So I got my winter rim/tire package today, cheapo athena 16x6 5 star rims (ooh, silver with polished lip!) and Kumho 205/60/16 KW17 winter tires. All for $1000 CDN installed which isn't too bad. The rims do clear the front calipers, I thought I'd give a quick dry-road review (when it snows I'll add to this). If you'd rather die than look bad, don't go any smaller than 17's. This car makes 16's look like 14's, and the sidewall height is in SUV territory. The traction control is staying on until next summer, simply easing into WOT from a roll in 2nd started lighting 'em up. I noticed slightly less tread noise but it's a bit coarser of a sound, ride is very nice with the cushy sidewall. Obviously the sharpness suffers, the steering feels less accurate and you can feel the sidewalls flex when starting into a corner. Once in a turn the tires held the road pretty well, though. These tires have an asymetrical tread pattern and are H rated so they at least have some road manners. This combo looks a bit dorky (sorry I don't have a camera handy) but it's cheap, still drives reasonably well in the dry and has a ton of sidewall to soak up the winter abuse. Hopefully it'll work well on snow and ice, too.
