TireRack.com already shows 2017 Fusion Sport as one of the choices. It looks like you can go down all the way to 16" wheels for winter, if you wanted to.

 

That sounds great. I happen to have a set of 16s with studded Hankook I-Pikes but the od is 1.27" larger than sport stock tires. I'll have to try em out. They don't look like they're gonna fit on the front just because of the big brakes.
Discount Direct told me I could use 16s if it was a platinum but had no data on the Sport

 

Do you have the all season or the summer tires? I ask because in the 5+ years I've had a Ford AWD car with all season tires on it I've had zero need/interest in winter tires. Fords traction control system coupled with AWD and all season tires let's me drive in the crappy Michigan weather as if it were dry (for the most part - driving on icy roads it's a different story and no tires, traction control or AWD system will make that perfect).

 

While I agree you can get by with all seasons most of the time I think this article sums up nicely the reasoning for running two different sets of tires. I was shocked the first year I had winter tires and the difference they made. I always run performance Summers/Winters and dread the in between.

Rubber Matters: Tires Test - Automobile Magazine

I also use tire rack, but I am concerned if the 16" will actually fit.

I really wish that they had the same lug pattern as my 2010, cause then I would already have a set for winter. But I will be buying some after the car comes in before winter hits.

I will be very surprised if we can get anything less then an 18 with these brakes.

 

Unfortunately, AWD does nothing to help you stop. I have all season tires on my cars, but still use dedicated winter tires during west Michigan winters. The difference is very noticeable, in my experience.

 

I also use tire rack, but I am concerned if the 16" will actually fit.

I really wish that they had the same lug pattern as my 2010, cause then I would already have a set for winter. But I will be buying some after the car comes in before winter hits.

 

I also use tire rack, but I am concerned if the 16" will actually fit.

They test fit all wheels and guarantee fitment. Granted, maybe not all 16" rims fit, but the ones they list for Sport do.

 

cvap I have a set of tire rack rims and snows from my 2016 titanium that I plant to put on my 17 Sport. I checked with Tirerack to confirm they would fit and they will. The only thing they mentioned is the TPM sensors are different for 17 because they transmit individual pressure values for each tire.

 

Awesome, I'm gonna try the 16s tomorrow morning. I notice Tire Rack doesn't have Nokians. Does anyone have a preference on Tire Racks choices for studdable?

 

Its after tomorrow morning... we want updates!!!

 

Nokian is great. I ended up getting rims for wife's suv from tirerack, but got the nokian tires from a local tire shop.

From what tirerack sell, as far as studdable winter tires go, i've had good experience with general altimax arctic, but i run them unstudded.

 

Yeah, looking at those brake's on the sport those front rotors looks like a 16 inch rim Haha. I would see 18's being a tight fit but you never know until you try!

 

Very curious to hear if 16s actually fit. I see tire rack sells steel rims in 17s and i'm contemplating going with those w/winter tires. I'm cheap and don't want to spend a ton of money on winter rims and also think black steel rims on my Magnetic sport will actually look cool.

 

Just FYI, tire rack has a set of 17s that are cheaper than their steels. MSW Type 25. They look pretty solid, too. $69 vs. $72 for the steels.

 

What is the benefit of 16" wheels vs the 19ers?

Ken

 

Cost. Both for the tires and the wheels. You also want a taller narrower tire for better snow traction.

 

Thanks for the 16" info!

Ken

 

245/45/19 sounds like a bad idea. you will be throwing off your traction/abs systems, not to mention you are very likely to have rubbing issues.

 

I don't know how ABS and Traction systems work but have always used larger tires for winter. My last four cars had both, and all had tires at least 1" larger OD for snow.
Of course if they hit I wouldn't use them.
The Fusion sure would look good with fully stuffed wheel wells.

 

Hmm...in for future info on what the smallest size wheels we can use on the sports whenever it is confirmed.

 

The reality for diameter or that kind of thing doesn't really matter.

It does matter on some cars. I suppose Fusion is not one of them.

 

only the speedo cares about that afaik.

 

Pretty sure I saw a review somewhere that said the front and rear brakes were 2" larger than other models of Fusion. If that's correct then the fronts are close to 14" (which looks about right from photos I've seen) which limits wheel size to 19", or some 18" wheels. I really hate 19" wheels just because of the price of tires.

 

TireRack reconfirmed to me that all the 16" rims that they list for 2017 Fusion Sport are "guaranteed to fit." Hmm...

Pretty sure I saw a review somewhere that said the front and rear brakes were 2" larger than other models of Fusion.

Yes, I did read it on one website as well. Nothing official from Ford though.

 

Can't someone who owns a new sport go out and measure from center of rotor to outside of caliper? multiply that by two and that is where the minimum inner diameter of our wheels need to be. I am not too certain the 16" will fit, but it wouldn't surprise me if we could get in 17s, at least 18s.

 

Can't someone who owns a new sport go out and measure from center of rotor to outside of caliper?

After a quick trip to the garage with a flashlight and a tape measure, I have to dash some hopes -- and Tire Rack's "guarantee." I measure wheel center to the outer part of the front caliper at 8.5 inches. There's about a half-inch clearance between the caliper and the factory wheel. You might squeeze some 18-inch wheels in there, but certainly not a 16- or 17-inch. The Sport's front brakes are obviously much bigger than any other Fusion.

 

I'm getting mine sometime this week, so I will try to do this. ^^^

 

Well this was the conversation I just had with a rep from tirerack:

Jared at 8:22, Sep 7:
Hi, how can I help you today?
Jared at 8:23, Sep 7:
How may we assist you?
Dave at 8:24, Sep 7:
Hi. I am looking at a winter set of rims and tires for a 2017 Ford Fusion Sport. On your website, you list all the way down to a 16" wheel but based off of measurements on the front brake and caliper, most of those will not fit. From the center of the rotor, it measures 8.5" to the outside of the caliper, which is at a minimum 17" inner diameter for the wheel. Has it actually been tested at all on the car?
Jared at 8:25, Sep 7:
Yes, we test everything
Jared at 8:25, Sep 7:
and we have a 100% guarantee that what we show fits the stock Fusion
Dave at 8:25, Sep 7:
and what if it doesn't actually fit? what does that guarantee do?
Jared at 8:26, Sep 7:
You would receive a full refund
Jared at 8:26, Sep 7:
and we would have UPS pick them up
Dave at 8:27, Sep 7:
OK, but being that I am in Wisconsin, and winter can start flying pretty quickly, how long of a turnaround would it be to get new wheels that do fit back out to me?
Jared at 8:28, Sep 7:
2-3 business days on average
Jared at 8:28, Sep 7:
not long at all
Dave at 8:29, Sep 7:
is that complete turnaround? Or is that for the tires to go one way, and then have another 2-3 days for the new set to arrive?
Jared at 8:30, Sep 7:
It takes approximately 2 business days to get them back and you can re-order instantly or wait until you get the money back and order after that
Jared at 8:31, Sep 7:
so it is your option
Jared at 8:31, Sep 7:
if you select the latter you add 2 business days to the time
Dave at 8:32, Sep 7:
well to be fair, we are talking over $1,000 dollars per set, I don't really have $2K sitting around for wheels if they don't fit.
Jared at 8:32, Sep 7:
No problem, you can select the former option
Jared at 8:32, Sep 7:
in which case it would take closer to 4-5 business days
Dave at 8:34, Sep 7:
ok. and when you say you test all of them, do you test on all 4 or do you just test the rear tires or anything? cause if you look up a picture of the 2017 Ford Fusion Sport, the front brakes take up most of the space inside the factory 19" wheel
Jared at 8:34, Sep 7:
We have in house engineers that physically measure the vehicle using special equipment they built to provide them with a digital diagram
Jared at 8:34, Sep 7:
From there they can determine what fits and what doesn't, they list everything that fits.
Dave at 8:35, Sep 7:
OK, thank you

I put a lot of extra questions that are not needed, basically trying to walk them into a corner and see if I could get any answers that didn't coincide with previous answers or answers from others. They are still adamant that a 16" will work. I don't get it. You would think their "in house engineers" would be able to figure that out.

I apologize for the formatting, just copied and pasted from the chat window.

 

Well this was the conversation I just had with a rep from tirerack:

Jared at 8:25, Sep 7:
Yes, we test everything
Jared at 8:25, Sep 7:
and we have a 100% guarantee that what we show fits the stock Fusion

I can't help but notice a very vital word is missing from that statement.

So, even though nobody else in the automotive parts development/testing/tuning/reviewing business can get their hands on one, or even know that it exists, these clowns got a Fusion SPORT up on their lift to test fit tires and rims? Riiiiight....

 

just got back from Tires Plus who is owned by the same company as Tire Rack. The guy said mine is probably the 1% that Tire Rack gets wrong. He said even 18s would be snug.

 

Well balls...that might make for some spendy snow tires!

 

Yeah, cahnged what I was looking at from about $1050 to $1600... what tire rack had said before anyone started the discussion was part of the reason i wanted the fusion sport was winter wheels and tires weren't going to be as expensive as some of the other cars I was looking at.

 

The Mustangs with 14" brakes and 19" wheels will fit "some" 18" wheels, so there may be some 18" options out there, but no idea how to find them. The Mustang is a little worse due to the size of the Brembo caliper.

 

Does anyone know the part number for fuspo front rotor and caliper? these part numbers should be different when compared to non sport fusion. Yet, Rockauto thinks they are the same.

I,m wondering if Ford provided misleading information to the market and all retailers just went with it.

I'm pretty sure TireRack does not physically test all rims on all cars. It's cheaper and quicker for them to build the catalog based on some mfg provided specs and then issue refunds and eat shipping costs in that 1% of cases when their calculations are wrong.

 

I know they don't physically test them. It is exactly like you said, they will take some specifications from the manufacturer, and run with it. Guaranteed when it came to the brakes someone just said "same as other fusions" and caused this whole issue.

 

Guaranteed when it came to the brakes someone just said "same as other fusions" and caused this whole issue.

This is another area where Ford's marketing of Fusion Sport isn't as good as it could be. Most other car mfgs will brag about larger/beefier brakes of their performance versions, not just about more powerful engines. Yet, information about FuSpo bigger brakes is nowhere to be found on Ford's website, unless I missed it.

 

Apparently neither Rockauto nor Tire Rack have ever actually seen this car. You can see from ten feet away that it would be very tight to fit even a 1-inch smaller wheel. The space between the caliper and the inside of the wheel is no more than a half inch.