I was debating if i should buy 4 decent/good ALL-season tires to replace my half/ (1/3) worn Potenzas or to get some steel wheels and put nice winter rubber on them for my snowboard trips.
If i go with steel wheels, i'm sure i don't need 17", but what bolt pattern am i looking at??? Anything else to look for befor ei buy stel wheels - size, offset? This is for '03 Maxima SE.

Thanks in advance!

 

Take a look at the Tire Rack website. They sell steel wheel/snow tire setups mounted and balanced. IMO, snows are the only way to go in the winter.

 

Just go buy an older 4wd truck, put on some good tires and put the miles on that and not your car. Whenever it rains/snow my car goes away and the old bronco comes out.

 

depends on application, but if you plan to keep your exisitng wheels and not upgrade-go all season...if you want winter/summer rims/tires, then go snow tires on stock rims and whatever you get for summer rims-get summer tires

 

I bought 4 16" nissan OEM wheels + 4 very good snow tires (semperit) for about $600... now I don't have to worry about the tire monkeys scratching my 17" stock wheels, I just swap summer for winter.

Much better solution IMO.

 

What bolt pattern am i looking at?

 

If I were you, I would just consult a tire shop or Tire Rack. They'll handle choosing things and (hopefully) set you up with an appropriate set of wheels and tires so you don't have to worry about bolt pattern yourself. It's 5x114.3 (aka 5x4.5") by the way.

Go with 16" snow tires on cheap steel wheels. All season tires are much slipperier than winter tires on snow or ice and you will be much safer with the latter. From what I've read, don't get certain tires constructed with microbubbles/cells or something like that because they wear too fast. I would try and get something a bit more durable because it sounds like you have to drive them a fair distance before hitting any snow.

Then replace the Potenzas with new all season tires, or summer tires if you want and it stays over 10 C year round there - better cornering, worse wear sometimes. But that's another topic all together...

 

Anything is better than OEM Potenzas