winter tires

[mx3matt]

so i'm looking for a new set of winters and am undecided on what my best sizing option is.

i've narrowed it down to 2 sizes. 185/55r15's or 175/55r15's

i know that a narrower tire is better for carving thru snow but can i go too thin?

[Josh]

not really, I would go with the 175's if you get a lot of snow.

[mx3matt]

i'm not too sure how are winters in toronto are gonna be this year, ended up going with 185/60r15's

[Nd4SpdSe]

Having snow tires in gereral will make a huge difference, the size difference you won't regret. Snow or shine, wet or dry, you'll benefit from them up to 7*C, and save wear on your summer tires.

[Evo_Spec]

Having snow tires in gereral will make a huge difference, the size difference you won't regret. Snow or shine, wet or dry, you'll benefit from them up to 7*C, and save wear on your summer tires.

+1

[Sleeper6]

I run some super skinny 195/65/15s on mine and they do pretty well, but they do scrub a bit on tight turns with the H&Rs though!

[Daninski]

Nexens from Walmart. Big seller over on the Subie site, good reviews. They were on special not sure if they still are.

[Evo_Spec]

I run some super skinny 195/65/15s on mine and they do pretty well, but they do scrub a bit on tight turns with the H&Rs though!

that's weird cause i've ran 205/60/R15 winters before on my H&R's with no problems

[mx3matt]

its the 65 series sidewall thats causing the rub.

195's arent all that skinny, i was on the edge about the 175's versus the 185's but i wanted to keep a slight bit of contact patch lol

[Evo_Spec]

its the 65 series sidewall thats causing the rub.

195's arent all that skinny, i was on the edge about the 175's versus the 185's but i wanted to keep a slight bit of contact patch lol

That's only like a 4mm height difference while the 205 is 10mm wider, you'd think it'd have more of a rubbing issue with the 205's than the 195's

[RobMinhas]

I had 175/55r15s last winter, then 195/55r15s after and I prefered the 195s. Now I've got 205/50r15s and I feel like it's the best of the three I've tried, stopping seems easier and I've yet to have issues going up driveways and other sharp hills like I did with the 175s.

[Polonius]

It really depends on whether you want to focus traction for ice or deeper snow. Skinny tires will float less on deeper snow, at the cost of ice traction. Wider tires will have the larger contact patch on ice, which is obviously a good thing.

WRC cars run 135 or 145 widths, at least from Pirelli... http://www.fourstarmotorsports.com/Prod ... fault.aspx

[Josh]

^^ exactly ^^

My RX8 would not go anywhere with the OE 225/45/18's but with my 275/40/18's it mobbed and had traction for days. Here in WA we have a tenancy to have more ice than snow. To be honest my MX's have always been incredible in Ice and Snow. I usually just use a all season and never have an issue. I did purchase Blizzaks one year until they were stolen off my car were incredible. was like driving on dry pavement in the snow.

[Polonius]

Blizzaks were the first of the "scientific" consumer studless, and I've heard they're great. I use the Yokohama iG20, and they're the same. Zipping around doing 4 wheel drifts with no ebrake = feeling like a pro. Worth the money!

In town, I find that there's a few big snow days that are deep enough to make the ice tires have trouble, but very few. If the wheels are still on the ground, she'll pull through. But there's always ice at intersections, so I go with the ice strategy.

[Nd4SpdSe]

I hate tire shopping, i'm really picky when it comes to it. For winter tires, I look at what I learned from experience with my first sets of winter tires, and what I've even learned in the off-road tire world:

- Square side tread, especially in RWD, helps to keep her pointed straight, but in FWD, it make it harder to ebrake slide sideways.
- Deep and spaced out blocky treads. Great for deep snow traction and eliminates the chances of hydroplanning on water or especially slush. Don't care for fancy water-evacuation thread designs
- Siphoning grooves, many of them. Essential for ice traction.
- Compound isn't as much of an issue, but some have special compounds for the first ~50% of the tire; microbubbles, walnut shells, volcanic ash, etc, to help with ice traction.
- Tire noise: irrelevant

I'm running Yokohama Geolandar I/T's on the truck, i've even off-roaded/mudded with them on the rare occasion, they've been great to me and highly recommend them. Typically run them around 40psi, but I drop to 20-25 for those really, really, really bad days