superfly87

Came across two different snow tires with differnt sizes.
which would be the better choice overall considering the winter tire, size, fitting, price, etc?
yokohama avs winters with lexus alloy wheels 205/55R16 ($550) set of 4 with 50% tread
or
toyo observe garit KX with lexus alloy wheels 215/45/R17 ($600) 5 tires with 90% tread.
Also, which is better for winter steel or alloy wheels?

2010 lexus is250 rwd.
thanks

KillaIS250

iTrader: (1)

Right off the bat, i'm gonna say the Toyo's are better.
The more tread you have in the snow, the better off you are.

Jetfire

iTrader: (3)

I would be careful with tires with 50% tread for winters. Some like michelin blizzaks only have 50% snow tire tread with the sipes. The last 50% is solid blocks, so it would be pretty much an all season tire. So do some research on that.

superfly87

hmmmmmm. what would be a better deal in the long run? only reason i'm hesitating is bcuz the 215/45/r17 might be too small of my is and maybe hrder to find tires later when i need to replace it as to 205/55/r16 which seem more common...
Anyone tried either one of those tires? I live in vancouver so i guess it's more icy and slushy than deep snow although they said we're supposed to get lots of snow this season...
another option is to get 1 season old pirelli 210 sottozero 205/55/R16 for $220 and mount them on steel rims...

shui3000

toyo, hands down. you want as much tread as you can get.

superfly87

would the sizing be ok for the rear tires?
I know that a lot of places say the tire diameter difference should be under 3% from the oem or else it could lead to break failure. 215/45/R17 for front is only -1.45% and is acceptable but rear is like -4.17% smaller...as opposed to 205/55/R17 being -0.41% for front and -3.16% for rear.
this is what worries me....i need to make the right decision....

CleverName

First off, being RWD the smaller rear will have no other effect other than give you an incorrect speed indication. It's the AWD owners that have to pay close attention to those numbers. The nice part about identical numbers on all four corners is that you can rotate them regularly.

I'm also quick to lean to Yokos as a better tire over a Toyo, but this choice is totally in the Toyos favor.

I cant talk about brake clearance on your 250, but my understanding is that it is seldom a problem like we have on the 350,

BOL

superfly87

if u guys say so.
I guess it's better than getting new cheap tires like nexen winguard and steel rims to try and get close to oem size for similar cost...