I noticed that Tire Rack suggested 225/45 tires for winter instead of the stock 235/45; the difference in diameter is less than 1.5% and narrower tires typically do better in the snow. There is also more selection in that size and they are cheaper. What do you all think?

 

No brainer. Take their advice as long as the tire weight and speed ratings are the same, though I am fairly certain they covered that aspect as well in their recommendation.

 

note that the revs/mile vary +-1% by brand for the same size - but still you're talking about less than 1 MPH on the speedo at highway speeds. One thought on winter tires is that narrower is better in snow. 235s are fairly wide (my VW CC runs 235/45-17s as well and those are huge meats compared to the 205s and 195s my S40 and 850 run! I've always run narrow (ie 185/65s vs 195/60 on the 850) to cut through the deep stuff, so depending on where you live and your need to drive in fresh snow, you could also run 205/50-17s... I think 225/45s will be fine - the tough decision IMHO is brand. Car and Driver just did a road test of six brands (Conti's rated their best buy) of winter tires. I also like the General's Altimax Artics on our Highlander (great in deep stuff), my S40 runs Blizzaks (great on hard/ice), Gislaved's on the 850 (long wearing!). Oh and the VW sits indoors when it snows. BTW if you are shopping mail order, check out the prices at Tiresavings.com (located in Rhode Island).

 

Thanks very much, thought I replied already. I didn't think about going even smaller. It looks like 215/50-17 is actually really close to the stock diameter and still works on the 7.5 inch rim. And thanks for that website, I hadn't heard of it, nice to have another option.

 

the difference between a 205 and a 215 is less than 1% (ie .5 mph at 60) - which is also less than the brand to brand variations of the same size as posted on the Tirerack web site... I agree you can consider going smaller and the choice of 205/50 or 215/50 versus 225/45 and 235/45 may come down to sizes available in the brand you like and price. Totally going on price, Tirerack will ship you 205/50/17s in the Altimax Artics for $100.10 or Conti WinterContacts (C+D's best buy) for $118.20. If you move up to 215s the Artics go up to 107 and to 115 for the 235/45s while the Conti's go from 118 up to 145 for the 235/45s. Post up what you decided to do and how you like them.

 

It's hard to find specs on tire mfg web sites nowadays; it seems like all websites have been dumbed down to just marketing garbage. So I've mainly been going off calculated size, and yes, 205 is fine and closer to the stock diameter than 225/45. But what I did find said the 205 was not spec'd for a 7.5 in rim, 7 was the max, so that's why I was thinking 215.

 

FYI, I found this URL

Wheel/Rim Size Calculator - Shows acceptable rim width range for the tyre size

good to keep handy - it suggests a 205/50/17 should be ok for up to a 7.5 inch rim same as the 215/50 but I don't see a problem running the 215s.

 

Good resource, thanks!