205/60R15 vs 195/65R15

[jeffbacon]

Time to buy my first set of winter tires. I'm in Ottawa, Canada and will be driving into the middle of nowhere in Ontario frequently. That means I need decent tires since the stock Vibe 16" ones I have are crap in the snow.I've noticed a number of people going for 195/65R15 tires on 15" wheels and I was wondering why 205/60R15 is not the common set as that seems much closer to the size of the stock 16" tires/wheels.I'm going to buy 15" steel rims and then I have to pick a tire for it in the next couple of weeks so any help in choosing the right size would be great.(I'm leaning towards the Michelin X-Ice or Bridestone Blizzak LM-18 right now but still looking into it...)

[CAN-AWD-VIBE]

I think 16's are more common on a site like this because a lot of us have OEM sizes for winter and +1 or +2 sizing in summer.So why not keep the bigger size and look a little better then steelies all winter. The 16" tires by themselves are cheaper then 15's with rims. Plus what is closer to the OEM size than the OEM size.15's are a good idea but if you get wheels for summer then you might as well use the OEM rims for winter instead of buying a new set.IMHO anyway.I run stock sized winters and will have P225/45R17 in summer

[jeffbacon]

My primary concern is my safety in the winter since I can't even get cell phone coverage for half my winter driving (really in the middle of nowhere...). Someone told me the 15" would be a little better for that then that 16" rims and I like the stock rim look for the summer so I'm going to keep those rims in good shape and get something that can get dinged up for the winter.

[CAN-AWD-VIBE]

Safety? I'm not sure if it's any "safer"195 is a skinnier footprint then 205... by 1 size.A thinner tire will be able to "cut" through deep snow better then a wider tire. So I guess thats "safer" Fat skis stay on top skinny skis go down deep.Really I would say the difference is small, and I wouldn't be able to confidently say that a 195 tire will help you avoid an accident any better then a 205.If we were talking 225 vs 195 then we have a big difference.Saying that you could always go to a 195/60R16 winter and get the same results. The rim size has no bearing on this point. However good luck finding these tires. But what we are really talking about is you want to keep your mags nice for summer and you need other rims.15" rims are cheaper and so are the tires... so go for it. Plus they will work well for you.

[jeffbacon]

Thanks!