I am in the market for some snow tires. I couldn't find any info on the threshold of sizes that will not throw off the TC. From what I've read, as long as the height is within 3% it will be fine. This means 25.24-26.8" for the rear and 24.25-25.75" for the front. Is anyone running tires within this range?

 

Not sure. I just put Conti Extreme Contact DWS on my XFire for the winter. I went with 235/40/18 on the front and 285/35/19 on the rear. Those are a little taller and wider than stock. Drove in the snow for the first time yesterday and was impressed with these tires.

 

Cool, thanks. That response was just what I was looking for. The stock tires give a 3.6% revs/mile difference between the front and rear, your setup is a 5.4% rev/mile difference.

 

i am running general altimax arctic snow tires with cheap voxx rims. 16" in rear and 17" in front

 

225/40-18 up front and 255/35-19 out back with blizzak LM-25s, ran them last year for first time and have been impressed ever since.

 

I am similar but I ran 265/35-19s in the rear with 225/40s in the front and found them to be very good.

Especially since the 265s were on clearance on tire rack.

 

The owners manual recommends that you get a second set of front rims, and run the front size tires on the back wheels with snow tires.

Would be cheaper than buying a set of 19" rear tires in the stock size, that's for sure.
Not to mention better traction in snow with the thinner rear tires.

BC.

 

I found a set of 4 mercedes wheels with tires (225/55/17) for cheap. I think I'm going to start off just switching the rears until summer and getting a nice set of tires on the 17's if I like the ride better with them.

 

I picked up the MB wheels and just put them on the rear... the taller tire in the rear works, and I can actually blow the tires off without upsetting the traction control now. I am definately happier with the smaller wheels and plan on switching out the fronts as well (that's why I didn't clean them). I might make up some adjustable control arms to fix my rear alignment though, I didnt realize how much the tires rub.

 

Is it just me, or do the rears sit inside the wheel wells pretty far?

 

They definately do, It looks pretty funny in person lol. The wheels aren't as wide as the stockers so they need spacers to look right. I really like the design of the wheels, and the fact that I can get tires for $70 a piece. I figured a 30mm spacer would bring it out to where the stock wheels were, and I'm debating if I want to run them. The car drives fine though, I actually like it better than stock. Plus there is a little more clearance to the inner wheel well than the stock wheels.

 

I can appreciate the functionality and cost savings, I think it looks comical to have a wheel like this on the XF since the OEM are so large....

To each his own, I am sure some thought my last 20's were comical looking too