I think that’s two records set this year now – the latest I’ve ever swapped to my summer wheels and tires, and the latest I’ve ever swapped to my winter wheels and tires.

Recently we have had a bit of snow but the roads were still clear and mostly dry, so I opted to keep the Turbomacs on the car for a little while longer. Yesterday however, I awoke to enough snow outside that I decided it was time to finally get the car’s snow shoes on.

That meant it was time to bring the Tarmacs – also known as the Wintermacs – out of hiding.

Along with swapping the wheels, I also swapped lug nuts. My old set of Mutekis are back on, and the Stance:Nation lug nuts are put away until spring. I first got these Mutekis for the Volvo Rs the Focus had a few years ago; they do show a few marks now from the countless times they have been removed and reinstalled, but overall they still look great.

Some may be wondering why I bothered when my summer tires are in fact all-seasons (Continental DWS), and it’s because I personally will never run anything less than proper winter tires when the weather calls for it. I use all-seasons as my summers so I don’t have to worry about the freak snowstorms we can experience, and for times like the last few weeks when the roads remain clear but the temperatures are too low for summer-only tires. They let me run my summer wheels a little longer and offer more peace of mind.

I didn’t bother with any photos during the swap, but afterwards decided to take some. It was only a few months ago that the Focus was last seen on the Tarmacs, but it was a decent night temperature-wise so I decided to take advantage of it. I didn’t even need a coat.

Also, yes I am well aware that my summer and winter wheels are nearly identical, as a couple of friends have pointed out to me (you know who you are! Haha) but that was kind of the point. With how long our cars typically spend rolling on winter wheels and tires, why not have something nice? It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of white wheels so I quite like being able to have some on the car all year.

As with last season, I don’t intend to fiddle with the car’s ride height so this is probably how it’ll sit all winter. It didn’t pose any problems last time so I’ll see if I can make it to spring at this height once again. I’m hearing reports that it’ll be a mild winter so it shouldn’t be too hard to do so.

I miss the weekly meets and the shows, but there is one thing in particular I really enjoy about the winter months – the planning and stockpiling of parts, in preparation for another season. What to do for 2016?

-Bill