Winter tires & rims for 2021 RAV4 LE AWD (Calgary, Canada)

I live about 350 km further north than you, I went with 17in steel rims, my reason was first I can switch from summer to winter when I want to not when the tire shop can fit me in. Also with our hard winters steels rims will take a winter beating better than alloy in my option.

My LE hybrid came with 17" alloys. I wanted steel wheels for my winter tires, but couldn't find any that were less expensive than the alloys I ended up buying. (This was mid-winter.)

In your shoes I would buy new 17" alloy wheels for summer use and have your tire shop swap your all-season tires onto the alloys and mount the new snows on your steel wheels.

I don't know why people like 18" and 19" wheels which result in a rougher ride and more costly tires. I actually went with 16" wheels for my mid-winter alloy/snow tire purchase.

i got my Rav4 Hybrid Executive (EU) MY21/XA50 which supports only 18" and 19" due to the size of the brakes and i am very disapponited by this. In summer i use 19" and it is very noisy and uncomfortable on all roads in radius of 1000km from here, i can imagine it is only good for german highways. There is no way i can use a serious M/T tires in these sizes without complete remake of the vehicle. I suggest to use smaller rim for winter and larger one for summer due to damage of the rims during parking in snow and also more rubber means better traction on uneven surfaces. For offroad steel is recommended, while for urban driving light metal rims bring better economy, i believe. Larger rims should be more economical in general.

Check out Wheel Wiz, Canadian based, so prices in CAD and no duties/tariffs. Free shipping and was fast if you pick something in stock. Best prices I could find online, stuck with stock 17” size (225/65/17) Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2 tires and converted my OEM alloys (2019 Hybrid LE) into winter duty.

Going to have to disagree with the steel wheels holding up better than alloy. Once steel wheels start to pit (and they will), the rust will become uncontrollable and look like sh*t. I have been running alloy rims in the winter for 20+ years (also in Calgary) without too much issue. In my opinion, pitted alloy looks better than rust.
For the record, I have my summers and winter tires on alloy rims, I also run snowflake tires on alloy rims all year long on my Tundra.
There is another thread on here about decent A/T tires. I have 1 season left on my winter tires and am seriously considering a good A/T (with snowflake) and ditch the whole tire switching (winters/all season) all together.
Hopefully by next winter there will be a snowflake tire that I would like to put on my RAV4.
Good luck on whatever you decide.

Tye

I would not want 18" wheels myself for snows. If you like the look or stiffer ride of bigger wheels by all means get 18" wheels but most tire experts will recommend more sidewall for a winter tire in fact many would recommend 16" winter tires/wheels with 17" summer. I like the flexibility that matching sizes provides and with all-season tires now achieving approved winter traction ratings you may find you want all-seasons eventually on this vehicle. As far as steel versus alloy I am biased towards steel wheels simply because if you hit a curb hard enough alloys will generally break whereas steel wheels can be bent back with a Crescent wrench (many times just reseat the tire bead, fill with air, and you are good to go). Steel will rust over time (especially if it sees salt and gets put away wet without washing) but so long as you take care of them they hold up well and can be easily painted if necessary.

Why the heck are you hitting curbs???? I think this conversation got off track (which happens a lot on all forums).
The OP is asking about a decent A/T tire in a 19" variety, not peoples opinion on what diameter rim is better.
I have over 100,000 km on my 19" alloy rims (winter and summer) with no complaints so far. The only 19" A/T tire I have come across so far was mentioned already, the Falklen A/T. I have not heard of the Kumho or Firestone yet.

Tye

Snow has a tendency to cover up stuff and make it harder to see. Maybe not when you are in the middle of traffic but after a snowstorm and especially if blown into drifts.
I think you must be thinking of another thread. I see 17" vs 18" and steel vs alloy.

My mistake, I was also following another thread regarding 19" A/T tires 😊

Tye