One of my tires got a hole and deflated while it was parked, so I put on a spare...I was planning on replacing all four 14" wheels with new(er) 16" ones...but was wondering if I should get some rims and go through the hassle of changing them twice a year (before + after winter) or just use plastic wheel covers. What exactly is involved with changing the wheels for winter? Do you need 4 separate wheels, or is there a way to just take the rims (guess that's improper terminology, i mean the fancy 5 spoke, 10 spoke..white/chrome/gunmetal thing etc) off and put on some guard?

Edit: also, what kind of tires are great for all season driving (ie, rain/snow/dry)?

This post has been edited by Mage: Apr 19, 2003 - 10:40 PM

QUOTE

What exactly is involved with changing the wheels for winter? Do you need 4 separate wheels,

If your changing tire size to 16", you should hang onto your 14's and have good snow tires mounted on them. when the snow flys, you just have to take the 16's off and put your 14's on. when your not using them, put them in your garage. A good snow tire is Bridgestone Blizzacks. As far as a good summer tire there are several out there, my favorite one, as far as price goes, is the Potenza re950(also bridgestone). Hope this helps a little >>

Potenzas are nice tires, and I still love them. But untill I get a nicer job, the Kumho Ecsta series is good. Falken Azeni tires are nice too.

Rain tires and snow tires are totally different. Summer tires are generally good in the rain, while winter tires like to slide in the wet.
One thing to avoid is the Sumitomo Srixon 4, these are the worst thing I have ever put on the Celica.

I had Sumitomos on my Vette and they worked great. What is a good place to get tires cheap?

Try Tirerack.com or discounttiredirect.com. I got Kumho Ecsta 712's for $105 a piece after mounting/balancing/shipping(205/50/15) at tire rack. They were 69 a piece shipped.