Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    SE Wisconsin
    Posts
    33

    Winter tires size consensus?

    So winter is coming and while the ZHP will see limited duty during Wisconsin's worst snow days I'd still like to get the car out on the road when roads are plowed, things are reasonably dry though still pretty cold. The 03 Tundra gets used during the worst of it.

    I've been reading through multiple threads here and see folks with all sorts of winter setup options. There is a set of mounted 205/50/17 on 17x7.5 et40 for sale local to me but that seems pretty narrow compared to the OEM size and since I won't be out in deep snow. So for those running 17s during the winter what is your preferred set up? 205/50/17, 225/45/17, other?

    Thanks and apologies if I've missed the thread that covers the question.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Lexington, KY
    Posts
    4,903
    Generally, the narrower, the better in the snow. Smaller foot print is best. I run 215s for my winter setup (45R 17) and I have never been stuck. Don't see what would be wrong with 205s.

    Greatest issue that stops me is the height of the snow, since my road out of the neighborhood never gets plowed.
    325i, 2005, 5MT, Silvergrey, leatherette, Sport package; CDV delete, KONI STR-T & KYB Excel-G, Weisslichts, Stewart H2O pump

    328i, 2010, 6MT, Spacegrey, dakota leather, M-sport packages; has a 330 intake but no tune - yet
    http://s900.photobucket.com/user/othibau/media/Junesig.jpg.html][IMG]http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac208/othibau/Junesig.jpg

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Jacksonville, Florida
    Posts
    2,202
    Quote Originally Posted by Oli77 View Post
    Generally, the narrower, the better in the snow. Smaller foot print is best. I run 215s for my winter setup (45R 17) and I have never been stuck. Don't see what would be wrong with 205s.

    Greatest issue that stops me is the height of the snow, since my road out of the neighborhood never gets plowed.
    If you don't plan on driving through heavy snow 225 is perfectly fine. I ran 225 square last season and didn't have any issues. It still performed alright for regular driving but comparing blizzaks to grippy pilot super sports isn't even remotely the same.

    205 would be better for heavy snow but you may get frustrated daily driving without as much grip as you are used to. Like Oli said, the thinner the tire the better for snow. Wider tires spread the vehicles weight out across the snow too much and instead of cutting through the snow like a thin tire, the wide tire kinda floats across and glides more not actually getting good traction.

    TL;DR 225 is fine.
    2005 Jet Black 6MT ZHP "Family First"
    ~Rob~

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    1,193
    Last winter I was running 205 squares all winter and they were great. I did multiple trips to VT and NH and never had any problems. The only case where I found limited grip is when I was giving more than 3000rpm coming out from corners on a wet road surface. On dry it was fine.


    Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    22841
    Posts
    9,921
    225 Section width here

    His - 2004 Imola Red / Alcantara 330i | 6MT | ZHP |

    Her's - 2005 Black Sapphire Metallic / Black Leather 330i | 6MT | ZHP |

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    SE Wisconsin
    Posts
    33
    Thanks, going to look at the 205s tomorrow.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    SE Wisconsin
    Posts
    33
    Craigslist sellers... I was told et40 on the wheels and 9/32 tread left on the 205 snows. Turned out to be et32 and remaining tread depth on the snows at only 4-5/32. Passed.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Lexington, KY
    Posts
    4,903
    Yep, "if it's not one thing, it's always another".
    Hope you didn't drive too far.
    325i, 2005, 5MT, Silvergrey, leatherette, Sport package; CDV delete, KONI STR-T & KYB Excel-G, Weisslichts, Stewart H2O pump

    328i, 2010, 6MT, Spacegrey, dakota leather, M-sport packages; has a 330 intake but no tune - yet
    http://s900.photobucket.com/user/othibau/media/Junesig.jpg.html][IMG]http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac208/othibau/Junesig.jpg

  9. #9
    Does anyone run 16's for winter, any reasons why or why not.

  10. #10
    TIRERACK.com - Revolutionizing Tire Buying
    Quote Originally Posted by Johnmadd View Post
    Does anyone run 16's for winter, any reasons why or why not.
    I’ve heard that not all 16” wheels clear the front calipers. Also I guess if you get 16” wheels the side profile needs to be quite large to bring it up to stock size which probably will change how the car rides. But the wheels are tires are going to be much cheaper...


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


    2006 Coupe | Black Sapphire Metallic | Natural Brown | Gruppe M Intake | Corsa TSE3 | Michelin PSS on Apex ARC-8 | Koni Yellows |

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