These things come with different size tires. The 17inch came with mine. Had I known then what I know now, would have got smaller as these 17's are costly

 

I live in the Snow Belt, near Wasaga Beach in Ontario. This will be my first winter there, and my first winter with my 2LT. Absolutely going with winter tires this snow season... any one have a brand recommendation? I'm trying to keep costs low but jeeze, there are so many options I'm not sure who to listen to. Michelin X-Ice look good so far, and inexpensive to boot. Unfortunately I'm onbe of those guys who researches the crap out of things like this... any recommendation is appreciated.

You can get 16's with taller rubber to keep the wheel diameter the same.

I'm going to go 16" steels but want to make sure I'm getting the correct rims. Can anyone here confirm?

Here's what I've dug up for the 16's -

16X6.5 Offset: +42mm
Bolt Pattern: 5-110

A 215 60 16 tire should keep the same overall diameter as the factory 17's with factory rubber.

If you drop to a 15" rim, try 215 65 15, again, as a replacement for the factory 17's. Not sure if the breaks will fit, but assuming it does this keeps costs waaaay down over getting 17" steels.

PS - Here's a wicked good resource for all things "tyre" - http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html#

-Sean

 

From my old Saab board, the snow tires of choice were Gislaved, Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi, or Bridgestone Blizzaks.

 

That's cool . I live a lil north from you in ohio and snow is about the same.
Except for the last couple of years ...

 

http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp

Helpful when calculating wheel diameter if you're looking to save money on winer rims and tires.

Largest stock size listed for an 06 LT was 16". Just pull your info off the tire and enter it into the fields to get the diameter of your 17s.

-Sean

 

I'll cast a vote for the Blizzaks.The one year the ex and I had them on our Mercedes 560 SEL(I miss that car-sigh-but not the fuel bill!)it transformed the car in winter driving from a sliding beast to a (mostly) controllable one.Speaking as a former Audi A6 owner,if Chevy ever made an all wheel drive HHR that car would be great fun and almost unstoppable in snowy weather.Add the Blizzaks and you'd say"What snow?"

 

The one recurring issue I've heard regarding the Blizzaks is that they can wander on dry roads, which is a concern. It's not like it used to be where I grew up, where they'd let the snow get hardpacked, turn to ice, then sand. Where I am the roads are salted and kept clear, so the apparantly wandering performance of the Blizzaks might be a problem.

A buddy of mine has a done-up 95 Thunderbird and he swears by the X-Ice. He's got 3.73s and a high stall lockup torque convertor, and drives like an idiot.

-Sean

 

If you install Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S tires you will be fine in the snow. The tire is also great on wet and dry pavement. I trust my life on these tires! Here is the link at TireRack that talks about the tire:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....nSpeedRating=S

I love my HHR!