does car rim size matter for winter/snow driving?

[nageov3t]

so, I'm not quite in the market for a new car yet, but I want to be prepared (my plan is to drive my 10 year-old car into the ground while saving money for a new car, but I want to be ready with knowing what kind of car I want once my car finally dies).

my top concern is a sedan with AWD for snow/ice driving in the winter, but as I was spec'ing out a couple models, I got to wondering... would there be a performance benefit for snow driving from upgrading to 16/17" rims (from the standard 15 or 16")? or does it really not matter?

 

[NutBucket]

Diameter doesn't matter, width does. Typically you want narrower tires for snow/ice.

 

[WilliamM2]

You don't get any advantage from larger diameter rims. But lower profile tires don't work as well as regular profile tires in my experience. Very bumpy ride on snow packed roads, that seems to cause them to slip sooner due to loss of contact.

 

[NutBucket]

Oh yeah, bigger diameter = more cost. In this case, you gain nothing by going bigger..unless your wallet is too heavy.

 

[smackababy]

You don't get any advantage from larger diameter rims. But lower profile tires don't work as well as regular profile tires in my experience. Very bumpy ride on snow packed roads, that seems to cause them to slip sooner due to loss of contact.

Not just on snow. Those super low profile tires you see on cars with those "bling bling" rims ride like shit on smooth pavement.

 

[jagec]

would there be a performance benefit for snow driving from upgrading to 16/17" rims (from the standard 15 or 16")?

You would see decreased performance on snow with the bigger rims.

 

[nerp]

The performance benefit for driving in snow would be snow tires. Diameter is much less important.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Best to have two sets of tires.

One for when you have snow in the area.

A second for normal weather driving.

Rotate off the snow tires and store them.

They run rough and loud and good ones are expensive - why wear them out un-necessarily

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

From my experience, there are two things Ive found. For winter driving you want
A)Larger sidewall and
B) narrower tire.

The reasons being
A) Larger sidewall allows for a softer ride and less tire 'bounce'. The sidewall will absorb small bump impact allowing for maximum rubber contact. When you start driving over a washboard with low profile tires it is VERY easy to lose control.
Example of a washboard road: not my video, but local to me.

B) Narrower tires will cut thru deeper snow (4+ inches) more easily, allowing the tire to find traction. A wider tire will 'float' on the snow, and will find less traction.

 

[Danimal1209]

also note, a larger diameter wheel will decrease MPG slightly.

 

[Bacstar]

When I bought my car, it came with 19" rims. When I decided to finally get snow tires for the winter, every tire shop in town had to special order tires for that rim size. Guy I spoke with recommended I switch down to 18" rims which were more common. Also, added benefit is I can do the switchovers myself in the springtime.

 

[exar333]

Smaller size tires are also usually cheaper...

I use a 16'' snow tires with a taller sidewall compared to my summer set of tires that are 17'' and have a smaller sidewall. I saved a good $150 on my snow tires/wheels by going 'smaller'.

Thinner wheels are also key, especially for cutting through snow.

 

[nageov3t]

thanks guys! totally answered my questions.

sounds like rim size is purely a personal preference (though closer to buying time, I may want to do research into the most common rim sizes to make sure I'm not getting something that will be uncommon)