Tire Question

[Robby1870]

I'll be getting new tires before winter and got a couple of questions. First off, my rims are the "nuclear," as Brian calls them, STE wheels (16x6.5). Stock tires are 215/60/16. I want to go a little wider, but still be close to stock height. 235/55/16s are like spot on same size as my stockers. My question is...is 235 too wide for a 6.5" rim? Anyone running something close to that size now? Im looking at Goodyear Eagle GT-HR tires....heres a link to tire rack about them: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+GT-HR&vehicleSearch=false&partnum=355HR6GTHR&fromCompare1=yes

 

Any insight, other tires to try, etc is welcome. TIA

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

I think that the 225s on my GP are plenty wide. I personally don't see the needs for bigger. Plus if you plan on driving in the snow aren't skinnier tires usually better?

[Brian P]

There's a cutty vert owner here (pardon my bad memory in advance) with the Goodyear GT HR's (at least you have the sense to get a REAL tire) with 235-55 on a 6.5 " width rim. The 6.5" listing calls for a MAXIMUM tire width of 235, so yes it's kosher. It might rub the inner fender on a lock-to-lock turn, if at all.

[J]

thinner is better in deep snow! trust me. Get a set of steelies for winter with goodyear ultragrips(pretty cheap) on them in 195/75/14 i went through snow that was at least a foot deep with no problem, then just get a good set for the summer.

[digitaloutsider]

How can thinner possibly be better? Judging from the theory of snowshoes, the more surface, the better.. I could be wrong though.

[1990lumina]

Well, it is kind of hard to explain for me, but, the thinner, the easier it is for the tires to "dig" into the snow and get traction. I just got my Lumina a few weeks ago and I'm going to get some crappy wheels from a local wrecker and put thin tires on. My dad's Taurus has 205 65R15 all season tires, and believe me, the cheap Kumho's dig for traction in winter, and the Taurus has never been stuck since we got these tires. Especially last year when Saskatoon had all this snow and our streeys weren't plowed right away, most cars with wider tires were stuck, but not ours.

 

I could be wrong but from experience thinner is better in snow, possibily not on ice, and I know I'll be getting some stel wheels with some cheap thin winter tires for winter this year.

 

Just my two cents

 

- Jeff L.

[Robby1870]

I dont plan on driving in the snow at all. If it snows up here, I just wont go to work. And, it doesnt snow that much here anyway, not enough for me to worry about snow tires. I'll wait and hope they guy on here with the GT-HRs replies......

[jeremy]

How can thinner possibly be better? Judging from the theory of snowshoes, the more surface, the better.. I could be wrong though.

 

that is exactly the problem with wider tires....just like a snowshoe, a wider tire is more likely to ride on top of the snow instead of cutting through it and actually driving on the road like a smaller tire will do....

[dkorinko]

But wide tires just look bad ass! I had 255 50 16's on my TGP, looked sweeeeet!

[White93z34]

you won't look badass when a tow truck accidently rips your airdam off when hes pulling you outa the snow.

 

seriously who cares about looks when your cars covered in salt anyhow, summers the time for looks/

[TeeJay3800]

How can thinner possibly be better? Judging from the theory of snowshoes, the more surface, the better.. I could be wrong though.

 

that is exactly the problem with wider tires....just like a snowshoe, a wider tire is more likely to ride on top of the snow instead of cutting through it and actually driving on the road like a smaller tire will do....

You're exactly right. Thinner is always better for driving through snow on paved roads.

 

I drive on snowy roads all winter (damn MI), but I still bought wider tires (P225/60HR15's on 15x6.0 rims). I like the look and better handling features of wider tires and it still doesn't handle too bad in the snow.

[WhiteOut]

There's a cutty vert owner here (pardon my bad memory in advance) with the Goodyear GT HR's (at least you have the sense to get a REAL tire) with 235-55 on a 6.5 " width rim. The 6.5" listing calls for a MAXIMUM tire width of 235, so yes it's kosher. It might rub the inner fender on a lock-to-lock turn, if at all.

 

Thats me. I've got 235-55-16 Eagle GT HR's on my Cutlass five star rims (6.5" wide). There's no clearance issues at all, and they handle very well, at least compared to the Pirelli's that were on it before. After about 10k miles of driving they seem to be holding up well considering the amount of hard cornering I do. I'd recomend them hands down.

 

As for winter handling, I just got these tires this summer so who knows. Tire Rack customers don't have many complaints though so it shouldn't be too bad.

[digitaloutsider]

How can thinner possibly be better? Judging from the theory of snowshoes, the more surface, the better.. I could be wrong though.

 

that is exactly the problem with wider tires....just like a snowshoe, a wider tire is more likely to ride on top of the snow instead of cutting through it and actually driving on the road like a smaller tire will do....

You're exactly right. Thinner is always better for driving through snow on paved roads.

 

I drive on snowy roads all winter (damn MI), but I still bought wider tires (P225/60HR15's on 15x6.0 rims). I like the look and better handling features of wider tires and it still doesn't handle too bad in the snow.

Gotcha :oops:

 

I just don't drive in snow enough I guess

[jeremy]

Gotcha :oops:

 

I just don't drive in snow enough I guess

 

lucky you....