Winter tire sizing

[desura]

my car has for its OEM tires 225/50R17

I'm looking to get winter rims. 15 inch. How would 205/70R15 compare? Looking at tire charts, the OEM tire is 25.86 while the 205/70R15 is 26.30 inches. Or should I go narrower, perhaps 195, 185?

 

[Yuriman]

Check this thread: https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/daily-driver-mustang-and-tire-sizing-for-snow-tires.2490962/

In my opinion, the narrower the better so long as the load rating is still adequate.

 

[JCH13]

Definitely stay within your load rating. I, personally, wouldn't go as narrow as possible in a load range because I do not spend a majority of time in snow during the winter and would like to keep some semblance of tread life and grip in the dry. I would suggest going a little under in tread width to the next most-popular size. Last winter I went to 205/60-16 compared to my OEM 215/45-18 and was quite pleased.