buying a set of winter tires on steels for the girlfriend but I’m always hopeless when it comes to working out what size wheel, offset etc etc I need to get. She drives a 1lt Fiesta, think it’s a JA8 998cm model, its a 2013.

What size steels can I drop down to, offset & bolt pattern will she need

Cheers!

What size steels can I drop down to, offset & bolt pattern will she need

keep within the range of wheel / tyre combos that come fitted on your make and model – if you look in the handbook for the car – usually where the tyre pressure info is you’ll have info based on the all the tyre sizes that the car might come fitted with – whatever the smallest rim option is there is the lowest you should go to, but unless your car is already fitted with especially wide/low profile tyres to start with theres very little benefit is changing rim size – you could go for a narrowest contact patch in the manual for the rim size you have.

its it worth buying the separate wheels? it only costs me £10 / corner to change tyres over at my local place. Once fitted I don’t even bother taking winter tyres off again- just leave them on all year round.

yes as it’s on 17″ alloys that act as skis in the winter.

sorry I edited while you were replying…

in that case – as above look for the range of tyre sizes in the manual – look at narrower contact patches, not necessarily the smallest dia rim, then look for rims to suit that tyre size.

You’ll probably find second hand sets of wheels for your model in those smaller sizes as you’re driving on the wheels size most people would swap up to. Alloys are so ubiquitous now that they’ll possibly be cheaper than new steels.

Theres a site that sells aftermarket steel wheels categorised by make and model. I can’t remember which on just now – but I was looking recently as my GF wants to ditch alloys all together and have some wheels that can actually hold air.

Mr Winter Wheels.

At the very least go there and get your wheel specification, but also compare the cost, they are very good.

here you go – tyre leader sell steels by make/model – click on search by vehicle at the top

Always worth checking ebay and gumtree for used winter sets- people often sell the car then sell the wheels separately. I got my wheel-and-tyre set for the mondeo for less than you’d pay for 1 quality tyre, possibly because of the total awfulness of the alloys.

Though obviously that does complicate the buying process- you can keep to just looking for the same car as yours but that narrows the choice. I think mine were officially for a jag but I knew they’d fit because internet.

yes as it’s on 17″ alloys that act as skis in the winter.

The diameter of the wheel will have little impact on grip, but if you go from a 17″ to a 15″ if might not fit over things like brake calipers (unlikely on a 1.0 fiesta rather than something like an ST, but you never know). If smaller wheels will fit (17″ is huge for a fiesta) then pick some that have a good choice of winter tyres in the recommended size.

The easiest way to do it would be just to find another (scrap) fiesta from the same year and buy the wheels off that and get winter tyres in whatever size that is (probably 175/65R14 if steel or 185/55R15 if alloy).

“The easiest way to do it would be just to find another (scrap) fiesta from the same year and buy the wheels off that”

you tried this recently….

i went to the two local scrappies that ive used one of in the past for part worns on steels.

I was presented with a selection of the worst rims and tires you ever saw the last time i went in. I wouldnt have put any of them near my car even with new tires on….and to make it worse he wanted 40 quid a corner !

I have some 14″ steel wheels with Pirelli winter tyres on (still legal but not sure how much) off my now sold Fiesta. I’ll get round to getting rid of them some day.

http://www.willtheyfit.com/

dont say i never do anything for you