need help with tire size/swap, winter's coming and my choices are few :( Options

[xkillerx]

as we all know the european celi st is factory configured for 195/65R14 tires. i wanna get a set of 4 new winter ones. which is why i have BIG problems. practically nobody makes tires in that size in europe, much less imports them to this crap country. i managed to find only THREE winter tires in this size:

- Continental WinterContact TS800 - looking good, looking fresh, buttt... 500 euros for a set!!! ::horror::

- Semperit Wintergrip - have semperit sportgrips now... not bad at all. these are 400 euros for a set.

- Kleber Krisalp - have absolutely no idea about these. looking quite shabby . 400 euros for a set, too.


i'm still waiting for an answer from michelin, bridgestone and goodyear, but i can only imagine how much they would ask for a set of four......

what i CANT get in this factory dimension are: barum, tigar, yokohama, toyo, vredestein, amtel, bfgoodrich, falken, avon, debica, uniroyal, kumho, ..... DO NOT tell me to go get any of them. they are not imported in my size, not my choice, end of discussion.


THE ALTERNATIVE...

...a guy i know told me to drop by his shop one day so he can pop one of my rims off (i'm running factory toyota 14" 6 spoke alloys) and see if he can fit 185/70R14 or 185/65R14 tires on it. the point being, there's a huuuge choice of 185/65R14 winter tires i can choose from, very cheap. i'm worried about this affecting road handling, speedometer issues, ride height, abs faults (?!) and other unexpected unwanted problems. i dont want problems. i want a set of GOOD winter tyres but i'm low on cash. should i experiment with smaller tires or dish out 500 euros to the morons at the continental dealership and get over it.

PS i was hoping of getting 15 or 16 inch rims and summer tires when spring comes back but with these prices i dont know how will i afford that..
and NO, i'm NOT getting 2nd hand tires, dont even tell me about them.