For those of you that have changed to 205/50/16, have you noticed increased aquaplaning due to the additional width of the tires as opposed to the 185/55/16?
It is raining a lot in Miami today and my Fit cuts thru the standing water very well with the 185s. at 55 MPH, with my S-2000, I have to be careful not to drive too fast under these conditions, it gets a little squirly in the back with the 255/40/17s

 

Well, your S2000 (if you care about your car) has sticky summer tires as opposed to the all season tires on the stock Fit. I've had all season 205s on a past car and they would go through water the same as the stock 195s (that came on that car.)

 

I agree with Hayden. The width shouldn't matter about "cutting" through water. It's all about the tread pattern and how they funnel the water out from under the tire. An all season tire is going to do the best funneling for all kinds of weather (rain, snow, etc)
In essence a wider tire with proper treading should give you more stable grip in inclement weather.

 

Agreed, it really depends on tread pattern. I think width only makes a noticeable difference in snow. I have been running Continental extreme contact in a 205 width which is a all season tire. I'm currently using Yokohama Parada Spec 2 tires in 205 width which is a summer tire. Yet the Yokohama perform better in the rain IMO. due to the tread design.

 

I disagree, if you remember the first Goodyear Aquathread looked like 2 skinny tires side by side, the reason for that is cutting thru the water. The wider tire on a car will aquaplane more because there is less weight per surface area as compared to the narrower tire.

 

The wider tread patch will definitely hurt your tires' ability to displace water.

The tire contact patch doesn't really grow or shrink with tread width, but changes its shape instead. All other things kept the same (ceteris paribus): On a narrow-tread tire it's long and narrow, which is great for snow and roads with lots of standing water as the tire has an easier time moving it aside. On a wide-tread tire it's wide but short, and standing water has a longer groove area to navigate before it's displaced and shoved off to the sides - therefore easier hydroplaning.

It wasn't particularly bad when I ran 205/45R16 Toyo Proxes 4 all-season tires on my GD1 though. That said, I run 195/55R15 Kumho Ecsta SPT tires now and they have a much easier time of the rain simply due to the narrower tread.

 

I had 205/50/16's on the Protege I had before the Fit. As long as I had decent tread depth, I had zero issues with hydroplaning. I was running Fuzion ZRI's ( thinking about a set of those again for the Fit when the OEM Dunlops wear down) and they were a Huge improvement over the stock Dunlops that were on the Mazda.

 

The 185/55/16 has a tread width of 6.5" with an overall diameter of 24", the 205/50/16 has a tread width of 7.8" with an overall diameter of 24.1" , that difference in OD is not of any consequence but as you can see the tread width is 1.30" wider, that is why I was asking for info from people that had these tires on their car.

 

 

...that's why I mentioned "ceteris paribus" or "all other things kept the same" in my post That would leave tread width as the only variable.

Like many things about tires, it's essentially a compromise. Michelin's Pilot Sport Cup tires, which are standard-fit on the old E46 BMW M3 CSL, are my best example. They're phenomenal in the dry and can pull 1.01 G of lateral acceleration, and they also work in the wet - but, according to Autocar UK, they also don't have the tread depth to shift standing water that well. That's why in the UK at least, owners of M3 CSLs were reportedly asked to sign some sort of waiver on this.

In contrast, all-season tires will shift more water out the side (e.g. my old Proxes 4s had huge grooves) but won't grip as hard in the dry due to more tread block shimmy.

 

One variable not mentioned is air pressure. Higher pressures resist hydroplaning better.

Tread pattern also matters, probably more than cross-section or profile. The Yokos I had on the BMW had two big channels running around the tire and a directional "V" pattern tread that tended to pump water out.