Hey all...

I'm looking to get a winter tire setup for a GTS that I just picked up. The vehicle will be a work vehicle but will encounter frequent trips to ski country and various trips across country. In essence, during the winter months the vehicle will see quite a bit of snow and also a bunch of route 80 cross-country ventures.

I do not have the budget to do a rim swap to a smaller size, and just realized that the Pirelli Scorpions are back in stock in the US. The model that I have located does not appear to be 'N' rated, will this be an issue? cause problems?

Any other options other than rim downsizing?

 

According to this thread, you can put 18" on your GTS if you don't have PCCB:

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...ler-tires.html

Once you go with 255-55-18, you will not have problems in the future finding tires as this is an extremely popular size tire! Something like this is just a tad over your budget this time but will save you considerably in the long run:

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Wheel...All&sort=Brand

not N rated:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

N rated:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

And if you can live with the 18" during the rest of the year, I am sure you can sell the 21" wheels for nice chunk of change. Sorry, I know you ask for another option other than downsizing so I didn't answer your question, did I

 

hard to believe a set of 18's with snows would be much more than 21" snows?

 

Why is that hard to believe? Unless you are going very low-end 18's, I can't see how the prices would be even comparable.

A set of 4 21" Pirelli Scorpions = $1300. you're saying getting a quality 18" wheelset and a quality 18" snow tire will be cheaper than this? Don't think so.

So... will running the Non-N rated pirellis cause any issues?

 

there are no other options except for downsizing, pirelli is the only one.
I've heard rumors of dealers making a fuss over non N rated tires, but no hard facts. since its the only winter tire available I can't see how a dealer could make a fuss in this case.

you might spend a month or so watching ebay and places trying to find someone that wants to sell their stock cayenne wheels(18, 19 or 20), maybe you can find a great deal. in fact I just looked, 19s are about 1 grand. but price in the TPMS, cost 500 or something and you can't run without it. well, you can, your car will just be beeping and stuff all the time.

 

I have the N-rated 21" Scorpions for winter use - good winter tire. You might try Damon @ TireRack and see what he can find for you.

 

The Rial Oslo wheel I mentioned above is made in Germany and at only $174 a piece, Pirelli Ice & Snow 255-55-18 N1 Porsche rated is only $184 a piece. I guess the deal breaker is the TPS, not sure if you can reuse the originals.

 

There are tons of 18" cayenne wheels on ebay for few hundred dollars a set. Just gotta watch out for the replicas. The 18" doesn't worth much, most people want to upgrade to 20" or 21" for looks. I can't blame them, the 20" and 21" do look much better. But if I put a lot of miles on my Cayenne or if it is my only way to get up the mountains, no doubt I would put 18" on mine.

 

I wasn't recommending getting something smaller than 21's, just offering the downsizing options on a budget.
I would never downsize unless I wanted to go fully off-road, like rocks and gullies and such.
I use the 21" pirelli scorpions for winter, which is an 8 month season where I live and they are fantastic.
I've yet to hear or read any reasonable argument for a smaller wheel working better on the cayenne for ice/snow/winter driving.

 

Thank you for the feedback. Do you have the N rate or non-N rated version of the Scorpions. I have been unable to find the N rated version.

 

mine are not N rated.

I didn't even know there was an N rated version around.

 

I ran 20" Scorpions on my X5 4.6is and my CTTS for years and never once came close to getting stuck. Unless you are doing a lot of deep snow driving, the 21's will be fine. The esthetic apperance of going to 18's is not worth inmo either. Highway driving, going up to Vermont for skiing, minor off roading to have some fun etc, both cars ran like champs on 20's. Don't sacrifice the performance and looks for 18's when it is not necessary unless again, if you are going to encounter serious deep snow (18++) often.

 

21" Scorpions will be fine.

I ran Scorpion runflats last winter on my X5M - no issues in a couple good snow storms. (footnote - it's not a Jeep, but...)

Not sure they come in an N:

Pirelli Spec Page

 

20" blizzaks work for me

 

How about that! And you do realize the thread is > 1 year old right?