Mugen_1

^^ I agree. I know I'm doing my good wheels a favor by taking them off for winter, but I looked at my car tonight, with the wheels all shiny, and thought to myself, "dammit, tomorrow those are coming off and it'll look ghetto for a few months."

Amskeptic

I would like to suggest that skinny tires are actually helpful for cutting through to the pavement if you have snow accumulations, they also help prevent hydroplaning through puddles. Large footprint tires help on dry pavement or mildly wet pavement as noted above.
Colin

edtbjon

Yes, skinny tires does help when the roads are covered in snow. In my youth I went out in the swedish forrests to watch and photograph rally car competitions (like the WRC competitions nowadays, but some 30 years ago). I didn't start to think about it until I came home and looked at my pictures. The tires were heavily studded, but only like 145 wide! Later I had the chance to talk to one of these drivers and have a ride in the passenger/mapreader seat. Ride of a lifetime in my mind, while the driver was taking it quite easy. It took me a while to dig my fingers out of the dashboard.
Anyhow, he explained that on wider tires, like the standard summer size at that time (165-175, yes long time ago) he would just slide around at roughly half that speed. Now he had a little spin before "digging down" to more grip, and the weight of the car on a smaller tire area gave better braking.
That car was a SAAB by the way. RIP!

//Björn

JimsGX

Was that a 2 cycle SAAB 96?

edtbjon

No, by then they been using Ford V4 engines for about a decade. (I think they started using 4-stroke V4 engines in -67, but it may have been earlier than that.)
The 2-stroke 3 cylinder cars was the Saab 93. (In Sweden nicknamed "Oilfueled Djungledrum", due to the characteristic sound. A sound which disappeared in the 70-ies and by the mid-80ies it all of a sudden came back. Now in the incarnation of a Kawasaki 500 motorcycle. A bit confusing at first.)
Yes, I know this is way of topic, but quite fun.

//Björn

Kansas

Here is an interesting video from ClubLexus sponsor Tire Rack that shows the kind of driving I've often done on snow packed roads where it was impossible for snow tires - no matter how skinny - to "cut through to the pavement": http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index...=23&tab=winter

The snow tires used in the Tire Rack video look like the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-60 that I will buy this Spring (when snow tire prices drop!) to replace my seven year old Blizzak WS-50 snow tires.

As shown in the video, one can not get the benefits of technologies like VSC, TRAC and ABS on packed snow packed roads without snow tires.

deanshark

I'm running stock size 225/60/16 on stock rims. Personally I think the Blizzaks are the BEST snow tire there is but this year I didn't have the finances to get them so I went with Firestone "Winterforce" non-studded which are damn good for the price. Last night we got 13" of snow and I was able to pull right out of my driveway with no problem. Handling is awesome also. The only thing I don't like about them is they are a little noisy on dry pavement.

Amskeptic

My Michelin X-Ice are going on tomorrow before I head up the eastern seaboard to Long Island then Boston. If I hit some good snow, TRAC off, tail out, fun winter sports.
Colin

deanshark

You should hit some good snow on the way, or at least when you get to Boston. We got hit pretty bad on the coast here in Ct. Have a good trip.

lexondubs

agreed living though Canadian winters suck