Snow tire question...

My 2010 LGT has 18” wheels. I bought a set of 17” steelies last year for snow tire (it never snowed) with Subaru sensors already on them. Will the car recognize two sets of tires or will I have to take it to the dealership every time I want to swap them out? Also looking for tire recommendations so as not to upset the difference in wheel size? Thanks all

 

 

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Your car will recognize a cloned set of sensors. I don't know if it will mess with it at all if you park beside the other set in the garage or only during that time. I have had blizzaks ws-80's and I'm now running continental winter contacts. The blizzaks may be marginally better on the snow/ice but, not that much to warrant how much better the continentals feel on wet/dry pavement. So far I prefer the continentals for that reason. No problems with traction or stability with them in all conditions. The blizzaks are a little squishy on dry/wet pavement.

I have a dedicated set of snow tires mounted on Imprezza wheels with OEM Subaru TPMS.

My 2013 requires that you "plug in" a TPMS computer into the OBDII port and manually flash/reset/relearn each wheel.

 

Twice a year I go to my local Mavis and for $25 they do the wheel swap and reset the car's TPMS.

 

I always have to remind them that the car will NOT self-reset. They MUST manually plug in and reset the TPMS.

You will need to have the sensor reset when you swap.

I swap the summer/winter codes myself with the ATEQ QuickSet TPMS tool. Had to set it up with a laptop when I first got it five years ago (it will pull the summer codes from the car, then you enter the new winter sensor codes into it on the laptop). Since then when swapping summer/winter wheels I just plug it in the obd2 port hit the summer or winter button on it then unplug it, takes 30 seconds.

 

ATEQ QuickSet TPMS Reset Tool https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008SCWXN4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Qv9sAbC8W3WCJ

I swap the summer/winter codes myself with the ATEQ QuickSet TPMS tool. Had to set it up with a laptop when I first got it five years ago (it will pull the summer codes from the car, then you enter the new winter sensor codes into it on the laptop). Since then when swapping summer/winter wheels I just plug it in the obd2 port hit the summer or winter button on it then unplug it, takes 30 seconds.

 

ATEQ QuickSet TPMS Reset Tool https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008SCWXN4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Qv9sAbC8W3WCJ

 

I do the same with the ATEQ Quickset.

Bit of a side question, would this be doable via cheapo WiFi/Bluetooth OBD2 scanner and an app (or laptop I suppose). E.g. I can reset codes via Torquelite app on my phone (e.g. oxygen sensory error), note sure if the app can do TPMS. My car's from the first batch of 5th gen's so I don't have TPMS to test myself.

Bit of a side question, would this be doable via cheapo WiFi/Bluetooth OBD2 scanner and an app (or laptop I suppose). E.g. I can reset codes via Torquelite app on my phone (e.g. oxygen sensory error), note sure if the app can do TPMS. My car's from the first batch of 5th gen's so I don't have TPMS to test myself.

 

I highly doubt it. I am not aware of anyone reverse engineering the TPMS data. The TPMS is not part of the standard OBDII (free) parameters that are mapped to industry standard locations. The manufacturer proprietary map locations and protocols can be quite expensive to acquire, for instance GM chargers $50K/year for a subscription for the ECM's unlimited access for development.

Ahhh yeah, that makes sense.