Snow tire size?

Hey guys looking to add some snow tires to my baby would a 205-65-15 work on the factory wheels? I think turbowop has some 205-70-15 on his winter car but iirc he said there might be some issues with cars with the stock suspension and a 205-70-15 tires. Suspension is completely stock except for some kyb G2's in the front...
Thanks guys....

 

[Adorsey]

This helped me when I was purchasing snows.- click here

Im almost sure they would fit on stock wheels, but the width may be too wide, maybe someone else has experience with 205's can chime in..

We be gettin' some snow up here in MA, pumped /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[gvr4ever]

Skinny tires work best in snow. 195/60/15 stock is what I'm running now. If you go for a 205 tire, you would want 205/55/15. I've been running this size for summer tires.

 

[gramkrakr89]

+1 skinny tires

 

[DDM]

Not to argue with you guys but from personal experience skinny tires suck. They say that they are suppose to cut through snow better but when i had them on they sucked. I have a storage unit with a gate and its up hill right before the gate. I had some 195s (fwd keep in mind) and it always slided all over the place trying to get up the hill. Next year i put some 215s on in the front and i drove right up. Maybe its just that special circumstance. Both sets were blizzaks.

 

[gvr4ever]

Worn out blizzaks compared to new ones? The good top layer of winter compound doesn't actually last all that long.

From Moter Trend.

Myth: Wide tires provide better traction under all weather conditions. In fact, putting oversize snow tires on a car delivers better snow traction.
Fact: The opposite is actually true. Wide tires tend to "float" on deep snow, and the tread lugs never have a chance to "dig" through to the road surface to gain traction. Narrow tires are a better option in deep snow. The tire acts similarly to a knife cutting through butter; the blade works best when using the narrow edge to push through the butter rather than the wide flat side of the blade.

Read more: click


Also, just youtube any WRC winter race and they have really skinny tires on them.

 

[Adorsey]

Quoting DDM:
Not to argue with you guys but from personal experience skinny tires suck. They say that they are suppose to cut through snow better but when i had them on they sucked. I have a storage unit with a gate and its up hill right before the gate. I had some 195s (fwd keep in mind) and it always slided all over the place trying to get up the hill. Next year i put some 215s on in the front and i drove right up. Maybe its just that special circumstance. Both sets were blizzaks.



Makes alot of sense posting about your fwd car in an awd forum. And this had nothing to do with the PO's question about tire fittment on stock rims...

 

[SleepinGVR4]

I like to run a 195/65/15 for snow tires.

 

[DDM]

Quoting Adorsey:

Makes alot of sense posting about your fwd car in an awd forum. And this had nothing to do with the PO's question about tire fittment on stock rims...



Im just giving in my 2c why i would prefer wider tires. If you don't know much about the topic then please don't post. Im ASE certified and have ALOT of experience with this. Skinnier tires cut through the snow quicker which i do agree with but you have to ask the OP how much snow does he drive through? If it snows 2-3 times a year i would go with wider because all wider winter tires will give you better grip than skinnier tires in temperatures lower than 45 degrees if no snow is present. It is better to have if its just cold and no snow in emergency situations which is what its like where i live, and since they are going to be winter tires it is not that big of a difference in snow between 195 and 215. And to the OP. So unless you live in the mountains somewhere where they never plow the snow or if you constantly drive over it get oem fitment recommended by manufacturer.

 

[DDM]

^ and this is true about any make or model since you have a problem for some reason about me posting about a fwd.

 

[Adorsey]

Quoting DDM:
Not to argue with you guys but from personal experience skinny tires suck. They say that they are suppose to cut through snow better but when i had them on they sucked.



You gave alot of useful information in this post.

 

[turbowop]

205/65's will work on the factory wheels just fine. My 205/70's have been awesome. Good in deep snow and packed snow in the few places the city has plowed. Hard to say what will fit with stock struts though. Maybe a local tire place will let you fit a couple used tires in the size range to see what will clear the spring perch.

 

Holy crap batman take it easy guys no need to fight everyone is entitled to their opinion. Just to clear some stuff up that I saw above a 205-55-15 205-60-15 or 205-65-15 are all the same width just so you know. The difference is in the height or overall sidewall height or how tall the tire is.55 series means the height of the tire is 55% of the width the 205, 60 series 60% of 205 etc.... I live in new england where we get quite a bit of snow but to answer no I don't live in the mountains lol. The reason I asked the original question was that I've always felt that the car didn't have enough tire and I could just go up to a 205-60-15. A taller not wider tire is better for snow. As for the width a 205 is only 10mm wider than a 195 so not much difference there,the question remains is a 205/65 series tire too tall for a stock suspension..I think turbowop answered that for me though thanks guys....

 

Quoting gvr4ever:
Skinny tires work best in snow. 195/60/15 stock is what I'm running now. If you go for a 205 tire, you would want 205/55/15. I've been running this size for summer tires.



A 205/55/15 is actually a lower profile tire 205x.55=112.75, 195x.60=117 would be worse in the snow but awesome for dry weather

 

[DDM]

Quoting Adorsey:
Quoting DDM:
Not to argue with you guys but from personal experience skinny tires suck. They say that they are suppose to cut through snow better but when i had them on they sucked.



You gave alot of useful information in this post.



Sucked is a description more or less lol.

No arguing what so ever. All depends on what driving the OP does.

 

[speedyd718]

running 185-65-15 michelin xice2's here.

 

[gvr4ever]

Quoting Blown1:
Quoting gvr4ever:
Skinny tires work best in snow. 195/60/15 stock is what I'm running now. If you go for a 205 tire, you would want 205/55/15. I've been running this size for summer tires.



A 205/55/15 is actually a lower profile tire 205x.55=112.75, 195x.60=117 would be worse in the snow but awesome for dry weather



205/55/15 has very little effect on the speedo. Using online tire calculators, it is only 1.38% off at 60MPH. I may have made the assumption that the OP actually cared about that. 205/70/15 would be 8.62% off at 60MPH.

As long as people don't care about how accurate the speedo is, then as long as it fits, it can be used. Wider tires tend to track more and could technically float more on snow, but really 205 isn't really all that wide. The only reason I'd go for a off size for winter tires is if I could get a crazy deal/sale,

 

^^^^^The numbers above are not really speedo readings just the overall tire sidewall height.....

 

[raptorWagon]

I need to get dedicated snow tires for the wagon, I'm currently running 175/80/13s. Only had one experience with them in light snow and they didn't handle to well, then again I am rwd too so that didn't help much either. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

For the most part this thread has been helpful, minus the ASE knows best mentality. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hsugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[gvr4ever]

Quoting Blown1:
^^^^^The numbers above are not really speedo readings just the overall tire sidewall height.....



Well, online tire calculators can't determine a cars speedo calibration, but changing the tire size does effect the speedo. According to my GPS, my summer tires do read a tad slower then stock size. With stock size tires, the speedo in my car is actually pretty dead on.