This is my first winter with 205/50's on my '09 Fit Sport, and I have no traction on snow. My car skids even at very low speed and has serious trouble accelerating from a full stop. Turning always results in a skid even from a full stop. I know the 205s supposedly have less traction, but I've been reading every thread I could find about tire size and no one else seems to be having issues this serious just because of slightly wider tires.

I am planning to get new tires but I can't decide if I should go back to something narrower. The ones I have now are all season, but I just bought what was available at Discount Tire so they might just not be good quality tires.

So can anyone tell me, exactly how much of a difference does having a wider tire make when it comes to traction on the snow? Will I have good snow traction on high performance 205/50s? I had good traction on my OEMs, so anything better than that would make me happy.

 

Really need to know what tires you have on right now to make an adequate suggestion. Though narrower tires should be helpful in snow, ultimately tread block pattern and rubber compound will make more of a difference than width.

High performance summer tires will do no good in snow. If you want high performance tires for spring summer fall I suggest getting dedicated snow tires for the winter months. There are lots of threads discussing all this on here.

 

My tires (in my signature) did great in the snow. At $66 each, also a great deal. Im sure a set in your size would be closer to 70 or 75 each.

I drove throw the midwest ice/snow storm in the early few days of december, no issues.

 

I've read through a bunch of threads on snow tires, but I don't think I get enough snow for dedicated tires. I just want something that won't be dangerous when it does snow.After reading reviews on here and tirerack, I am considering the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 or the Continental Extreme Contact DWS. I've read every thread I can find on here about tire sizes, but I can't find any that specifically talk about how tire width affects traction on the snow so I thought I would ask before I buy new tires.

 

really now, what tires are u on now? i'm using blizzaks atm and i just barrelled thru this ice storm no VSA kicking in, skidding, or any loss of traction.

 

Rule of thumb, narrower is better in snow. Especially on lightweight vehicles.

So if stock tires were 185 wides, I would only allow a max of 195s for the winter

 

I don't think you'd want to go with the Bridgestone Ecopia's. They're a low rolling resistance tire and probably won't have the traction level that the others will have dry, wet, or in snow.

The Continental DWS you mentioned would be a great choice as they have an aggressive tread pattern and a soft rubber compound that stays soft even at freezing temperatures. I had those on mine in the 195/50/R16 size, but never got to test them in the snow.

I'm currently running the new Kumho PA31's in the 205/50/R16 size and just got to test them out in 1" - 2" of ice and snow and they did very well. I don't think they would be quite as good as the Continental DWS in the snow and ice, but very close. I do like the Kumho PA31's better for dry cornering though because they have stiffer sidewalls and feel more stable. The softer DWS tires felt like they were trying to roll off the rims cornering hard in the dry to me. I know they wouldn't have actually rolled off, that's just the best way I can describe the feeling.

-Dustin

 

Thanks, this is what I wanted to know! So it sounds like wider is OK in snow as long as they are good quality tires.

I have Primewell PZ900s right now. Reading reviews, it seems like they are not very good tires so my problem is probably tire quality rather than width.

 

I think you're right. I had no problem with directional control, starting, or stopping with the PA31's in the 205 width. The snow storm we had melted and then froze on the roads and then got topped with an inch or two of snow, so it was extremely slick. At one point I got out of the car and helped push a two wheel drive Dodge Ram and Ford Explorer that were just spinning trying to get up a slight incline. Once we got them out of the way I got back in Fit and rolled on no problem.

One thing that helped on my 2012 is the stability/traction control. With it on it restricts the throttle so that there is very little wheel spin even if you push the throttle to the floor. I played with turning it off, which was more fun because I could really slide the car around with the hand brake and apply throttle countersteering for a little low speed rallycross action. But, I had to use much more careful throttle modulation to get going once stopped, especially on an incline. I had way more fun than I probably should have, but just felt so confident because the car was doing so well in the conditions.

-Dustin

 

Just do that^ the tread pattern is great for all kinds of conditions, which is partly how it gets it's multipurpose acclaim.

The unfortunate part about the Fit Sport's tire size is that if you want to keep your final drive ratio and speedo stock you pretty much have to go with 205/50/16, which are a little bit too wide for the stock wheels. That size will fit fine, but that's the rolling over feeling Bama is talking about. The soft sidewalls and narrow rim cause the sidewall to roll over since it's not square (tire is wider than the rim). For daily driving that size is just fine. I wouldn't worry about width difference in snow, it's really no big deal (10-20mm). One size smaller in the DWS is 195/50/16, and that's a little too short, your speedo will read fast and you'll have a higher cruising RPM due to shorter effective final drive. It won't bulge on the rim as much and will handle better though at comfortable tire pressures.

 

I had the DWS in that exact size on for a while before the Kumhos. Other than the rolling over feeling they were very grippy, slightly more so than the Kumho's. The Kumho's are still way better than the stock Dunlops though. If you're concerned about looks the 195/50/R16 tire size looked undersized to me and I didn't like the way it looked on the car. That and the fact that I got a bubble on one of the sidewalls are the main reasons I went ahead and switched to the Kumho PA31's in the 205/50/R16 size.

-Dustin

 

I'm on 205 Conti DWS, live in NE, they are great in the snow/wet/track... It must be the type of tire you are on that's causing you grief, not the size.

My track tires are 215's, not that it pertains to the conversation.