Looking for winter tires and rims black aluminum rims. Any tips are highly appreciated

 

Look at Nokian. Can't talk 'bout rims tho. Have my Hakkapeliita 1 on steelies.

 

I used to live in Vermont and let me tell you, it snows a lot there. I had 2 cars with snows. The first was a 1991 Integra w/ Nokian Hakks -- EXCELENT TIRES! The second was a 1998 A4 1.8T Quattro (my car before my current MP5) with a set of Dunlop winter somethings. Most people in VT run the Hakks because they are the best. Nokian makes a lo-pro, hi-performance tire called the NRW (I think). Lots of people ran the NRWs all year because they are that good. However, they'll cost ya!

As for rims, I'd be careful buying anything that was too fancy for winter use -- especially aluminum. Road salt does gastly things to aluminum. Steel rims with wheel covers will not be pretty, but they are durable. Your car will be slower with snowtires and steel rims.

 

NRW is a winter compound tire, shaved somewhat, so they are more "floppy", not really a performance all-season. The new ones this year are WR, which have a more general compound, but a "Hakka" thread. Have them on my wife's Corolla. Was 500CDN installed. If you have a 0-10 scale, where a regular all-season ( like Mich Harmony ) is at 0, and a Hakka 1 is at 10, then NRW would be at 8, and WR would be at 6-7.

You WILL lose summer performance and cornering grip with either, if you use them all year. This is why I would not buy an NRW or a WR.

 

NRW or WR might not be a bad alternative for people who live in climates like Calgary, where we definitely benefit from proper winter tires, but where the roads are bone dry for about 3/4 of the winter. I am considering using WRs for my 'winter only' tire.

Thanks for the opinion on the WR vs the Hakka1 Alex. That's helpful for me.

Dale.