Winter Tires: 16" or 15"?

[RoundUp]

There are many posts out there about winter tires. Most of you recommended going to 195/65R15's for snow tires from the 205/55R16 all season tires. The reason was that narrower tires are better for the snow. However, someone also said that going to the 195's made their vehicle feel less stable. I'm wondering what I should do. I'm planning to get rid of my all seasons for good and get a new set in the spring perhaps with aluminum rims. (This is in part due to my tire separation issue a few months ago and the fact that I have another tire with a slow leak.) That means I'll be left with the factory 16" steel wheels. Should I just throw out the 16" steel wheels and buy some 15" ones. Or should I get the 205's so I can fit them on the 16" steel wheels?

[ragingfish]

I'm running 205/55/16 winters on steel wheels...while I haven't had a chance to drive them in the snow yet, I'm optomistic they'll do well..IIRC, Hope was running on 15's...and she's in AK. If it's good enough for them, it's gotta be good enough for us "southerners!"

[sensfanrk]

Hello! The 195 tires are narrower than the 205s, therefore by not having as much rubber on the road, you lose some handling... However, in the winter narrower is better, the skinnier tires bite through the snow, and wider tires tend to float on top of it... Right now I have 195/65/15 winters on my car, and I have stock 205s with the 16s on for the summer. After about a month with my 195s on, I haven't noticed any loss in handling or cornering... However, in winter, you shouldn't really be driving like a moron anyways! lol... If only all drivers understood that!! If you're planning on getting aluminums, I'd get 16s for the summer, and get some 15 steelies for the winter. I got some 15" steelies from Canadian Tire that were listed for a 2003 Toyota Matrix. According to my local Toy dealer, some 03 Matrixes came with 15s, so that's why CT has a listing. They are the same bolt pattern, and offset as my stock 16" aluminums... (bolt pattern - 5x100, offset - 38) The only difference is they're 6 wide instead of 6.5". Hope that helps!