I just bought my Cobalt last week and i am wondering if i can go down to a 16 inch wheel for winter... I've been looking for steel wheels, but no luck. Do they make steel wheels that will clear the brakes? I've got a SS/SC... Thanks

 

16 inch rims will fit. i could not find steel wheels either last winter so i bought some aluminum alloy asa rims in a 16 inch size with a 5x110 bolt pattern and use them for snow tires. they will eventually have a set of DR's to mount on them for summer time as well.

 

Thanks, i guess my 205/55/16 rubber (from my old Z24) will fit...

 

they will fit, but you should be using 205/60/R16 to maintain the overall diameter of the wheel,

with your 205/55/R16 your about 1.7" to small

welcome to the site.

keep an eye out on the canadian mid east forum, we have all kinds of meets throught the summer

 

With a 205/60/16 tire, should the rims be 16x6 or 16x7? What about offset on 16 inch rims for anyone that got them? Any advice on cheapest place to find them?

I thought I read that some people had some steel wheels. Where did you guys find them?

 

Try a SAAB dealer for steel wheels. I think I heard some people finding some for a good deal there.

I just ended up buying some cheap 17" wheels and some nice winter rims. Sorry, don't remember the tire size off hand, they are in storage atm.

 

I am potentially storing my SS S/C for the winter so I could be pursuaded into selling my 16" steelies with 205/60/16 winters with just under 1000 kms on them.

 

for a winter tire, your better off with a thiner tire, but I beleive the OEM size 16 is 6.5"
at least mine are.

 

What do you mean the OEM is 6.5"? The OEM wheel on the SS/SC is 18x7"

I know the thinner tire would be better, I would be using a 205. My question is Is a rim that is 7" wide too wide for that tire? Should I be looking for a wheel that is 16x6 or 16x6.5 to mount a 205 tire on?

Most 16" rims I have seen on tirerack.com are 7" wide.

 

i think ur safe regardless the width of the rim. For the 205/60/16 the range for rim width is 5.5 - 7.5 in.

 

exactly it all depends on the tire, as P7x most 205/60/R16 tires are good throught out that range.

what I ment about OEM, is that my steelies are hub-centric (bore and offset are identical to OEM) meaning that they are not universal fit rims.

 

Thanks for all the info on the size and where to get steel wheels... This is a very easy way to get reliable information from people who actually own the car... rather then go by some garage and have to go back ten times...

 

Thank for the info and the welcome!

 

Winter? We aren't even done with Summer yet?

I'm just storing my SS again this winter..

 

I just picked up a set of HHR LT1 alloy wheels - 215-55-16 tires from a guy on HHRclub.org for $300 shipped. They have 200 miles on them and are in great condition. The overall diameter difference is 0.30" which will result in a 0.7 MPH difference. The HHR's have the same bolt pattern and I would recommend anyone to check out the parts trading post on the website. There are a lot of people trying to get rid of their stock wheels and tires. These look a little better and will last longer than steelies.

 

my 16" winters

 

What size are those?