Winter Tire Size to buy

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Mike akaRedsfan

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My stock All Season tires on my ST are 255/70R/16's. I am thinking about buying the DM-Z3 Blizzak's. My question is am I best to downsize to 245/70/16's, or buy the same size as my all seasons.



I do hear that the smaller the tire, the better the Winter traction.



Tx guys..





 
I would buy the stock size. Smaller isn't necessarily better, but narrower is. You could get 245/75-16's if they're available. If someone wants one set of tires, A/T's are better in snow than M/T's.
 
Personally, I am running 245/75-16" Winter Dueller DM-Z2 tires. The reason I went with that size is as follows.



Price, the 245/75-16" were about $25.00/tire cheaper then 255/70-16" tires.

Size, the 245/75-16" tires are slightly taller and slightly narrower then the stock tires. The benefit is a slightly higher ground clearance and a slightly higher PSI tread on the road.

Availability, most of the places I called has 245/75-16" ti9res in stock, but had to order 255/70-16".





Tom
 
The problem is I don't think the DM-Z3's come in that size Caymen. The best I can do is drop to 245/7016's is I don't go with the stock size. Not sure if one is a better choice though.
 
bad thing about going smaller is it will give you more low end which i do not think you would want in ice or snow
 
But isn't the idea of going to a narrower profile tire a better choice for snow/ice? That will allow the weight of the car to press into the snow for better traction.
 
the problem still is, that if I go with the blizzaks, my only choice is 245 or 255 (stock). Are you guys pretty much saying that I should keep the 255, and if anything go 75 instead of 70? That number indicates if its narrow or not? 75 being a bit narrower then 70?



It has always been confusing for me to understand how these work on tires.



Tx



 
The problem is I don't think the DM-Z3's come in that size Caymen.
Click to expand...



Yup, they sure are made in that size. $108.00/tire from tirerack.com



255/70-16" are 121.00/each.



Check for yourself.





Tom

 
Yes, those I can get Caymen. I didn't see that 75's are offered is what I meant. Still wondering if I should downsize to 245 from the 255 stocks.



Tx again..



 
As I said, I have 245/75-16 tires.



They are slightly taller, about a 1/4" and slightly narrower, about 3/8".



A savings of about $13.00/tire or $52.00/set perty much settles that issue.





Tom
 
I think you guys are lucky then in the U.S. Here in Canada, the Blizzak brochure only lists a 245/75/17. All 16 inch tires come with a 70 rating.



Ughhers...
 
I have used 235's and am currently using 255's here in upstate NY lake effect and I don't see one bit of a difference in using a narrower tire. Half of it is how you drive. The other half is, how deep is the snow that you are trying to drive through.
 
I have done some further investigating and have found that 75's are available here for this tire. And like you guys all said, a 245/75/16 runs about $25 less a tire. There seems to be so little difference between these and the stock size, that I might be best to go this way.



With the higher tire (75's), I just can't corner as fast perhaps. Either way, I never corner fast anyhow in this truck.



 
Mike,



The 255/70-16 tires are 30.05" tall (76.3 CM)

The 245/75-16 tires are 30.46" tall (77.4 CM)



Not really much of a difference is it?



I researched it a bunch before I spent the money on those tires. 1.1 cm isn't that much of a difference to even worry about.



I will warn you. The tires are noisy and don't ride that good. You will feel like something is slipping. It is just the soft gummy feel to the tires. Besides that, they have good snow and ice traction.





Tom
 

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