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A dedicated winter wheel and tire setup based on your location is ideal for these cars.
I know people will say that they drive year around in Minnesota with their summer tires and have no issues. That could very well be true. However, it’s still infinitely safer to have a wheel and tire setup fit for the conditions. If the tire manufacturer says don’t run the tire below xx degree temperatures, why chance it if you don’t have to?
I was unaware that we could get 18s that clear our rotor and caliper assemblies. If 18s are an option then the Blizzak WS series, or another comparable brand, and wheel setup would be great thereby storing the 20s until the spring/summer. If you prefer the 20s there’s the Blizzak LM series which is a winter performance tire but the WS series is still the superior tire for snow/ice.
If it primarily gets cold, near or below freezing, where you live and hardly snows then a decent all season set of wheels and tires are ideal. Just keep in mind that snow and ice traction will be severely reduced in comparison to snow tires but vastly improved compared to the stock summer run flats.
Regardless, TPMS sensors can be gotten for the cheap and programmed easily.
I believe where most people go wrong is that they either overestimate their abilities or overestimate their location’s preparation for winter events. For example, in PA the roads were always prepped. I could’ve probably gotten by 90% of the time on the summer rubber or all season tires sticking to main roads. Yet, there were instances were we get so much snow and I traveled secondary streets where if I didn’t have snow rubber I probably would’ve been staying the night at whatever hotel I could walk to from where I was stuck and hope my car didn’t get sideswiped by a plow truck.
On the same day I bought my G37S in Montgomeryville, PA, also equipped with summer tires, it snows like hell while I was completing the paperwork. By the time I finished and they drove the car out the showroom there was at least 4 inches of snow. I got stuck in their parking lot, let along driving back to Penn State. By the time I got out the parking lot, I drove across the street and parked it. I walked to the nearest hotel and stayed the night. Every few hours I would borrow the hotel’s shovel to dig the car out and keep it visible for the plow trucks.
Around 4am, it stops snowing and I think it’s a good idea to go ahead and make the 3 hour drive home. In 1 place on the PA turnpike conditions were terrible, it hadn’t been plowed, or there was a decent amount of snow drift, in that area. The car went completely sideways and I luckily regained control without losing momentum to keep the car moving. Luckily there was no one around at that time of the morning and I didn’t hit anything. I promptly switched to all season tires and if we had spent anymore time in PA, I probably would’ve gotten a dedicated winter set.
Moral is to be safe based on the conditions that are most prevalent to your area. You cannot always depends on the locality/municipality/city/state to do their part.
Oh and know which models of car and wheels fit your vehicle. If you’re not opposed to buying used, you can score a hell of a deal on some inexpensive wheels and tires.
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