I have 18" stock on my Mitsubishi Eclipse GT-P and 16" snows. It sits a bit low, but it's not going to affect anything. You speedo will be off by a few kph. If you're going from 18 to 17 and chose the correct sidewall, your speedo will be unaffected as you've not changed the circumference.I have 18's on my CRV right now. Was wondering if it's ok to get 17 inch rims and 17 inch snow tires. Anything to consider if I size down for the winter. Trying to save some cash if I can. thanks
235/65/17 is the correct downsize.
You can get away with using wheels with a larger center bore. Offset has little effect.As GreyGhost touched on, there's more than just the rim and tire size. The centre bore and offset also need to match your vehicle. And the bolt pattern, of course
A lot of people just blindly buying used snow tires off Kijiji find out the hard way that the "same size" tires don't even fit their car, much less smaller ones.
As for actually going smaller when you sort out the correct rim, narrower is actually better for snow tires, so yes, going down a size if possible will certainly help.
BingoLug nuts provide clamping force via the studs. The inner surface of the wheel clamped to the brake rotor/drum, clamped to the wheel hub, bears load. The centre bore does not bear load, it is only for locating the wheel
They are a thing because people would have to be very careful when installing the rim ensure it's centered. Those studs support the car through vertical shearing force, which is way beyond the car weight. Those little $2 plastic rings can't support the whole car now can they?Do some reading on the topic.
The only exception are rims specifically designed for stud centric loads. And even then the studs may not handle the loads unless the car was designed for stud centric vs bore centric. Bigger studs and appropriate nuts are required.
Ask yourself why bore size adapters for aftermarket rims are a thing.