[Shovelman]

Narrow tires will get a car moving in deep snow better than wider tires because they compact the snow into something they can push against. They steer better in heavy slush because they squish thru it better, not having to push so much of it aside.

How useful is this? maybe only where snow covered roads or heavy slush are more common than wet or dry roads.

[freakystyly]

Here's some not often mentioned points;

Availability: Some winter tire styles simply aren't available in more common summer tire sizes.

Cost: Narrower sizes are cheaper.

Hydroplaning: Similar to snow and slush mentioned, narrower tires won't as easily.

These cars tires are already undersized, what's another going to hurt? I'm on 225 winters and don't feel severely handicapped in dry. Winter tire performance will never be equal to summers in dry so why bother?

[John in VA]

Using narrower winter (snow) tires has been a given for decades. The size (width) of today's wheels can make narrower tires difficult/unsafe to fit. Smaller diameter wheels often won't clear the larger brake calipers.

[msej449]

And skinnier tyres are less prone to hydroplaning, all other things being equal.

I've given up posting this point on threads titled 'Can I fit 285/10x20 onto my 2 Series?' and similar. I bought my first car in 1978 and since then the auto industry seems to have brainwashed us all into accepting lower and lower profile tyres as standard (certainly in the US and Europe). So now we have a generation of drivers who think that simply putting wider tyres on the car makes it better all-round, with no downsides.

And if you live in an area with poor road surfaces and lots of potholes, then you're condemned to regular wheel and tyre damage on OE spec' wheels. Owners will often end up blaming the tyre brand when it's just unrealistic to expect a low profile tyre to cope - It's time for the manufacturers to reset this trend.

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by John in VA

Using narrower winter (snow) tires has been a given for decades. The size (width) of today's wheels can make narrower tires difficult/unsafe to fit. Smaller diameter wheels often won't clear the larger brake calipers.

Yes, the same vehicle weight on a narrower contact patch increases the downward psi to cut through snow better, instead of "snowshoeing" on top. When I lived where it snowed, I was able to fit 215/50-17 on 17" wheels over the MSport brakes. 205/50-17 would fit as well and both sizes are "green" for speedometer variation on the 1010tire calculator. You can use up to a 7.5" wide wheel, with the proper clearance design, such as these Anzio were from Tire Rack.


https://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Tire...ismetric=False

[newusername]

I have a 2017 GT350 with 295/35R19 front and 305/35R19 rears and it tramlines so much, be happy with how well the 2 series drives and grips with its subjectively narrow tires.

[Gregoryb01]

I’m running 205/50R17 winter tires on my M235i xdrive for winter. No problem with rims and tires fitting over the breaks. For summer I run the 18 inch staggered set up.