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Uthor
Jul 9, 2006

Gummy Bear Heaven ... It's where I go when the world is too mean.
Yes and they were fine. I bent one by hitting a curb after sliding down a hill in the snow, but otherwise they've been just great.

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Godholio
Aug 28, 2002

Does a bear split in the woods near Zheleznogorsk?

A Proper Uppercut posted:

Anyone have any experience with tire rack and buying a snow tire/steel rim and having them mount it and send it to me? Really need some snow tires this year, just don't know if their rims are total garbage, because it looks to be by far the cheapest way of going about this. I can't seem to find any used ones on CL that will fit the my Mazda 3's seemingly large 67.1 bore size.

Got a junkyard nearby?

A Proper Uppercut
Sep 30, 2008

Godholio posted:

Got a junkyard nearby?

I do, actually. Do you think the odds are good I could find some steelies there?

Cage
Jul 17, 2003
www.revivethedrive.org
They probably have hundreds of steelies but if you're going to a junkyard don't forget to factor in the cost of getting the tires mounted. Tireracks wheels aren't garbage, just don't plan on hitting curbs with them.

goodness
Jan 3, 2012

When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?
I have a Honda Civic 2008 and the battery has been giving me trouble lately with the cold weather. The engine is really slow to start and I believe I read it can be a problem if I am making short drives instead of longer ones and giving it time to charge. What is a budget battery I can get to replace it?

InitialDave
Jun 14, 2007

I Want To Believe.
Either google using the exact model of your car, or look for a sticker on the battery that states a number for CCA (how much grunt you have for starting up) and A/H (how much energy it stores).

As long as you're looking at the same or larger numbers for CCA and A/H in a battery that's physically the same size, I would tend to buy whatever's cheapest with a warranty.

Google tells me you want a battery in the size code 51R to fit your car.

I believe most spare parts shops will do a free "is it hosed?" test of your battery for you.

Spikes32
Jul 25, 2013

Happy trees
So I just got an oil change and got treated to my mechanic going on a rant (as he loves to in general) on how my 2014 Mazda3 actually needs octane 89 to reach the advertised mpg instead of the 87 the owners manual. I'm guessing he's just full of poo poo, but is this in any way true?

Godholio
Aug 28, 2002

Does a bear split in the woods near Zheleznogorsk?
He's an idiot. I'm curious what his logic is, though.

Geoj
May 28, 2008

BITTER POOR PERSON
Was 2015 the first year with Skyactiv engines? Maybe he was thinking it has one - reports are that it will run on 87 but isn't happy about it and actually gets better economy on mid-grade than regular, enough to offset the added expense at the pump.

Spikes32
Jul 25, 2013

Happy trees

Godholio posted:

He's an idiot. I'm curious what his logic is, though.

It came down to him asserting that the manufacturer built the car for 88 octane and is only saying 87 in the manual to cause more wear and tear. He's got a lot of rants in general, but is an excellent mechanic who refuses to sell me services and repairs I don't need and explains why every time. Which is why I wasn't quite sure if I should believe him or not.

Spikes32
Jul 25, 2013

Happy trees

Geoj posted:

Was 2015 the first year with Skyactiv engines? Maybe he was thinking it has one - reports are that it will run on 87 but isn't happy about it and actually gets better economy on mid-grade than regular, enough to offset the added expense at the pump.

2012 was the first year of sky active, and my model has it. Does this still hold true for the 2014s?

Leperflesh
May 17, 2007

Spikes32 posted:

It came down to him asserting that the manufacturer built the car for 88 octane and is only saying 87 in the manual to cause more wear and tear. He's got a lot of rants in general, but is an excellent mechanic who refuses to sell me services and repairs I don't need and explains why every time. Which is why I wasn't quite sure if I should believe him or not.

A higher octane fuel does not "save wear and tear." Essentially the rating indicates how readily combustible the fuel is. High-compression engines need a higher (less-combustible) fuel to avoid "pre-ignition" which is also called pinging, and is bad for the engine. But:
1. every auto manufacturer knows perfectly well that 88 octane fuel isn't universally available... none of them would design an engine that can't tolerate a deviation of 1 or 2 octane in either direction
2. high altitude areas have different fuel mixes, so do cold weather areas, so do states with ethanol additives, and so on
3. modern mass-produced car engines are very robust and long-lived and are designed to handle a wide variety of suboptimal performance conditions without a problem
4. modern high-compression-engined cars have computers that detect pinging and are capable of de-tuning to handle running on a lower-octane fuel, automatically avoiding the damage, because drivers are idiots and put the wrong fuel into their car even when it very clearly says to only use high-octane fuel, and doing this is a lot easier than dealing with thousands of in-warranty engine replacements due to said idiots blowing up their engines.

When a car that wants higher octane is doing #4, fuel efficiency (and power) may drop. But the difference between 87 octane and 88 or 89 octane is really not that big, and as I said, the car is not damaging the engine by running one octane lighter. So either your car wants 88 (and would say so in the manual) and is thus getting slightly worse mileage on 87, OR your car is fine on 87, but in neither case is your car damaging itself and Mazda is definitely not part of a giant conspiracy to make people's engines ping and destroy themselves if they happen to live in an area where only 87 and 89 octane gas are available and choose to run the factory-recommended octane.

Gumbel2Gumbel
Apr 28, 2010

Just wanted to say thank you to the recommendations for wipers in this thread. My windshield has never been this clean! Two more questions:

1: Is there a sort of touch up to cleanly fill pits and scratches in my windshield and

2: What's a good ice scraper to buy?

pwnyXpress
Mar 28, 2007
My '99 Saturn SL1 had an issue last winter during a cold snap where the battery light came on and there was a squealing sound when it hadn't warmed up yet that seemed to go away gradually. I think it may have had an issue changing gears once too (its an automatic), but I might be remembering a different time. Battery was bought new the year before, so I didn't think that was the problem, despite the light, and then the rest of the winter was very mild so I didn't have the issue anymore. Drove just fine all this past year. Now that it is getting cold again the issue seems to have cropped back up. If the car gets very cold it does this squealing noise and the battery light keeps flickering on and off. Any ideas?

Kia Soul Enthusias
May 9, 2004

zoom-zoom
Toilet Rascal

Gumbel2Gumbel posted:

Just wanted to say thank you to the recommendations for wipers in this thread. My windshield has never been this clean! Two more questions:

1: Is there a sort of touch up to cleanly fill pits and scratches in my windshield and

#1 I've never seen anybody able to recommend a product that does this. I think the only way is replacement


pwnyXpress posted:

My '99 Saturn SL1 had an issue last winter during a cold snap where the battery light came on and there was a squealing sound when it hadn't warmed up yet that seemed to go away gradually. I think it may have had an issue changing gears once too (its an automatic), but I might be remembering a different time. Battery was bought new the year before, so I didn't think that was the problem, despite the light, and then the rest of the winter was very mild so I didn't have the issue anymore. Drove just fine all this past year. Now that it is getting cold again the issue seems to have cropped back up. If the car gets very cold it does this squealing noise and the battery light keeps flickering on and off. Any ideas?

You need to replace your alternator belt or maybe have the pulleys adjusted. Do not attempt to use "belt dressing".

8ender
Sep 24, 2003

clown is watching you sleep

ExecuDork posted:

Overall, I'm not impressed by that mechanic in Regina, and I'm still undecided on this local guy here in Waterloo.

I've been hearing excellent things about Autologix in Kitchener from co-workers. Seems to be the kind of honest, old school shop where they don't gently caress around. The only issue might be that they seem to specialize in Subaru's. Not sure if they'd take on your truck but it's worth a call.

Armyman25
Sep 6, 2005

scuz posted:

This, too. Does the car crank and not start or does it not crank at all?

It cranks but won't start.

spankmeister
Jun 15, 2008






yeah so check the plugs, plug cables, coil pack.

Safety Dance
Sep 10, 2007

Five degrees to starboard!

Gumbel2Gumbel posted:

2: What's a good ice scraper to buy?

I'm lazy as poo poo, so I go to the auto parts store and buy the first scraper I see that's about 2 feet long and has a brush. They usually cost somewhere around $5. Looks like this: http://www.autozone.com/shop-and-garage-tools/snowbrush-and-ice-scraper/hopkins-super-deluxe-snowbrush/510073_0_0/

The Wirecutter says this is the best scraper, and if I needed one, I'd probably buy this one: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-ice-scraper/

The nerds at Cooltools like this one: http://kk.org/cooltools/fantastic-ice-s/ It's brass, which is nice and all, but it's shorter than I'd like.

pwnyXpress
Mar 28, 2007

pwnyXpress posted:

My '99 Saturn SL1 had an issue last winter during a cold snap where the battery light came on and there was a squealing sound when it hadn't warmed up yet that seemed to go away gradually. I think it may have had an issue changing gears once too (its an automatic), but I might be remembering a different time. Battery was bought new the year before, so I didn't think that was the problem, despite the light, and then the rest of the winter was very mild so I didn't have the issue anymore. Drove just fine all this past year. Now that it is getting cold again the issue seems to have cropped back up. If the car gets very cold it does this squealing noise and the battery light keeps flickering on and off. Any ideas?

And now this morning the battery light stayed on, halfway to school I noticed my steering started feeling stiff and it was hard to turn, then my temperature shot way up and I had to pull over and let things cool before finishing the drive. Almost had to pull over twice. Opened the hood while I was stopped and it looked like I might be leaking coolant from the coolant tank from the cap. Would a coolant leak cause all of these problems or is there something worse going on? Or multiple things?

A Proper Uppercut
Sep 30, 2008

Another wheel question.

Do winter tires on steel wheel need to be hub centric, or are the lugs good enough? I'm seeing a lot of winter tires on steel wheels on CL, I just don't know if they have a fitted center bore, or if it's just a general steel wheel and the bore is oversized to make it universal.

tater_salad
Sep 15, 2007


pwnyXpress posted:

And now this morning the battery light stayed on, halfway to school I noticed my steering started feeling stiff and it was hard to turn, then my temperature shot way up and I had to pull over and let things cool before finishing the drive. Almost had to pull over twice. Opened the hood while I was stopped and it looked like I might be leaking coolant from the coolant tank from the cap. Would a coolant leak cause all of these problems or is there something worse going on? Or multiple things?

I think it's unrelated.. the water pump is driven by the timing chain, not the seprentine belt
Is your temp running hot? if so then that's why you're getting overflow.

You need a new belt/idler/tensioner or combo of the 3 or one of the things that's run (alternator, isn't running right. The fact that it's cold related is more likely the belt.

Check out this link
http://www.2carpros.com/diagrams/saturn/sl1/1999

Looking at the belt diagrams for saturn you may be getting them ALL related.
I can't quite tell but it looks like the water pump, power setering, and AC are all driven off of 1 belt.. so if your belt is making noise (Squealing) then it's loose/worn. Because it's loose/worn it's slipping and basically doing a burnout on one of the pulleys.. or the tensioner / idler pulley bearings are shot and making noise.

Your battery light / alternator light is on because your alternator is no longer getting enough RPM's to meet the minimum required by the car
Your steering is harder because your PS is no longer being driven efficiently,

online suggest it's about a 15-20 min job which means 1-2hr in real time to replace belt.. if you have tools and like to swear go at it.. when your belt is off spin everything that spins to see if if moves freely and itsn't binding to ensure that the problem isn't your alternator/ PS pump, etc causing the issue. Also watch your fingers.. don't try and put the belt on or force it though a pulley with your finger.. it's not fun.

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33273

tater_salad fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Nov 19, 2015

Fender Anarchist
May 20, 2009

Fender Anarchist

A Proper Uppercut posted:

Another wheel question.

Do winter tires on steel wheel need to be hub centric, or are the lugs good enough? I'm seeing a lot of winter tires on steel wheels on CL, I just don't know if they have a fitted center bore, or if it's just a general steel wheel and the bore is oversized to make it universal.

It depends on the car and what syle lug nuts you have. If you've got tapered lugs then it's lug centric and any wheel that physically fits the bolt pattern and hub ring will work; if they're the flat-base type like ie some Ford pickups use, it's hub-centric and needs to fit snugly.

Also the lug taper needs to match the taper of the lug holes in the wheel, or else it'll only contact at one circle rather than the full conical face of the tapers.

What do you drive?

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

tater_salad posted:

I think it's unrelated.. the water pump is driven by the timing chain, not the seprentine belt
Is your temp running hot? if so then that's why you're getting overflow.

Uh, everything I've found says that his water pump is driven by the serpentine belt. Same from personal experience working on friends cars in the past. They didn't go to a timing chain driven water pump until they moved to the Ecotec engines (the SC/SL/SW series never had an Ecotec, only the 1.9).

pwnyXpress, your serpentine belt parted ways with the car at some point. Don't drive it until it's fixed, driving it without the water pump moving will damage the engine.

A Proper Uppercut
Sep 30, 2008

Enourmo posted:

It depends on the car and what syle lug nuts you have. If you've got tapered lugs then it's lug centric and any wheel that physically fits the bolt pattern and hub ring will work; if they're the flat-base type like ie some Ford pickups use, it's hub-centric and needs to fit snugly.

Also the lug taper needs to match the taper of the lug holes in the wheel, or else it'll only contact at one circle rather than the full conical face of the tapers.

What do you drive?

2014 mazda 3s

tater_salad
Sep 15, 2007


some texas redneck posted:

Uh, everything I've found says that his water pump is driven by the serpentine belt. Same from personal experience working on friends cars in the past. They didn't go to a timing chain driven water pump until they moved to the Ecotec engines (the SC/SL/SW series never had an Ecotec, only the 1.9).

pwnyXpress, your serpentine belt parted ways with the car at some point. Don't drive it until it's fixed, driving it without the water pump moving will damage the engine.

I'm corrected, the first link I clicked said timing chain.. but a few others contradict.. I'm not familiar with the engine so Didn't know if it was driven by the serp or not.

My first version of the post actually had the water pump driven by the serp belt.

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

tater_salad posted:

I'm corrected, the first link I clicked said timing chain.. but a few others contradict.. I'm not familiar with the engine so Didn't know if it was driven by the serp or not.

It depends what model you're talking about, really. The newer models that use an Ecotec engine (Ion, L series, Vue - basically all of the badge-engineered models) have it driven by the timing chain. The older "real" Saturns (S series - SC, SL, SW) all had the same 1.9, in SOHC or DOHC configuration depending on the trim (same bottom end for both).

Armyman25
Sep 6, 2005
When selling a car, is there a good way to deal with the question "what's your bottom dollar?"

I always put it back on them and ask what they're offering. What has worked for other people?

Fender Anarchist
May 20, 2009

Fender Anarchist

Armyman25 posted:

When selling a car, is there a good way to deal with the question "what's your bottom dollar?"

I always put it back on them and ask what they're offering. What has worked for other people?

If they ask, tell them "list price".

pwnyXpress
Mar 28, 2007

tater_salad posted:

I think it's unrelated.. the water pump is driven by the timing chain, not the seprentine belt
Is your temp running hot? if so then that's why you're getting overflow.

You need a new belt/idler/tensioner or combo of the 3 or one of the things that's run (alternator, isn't running right. The fact that it's cold related is more likely the belt.

Check out this link
http://www.2carpros.com/diagrams/saturn/sl1/1999

Looking at the belt diagrams for saturn you may be getting them ALL related.
I can't quite tell but it looks like the water pump, power setering, and AC are all driven off of 1 belt.. so if your belt is making noise (Squealing) then it's loose/worn. Because it's loose/worn it's slipping and basically doing a burnout on one of the pulleys.. or the tensioner / idler pulley bearings are shot and making noise.

Your battery light / alternator light is on because your alternator is no longer getting enough RPM's to meet the minimum required by the car
Your steering is harder because your PS is no longer being driven efficiently,

online suggest it's about a 15-20 min job which means 1-2hr in real time to replace belt.. if you have tools and like to swear go at it.. when your belt is off spin everything that spins to see if if moves freely and itsn't binding to ensure that the problem isn't your alternator/ PS pump, etc causing the issue. Also watch your fingers.. don't try and put the belt on or force it though a pulley with your finger.. it's not fun.

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33273

some texas redneck posted:

pwnyXpress, your serpentine belt parted ways with the car at some point. Don't drive it until it's fixed, driving it without the water pump moving will damage the engine.

Thank you to you both!

pwnyXpress fucked around with this message at 21:06 on Nov 19, 2015

Somewhat Heroic
Oct 11, 2007

(Insert Mad Max related text)



I'm a dummy and while replacing the VANOS unit (variable valve timing thingy) I didn't remove my serpentine belt or cover it and it got a little motor oil on it when I pulled the valve cover, etc. the belt is only a year old and ~5k miles worth of driving but with cold weather setting in it squeaks until the engine is good and warmed up. Do I have to replace it or can I clean it with something?

Sanschel
Aug 9, 2002

Is there a cheap and easy way to replace the starter on a car if I know jack and poo poo about vehicles?

Longer version: 2005 Ford Five-Hundred
My girlfriend's crappy old tugboat finally started to capsize last night when it wouldn't start after she got off work. She and her employers attempted to jump it to no avail, and today AAA came out and attempting to jump it before concluding it was the starter and towing us to a nearby shop. Said shop is unable to even examine the car until Monday so it gets to sit in a parking lot until then, but they quoted us $480 after taxes to get it on the road.

As for the problems, the car refuses to turn over and makes a strained snapping noise as you crank the engine. It seems unlikely to be the battery as its only two years old and I was able to charge my phone as I waited for her to come get me in my car. There was heavy rain and flooding this week, the first in a long while, and the mechanic said its possible that water got splashed up into the undercarriage and into the starter to cause it to fail.

Is there a way for somebody with no experience working on cars to fix this without dropping almost half a month's rent into it? Otherwise we're considering loaning money from some place and this car just isn't worth that (it has a bevy of other issues that we've been considering ditching it for a while anyway, only hindered by the "can't afford a new car" thing).

Fender Anarchist
May 20, 2009

Fender Anarchist

A fully charged battery is 12.6 volts; anything under 12 resting or less than 11 while cranking is considered fully discharged. Your phone takes about 3.5 volts, so it's not really much indicator of whether the battery will start the car (its primary, and in most cars sole, function; after starting you're pretty much drawing power straight from the alternator).

Two years is close to average life here in Florida; I don't know what region you're in.

If you have access to the car/a second vehicle to use, pull the battery out (just requires a basic socket kit) and take it to Autozone or similar and have them test it for free, and get a new one if needed. A battery can fail in such a way you can't even jump start the car, ie an internal short circuit that sucks up all the juice from the boosting car before it can even engage the starter. It's a good idea to check for corrosion on the wire ends while you have them off, but that wouldn't affect a jump start so probably not your main issue.

If the battery is good and it is in fact the starter... well, it's doable but if you have zero tools you're dropping a good bit into those even for a simple task like this; jackstands, ratchets, extensions, sockets, it all adds up quick. Add in the value of your time (which will be longer due to inexperience, could even be an all day job) and you're probably close to the cost of having the work done.

You said they haven't looked at it yet but already quoted a price, is that just based on "tell me how much a starter would be"?

Winnie the Shit
Dec 25, 2005

the cat came back
I have an automatic 2001 Toyota Echo that seems to be shifting weird when coasting in stop and go traffic or navigating a parking lot. Any situation where I am not giving it a lot of/any gas. I feel a popping sensation in the brake or gas pedal. Accelerating normally from a stop doesn't cause this. Do I kiss my transmission goodbye or is it something else?

I had my mechanic drive it after doing pads/rotors for me a couple weeks ago but he couldn't replicate it since I wasn't sure what was doing it. Not sure if I can get an Internet answer or just wait until he is available again.

Iron Lung
Jul 24, 2007
Life.Iron Lung. Death.
My wife has a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer ES with nearly 100k miles on it, that has recently started stalling while stopped (and once while coasting over a tiny tiny speed bump). We took it in to the shop the day after that happened and they couldn't reproduce it, so they did a few really conservative things to see if it helped. They cleaned out the throttle body and the MAF, which I had found online as a potential culprit, and did a bit more routine maintenance (oil change, etc). I recently had the timing belt and water pump replaced, and coolant topped off as well. About 4 months ago we replaced the alternator belt because it disappeared into the netherworld and killed her car while she was driving, but that + a batter test after shows the battery should be fine. It stalled again last night while my wife was at a stop light, and then started right back up again.

It is currently throwing a code for an O2 sensor, but I kind of doubt that is the problem. That is a pretty recent occurrence, and happened after the first and second stall occurred, and we didn't have time to replace it when we did the timing belt. I'm planning on fixing that issue tomorrow with a friend, but could that really be the problem? I clarified with my wife, and all the times it's stalled (I think 3 total) has been when her foot was off the brake, moving to the gas, but not on the gas yet. The engine shuts off, but the dash lights everything up so the electrical system is staying on. So it seems to me like an idle problem obviously.

Just not sure where to go from here as the shop did most of the things that are recommended (MAF + throttle body clean, flush the throttle system, etc). I guess I could also get the idle air control valve replaced as well, but I've never done that. We love this little car, and I'd rather not sell it just to buy another used car that we don't know the maintenance history on. I suppose we could also reset the ECU and re-teach it how to idle, but I'm not sure if that will actually do much if it's not the issue. Appreciate any advice!

edit: added some more info to hopefully clarify

Iron Lung fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Nov 21, 2015

ExecuDork
Feb 25, 2007

We might be fucked, sir.
Fallen Rib

8ender posted:

I've been hearing excellent things about Autologix in Kitchener from co-workers. Seems to be the kind of honest, old school shop where they don't gently caress around. The only issue might be that they seem to specialize in Subaru's. Not sure if they'd take on your truck but it's worth a call.

Thank you, I'll check them out!

B4Ctom1
Oct 5, 2003

OVERWORKED COCK
Slippery Tilde
I made a thread a while back called "Bought a new Subaru Forester Touring 2.5i" where I bought a fancy 2015 Forester
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3688601

It has since been archived obviously.

I have since, encountered a strange problem with it. This is a problem that has always existed in a limited form, but is recently exacerbated by what I believe is standard tire wear. While driving on the highway when it is icy, this vehicle is treacherous to drive. It twerks, twiggles, and wiggles at any speed above 30 MPH. While cars and semis are dangerously swerving around me, I am there with my flashers on impeding traffic. Even at that speed it takes every bit of concentration and sell to keep the car going straight.

You can feel the disturbance or instability passing from the front tires to the rear tires. The electronic console that normally registers any small wheelslip is silent about it until it actually causes the car to go out of control. It is as if they are so small and slight that they do not break the threshold of the stability control's notice.

It reminds me a little of the way that some cars/tires are guided or wiggle on fresh grooved concrete highway.

If you have ever driven a AWD or 4WD vehicle with differentials with a slight offset, or with tires that are slightly different in size, then you know the feeling I am describing. Obviously, this isn't as severe, as there is no real "binding" as is common with this extreme. But I bring it up simply for descriptive purposes.

A quick search showed me that someone else made a post about it on Edmunds:
http://www.edmunds.com/subaru/forester/2015/consumer-reviews/review-529703690861699072/

They and others are experiencing the same problem, although more poorly described. The solution it seems will have to be new tires. It came with, and still has lots of great tread on it's Bridgestone Dueler H/L 400 in the 225/55/18 size.

3rd guy down is a guy here that describes it as "ghost walking". He even bought new snow tires and it was doing it
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f88/back-end-sliding-winter-conditions-merged-thread-487857/index11.html

I am not super familiar with this tire, but the other day my wife asked me to pull over and trade her cars because she was so frustrated and scared of its performance. My 2009 Outback was driving on the same road in front of her without issue. I thought she was being a baby about it, I had to apologize when I got home because this is totally hosed.

So now I have to buy new tires for it, and swap back the others in the summer until I get the worth out of these loving Bridgestones too? What 18" snow tires do I get that isn't going to tear a $1000 hole in my bank account? Is it something else?

Bajaha
Apr 1, 2011

BajaHAHAHA.



Why not just get a set of winter wheels and throw snow tires on there? You can for 17" wheels for sure on the forester, might even fit 16" wheels (or as small as 15" but finding tires tall enough might be a headache) if they didn't change the hubs for the turbo models, you have 5x100 bolt pattern which lets you use pretty much any pre 2014 non-STI oem wheels. Should be able to pick up a used set for ~$200 then you'd just have to find tires.

Tire rack is the go to for most people, if you have a membership Costco can be pretty awesome for tire prices as well.

Here's my family's 2015 NA forester on gold WRX 17" alloys. The tires are a little undersized since they're from my Baja. Size 215/60R-17 but for the forester they should ideally be 65 aspect ratio.

Bajaha fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Nov 21, 2015

wolrah
May 8, 2006
what?

B4Ctom1 posted:

What 18" snow tires do I get that isn't going to tear a $1000 hole in my bank account?

Unless you have some insane aftermarket brake package that requires 18" wheels the correct answer here is to get some winter wheels that are as small as will fit on the car. Snow tires will be a lot cheaper for smaller diameter wheels and you get more sidewall to suck up potholes and other road nastiness that tends to get worse in the winter.

Tire Rack recommends a 16" wheel for your vehicle which puts you around $750 for steel wheels and a good set of tires.


Is the wiggling you notice in any way related to anything you can see on the road, markings, grooves, etc? My BMW has always been very susceptible to "tramlining" (catching and following grooves in the road) when running tires with open channels in the tread, I think I recall reading that was related to the OEM rear alignment being more aggressive than most. That explanation doesn't really fit as well with a crossover as it does with a sort of sporty sedan, but it came to mind.

If there's any easy way to disable the car's "nanny" electronics you might be able to determine whether it's a mechanical issue or a sensor/programming problem. I know on most Haldex AWD cars you can pull a fuse and make it run in 2WD mode, not sure if Subaru's AWD allows for something similar. Do that plus disable traction control (may have to pull more fuses or disconnect ABS sensors) and you'd have the computer entirely out of the equation to do some further testing. Obviously you'd need to be careful when driving like this, especially if the problem requires icy conditions to get it to show up, but it's potentially a useful experiment.

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0toShifty
Aug 21, 2005
0 to Stiffy?
My Prius only has 15s stock - and I still went minus 1 for my snow tires and wheels.

I tried to go with 13s - because I had some 155/80R13 studded snows from my Scirocco - but they wouldn't clear the front calipers. Also they looked hilariously small.

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