry]

How about all season tires? Any ideas on how good those would be? There seems to be a lot of options for them.

 

[XR650R]

They'll be better than the stock tires for cold, but not ideal. If you go to a slightly taller tire (45), there are some options that won't rub. Here's what Tire Rack shows, for comparison. Oops, I can't add links. Just go to the site and enter 205/45/17. Should be a little smoother on the bumpies, too.

 

[iLiptiKal]

If you have snow, you'll want winter tires imho. 4 good winter tires and steel wheels will likely be cheaper than finding winters in the stock size and having them switched out.

 

[marc89gti]

I can personally a test that 2 winter tires is real bad idea too. My Dad some years ago thought he would be cheap and only put two winter tires on the front and a short time after when my Dad and Mom were travelling on a really icy highway they lost control on a straight section, they were doing maybe 70km/hr, the car for no reason spun and did a 180 and end up in the ditch upside down. The sad thing at the time was that one of the major tire retailers Canadian Tire installed the two front winters, this happened about 15years ago and the tire industry is much more aware of implications of only running 2 winter tires.

As for cheaper winters, your best bet is Tirerack and some good 15" steelies and winter tires. 17" winter tires will cost more.

For around $500 you can get 15" steel rims and a 195/55r15 winter tire.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...utoYear=2014&autoModel=Fiesta+ST&autoModClar=

$612 for 17" winter tires.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...utoYear=2014&autoModel=Fiesta+ST&autoModClar=

 

[BlackBird]

Thread moved to 'Wheels and Tires'.

 

[Ripterry]

I think I've decided to just go with some all season tires. May not be the best but the $500 for new wheels and tires is out of my budget at the moment. Any recommendations for all seasons?

 

[eRic]

the optional all-season tire for the 2015 Fiesta ST is Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 if that helps.

 

[KKaWing]

Firehawk Wide Oval AS are the only ones that have an "all green" survey on tire rack among the all seasons. The AS3 is great for 3 seasons... winter, not so much. Good luck~ 205/40R17's arn't all that popular as a size =_=

 

[RodMoe]

. The AS3 is great for 3 seasons... winter, not so much.

Pretty much have to agree with this the AS3 are awesome in the dry even better in the wet and totally horrid in the ice and snow a true 3 season tire so buyer beware though they did not rate well in snow anyways on TR, I did not think they would be this slippery... Now where did I leave my blizzaks .. lol

 

[BlackBird]

Get real winters like Blizzak ws80s, Michelin xice3s, Pirelli snow control / soetezzoro Firestone winter force, etc.

Sent by my GS4 via Tapatalk.

 

[BRGT350]

Agree with BlackBird, get real winters. I picked up 15" General Altimax Artic's for a lot less than what a decent 16" or 17" all season would cost. Last year I ended up putting real winter tires on my wife's AWD Escape instead of the all season tires because it had horrible traction when stopping or turning. I think most of my family has switched over to using either summer or all season tires for spring, summer, and fall and a full winter tire in winter. These are on SUV's and sedans that came with all season tires. It simply isn't worth the risk if you live with serious winter.

Check out my tips on selecting winter tires for the ST;

 

[THEMUFINMN]

I would save your money and NOT buy extra wheels. I live in Montana and we have very harsh winters. I have the OEM size Blizzaks that i ordered off of tirerack and they work GREAT!!!! I think i paid 640 and that is with delivery. They delivered the tires to a local tire shop and i paid them 60 bucks to install them. We have been pounded with negative degree weather and inches of snow and i have not had one problem at all. I highly recommend them. I went away from purchasing a second set of wheels because of the extra money and i dont have storage for another set of wheels.

 

[BlackBird]

Did you watch Bryan's video? The OEM size will not be as competent in the snow as a smaller, narrower tire.

 

[iLiptiKal]

Did you watch Bryan's video? The OEM size will not be as competent in the snow as a smaller, narrower tire.

While this is true, if he is staying at the OEM size, winter tires will still outperform all-seasons in the cold.

 

[BlackBird]

While this is true, if he is staying at the OEM size, winter tires will still outperform all-seasons in the cold.

Of course.