Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)
  • A sightly different winter tyres question
  • wingnuts
    Full Member

    Rather than swopping tyres over I’m looking at getting another set of wheels to fit them to.

    I was just wondering if it would be better to get some smaller wheels and deeper profile tyres. Currently got 18 inch rims with 45 profile rubber. For winter would going down to 16″ have any advantage other than cost?

    prawny
    Full Member

    When you’re drifting around tesco carpark in the snow like a nob you’ll be less likely to knacker your good wheels with the extra rubber when you hit a weird little kerb island sideways. So i’ve heard 😳

    cp
    Full Member

    depends on what the manufacture recommends for the car. If you go outside those recommendation, you need to inform insurance co.

    there’s a label on the drivers door frame on mine which shows all the ‘approved’ wheel sizes.

    Generally, it’s better to go a little narrower and deeper profile for winter/snow. plenty of website with tools to get to the same overall rolling circumference.

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    carlos
    Free Member

    Smaller steel rims with winter tyres for the win. Make sure the 16″ rims will fit over the brake calliper’s Ok though. Smallest I could get would’ve been 17″‘s to fit over the brake calliper and disc.

    JonEdwards
    Free Member

    For winter would going down to 16″ have any advantage other than cost?

    Well it’ll be a damn sight more comfortable based on my experience of the differences between 17″ & 18″… Don’t look as nice though!

    When you’re drifting around tesco carpark in the snow like a nob

    Park’n’Slide round my way! 😀 😳

    beicmynydd
    Free Member

    Take a look at some world rally footage from the Swedish rally , look at the tyres tall and thin.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Some tyre sizes are much cheaper than others. My Prius has an unusual size, I bought winters in that size at extra expense. Now I am bound to get wheels in that size to so I will never be able to get the much cheaper almost identical tyre size.

    michaelbowden
    Full Member

    Check the smaller wheel will fit over your brakes. My winter wheels are a size smaller.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Narrowness works well for snow, mostly. Other than that I’d just buy purely on practicality and cost/availability (*). 18s are bloody silly regardless of whether you’re putting winter or summer tyres on!

    And yep, what prawny said, it’s a tragic waste to be out driving in the snow and not do at least a little bit of driving like a fanny in a car park. Er, I mean “Familiarising yourself with the vehicle and conditions”.

    BearBack
    Free Member

    Yep, smaller rims better.
    Cheaper tyres, better comfort and you can deflate the further As a last gasp if you get properly stuck
    Plenty of tyre calculators so you can compare sizes.
    You can likely assume that whatever the smallest wheel was that came on your car (lowest spec model) will fit.. Unless you’re running an m3, t5, s4 or whatever other pimped model variant with big brakes then it probably won’t.

    petrieboy
    Full Member

    16″ factory alloys with winter Goodyear ultragrips and optional upgrade 18″ alloys with normal tires. Local garage charge £20 a corner to swap tyres so additional expense of new rims is a no brained.

    piesoup
    Free Member

    Yip, smaller taller steelies for the win!
    My Mondeo has 235 40 ZR18 for summer and 205 55 R16 for winter.
    The poverty spec Mondoe comes with 16 inch steelies but it has the same brakes. So check what the poverty / rep spec version of your car uses, could be smaller steelies.

    craigxxl
    Free Member

    Smaller wheel diameter winter tyres are much cheaper as are the wheels but make sure you have the clearance for the brakes and the offset of the wheel is the same.
    A higher profile tyre gives a bit cushion for the potholes that tend to get worse over winter. I have 18″ winters on my spare wheels as I picked up new Michelin Alpin on refurbed wheels for £250 off eBay during the summer a few years ago. I most upset when one was knackered by a pothole and cost £250 for a replacement. When these have worn out they will be replaced with smaller wheels.

    andyl
    Free Member

    As other have said check your door pillar and car hand book for the recommended winter tyre size. You really need to comply with this to make sure your insurance don’t have a chance of getting out of a claim.

    And yes, make sure they fit over your brakes. If no luck there than ask the dealer, they may be of some help.

    If you have a choice of sizes then check the sizes on an online calculator and look at the tyre prices.

    Make sure the wheels are correct for your car – stud pattern, off-set etc.

    rickt
    Free Member

    As above – Run a smaller rim..

    I run 225/55/16’s as winters and 195/65/15’s. (Ultragrip and Alpins)

    neilco
    Free Member

    I live in Denmark where swapping to winter tyres/wheels is commonplace. On my Mazda 6 wagon I run 225s on 17″ rims in summer and 205s on 16″ rims in winter. No prblem with brake clearance. The winter tyres are higher profile than the summers, yet still have a slightly lower overall diameter. This over-estimates my speed and distance travelled by about 5%. I do about 10k km per year on winters, so not that significant, but worth considering.

    I bought my tyres / wheels online from a German shop and probably paid about £600, including shipping. Worth it, to be honest, with snow on-off for four months of the year.

    It’s probably worth checking the speed and load rating of any tyres too. I got the same as my summer tyres. Frequently drive at 100 mph or more (not in snow, of course) here and in Germany (wife’s parents house) so it’s good peace of mind.

    Gotta say, if you expect snow, winter tyres are fantastic. My car happily stops, starts and drive through 6″ of snow with no problem and brakes well on snow / ice with little ABS action.

    Finally, it’s expensive, but I save on wear on my summer tyres which happily live in my shed over winter. Actually plan to swap over tomorrow as temps are set to move to single digits soon.

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