Winter Tire / Wheel advice

I know this topic has come up several times but I'd like some specific advice on the best wheel size for a winter set.

I'm about to take delivery of an MY14 Dynamic and want a set to swap over for the winter months. I've read that 17" wheels may be the way to go, and I'm pretty sure they'll clear the rotors since LR spec a 17" wheel for snow traction.

Should I go with the 17" option or 18" option. I'm looking for the best winter performance, price and regular weather performance are a secondary concern. I'm also attaching a pic of what the 17's should look like on my RRE.

Posting on another forum too

I went for the 18" option and haven't regretted it.

(14-02-2014 06:39pm)Stadt Panzer Wrote:  I went for the 18" option and haven't regretted it.

Me too. Don't think the Evoque in any version or in any market is supplied with 17" wheels, so it could look a little too much 'odd man out'.

Thanks for the replies. I'm not as bothered about the looks as I am the performance in snow / ice, in fact I'd go with steeleys if I could!

Do you think there's much benefit of the 17's over the 18's? I know they'll save me about $200, or a free tire for the 17's.

No idea if the 17" are better in snow than the 18" after all we are only talking about the side wall at the end of the day. A larger side wall is better for going off road but the difference between the two is min. You might find that the choice of tires is bigger in 18" opposed to 17".

A lot of Freelanders run on 17 inch rims and there are plenty of tyres that fit and the wheels are interchangeable between Freelander 2 and Evoque. 17 inch tyre size is 235/65/17.

18's because these can be got off ebay at a fairly good price. It's what I did ... set of Style 4's for £450 (delivery mileage and de-tyred) and then picked up a set of Pirelli Winters for about £500 IIRC. I elected to fit the TPMS into mine so as not to get the error on the MID and from the dealer I think these were £55 each. And got the dealer to put it all together (so if they busted a TPMS sender, it would be their cost to replace).

Have em on now and they are superb, although no real cold or snow to try them out properly, but wet performance is excellent.

I bought a set of FL2 17's with almost new Vredistein winters on and they are excellent. Bonus is the whole lot only cost me £420 from a well known auction site!

I have a set of 19" Evoque style 3 with Pirelli Scorpion Ice and Snow tyres - OK so in 3 winters I have only run 3000 miles on them as I have been fortunate to have been working in the tropics and the car has been left frozn at home. The wheel size isn't a big issue (I used to run my TDv8 RRS on 20" wheels with I&S Pirellis on) BUT what you may find is the ride is softer with the higher side wall and the higher sidewall offers more protection for the alloys than the LP 19 and 20" winter tyres. I have also run my Ice and Snow's in the summer when it has been very wet and grip is really good in conditions where BMW's and other power FWD and RWD cars were aquaplaning all over the place in standing water, the RRS and Evoque just ploughed on through on winter tyres in July

I will be using 17in wheels with winter tyres on my Evoque when I get it. Due March.

I currently have a Freelander SD4 and two sets of wheels, so will keep the set with the Vredenstein Wintracs on, which have been brilliant.

Some Freelander owners go down to 16in wheels for off road or winter tyres. Much bigger choice of tyres and cheaper. Traditional Landy diameter. Tall sidewalls are much better off road.

The bigger the diameter of wheel on a given car the less rubber there is in the tyres and the more expensive they are.