BETTER PARTSWinter tires: Are narrow the better?
Stuttgart, 13 October 2015
A persistent rumor that narrow tires are the better choice in winter. But is that true? The Society for Technical Supervision ( GTÜ ) has now been tested in conjunction with the Auto Club Europa ( ACE ) three different tire sizes with the same profile on snow and wet. For a BMW 3 Series were successively wheelsets in 16 inches on steel rims ( 205/55 R16 ), in 17-inch to Alloy Wheel ( 225/50 R17 ) and 18-inch mixed tires ( 225/45 R18 at the front, 255/40 R18 at the rear ) reared.
Mixed tires scores on snow
The experts came to a surprising conclusion: Narrow tires in winter is not automatically better than wide. On the contrary, many sipes offer with mixed tires surprisingly a lot of grip and therefore good traction on snow slopes. According GTÜ the test vehicle with wide besohlter rear axle has accelerated noticeably better than with the narrower tire comparison. Nevertheless, the assessment of the testers, extra wide tires are not the first choice. Especially in wet conditions they lack balance. With ESP off the uneven tires on front and rear axle also requires considerably more work on the steering wheel, the driving behavior is less predictable than in the same sizes front and rear.
17-inch are a good compromise
The comparison has shown that it is the most harmonious moves front and back on snow and wet with the same tire size. It represents the average size of 17-inch wheels in the sum of the best compromise, since it is not always on a closed snow cover on the road in winter. The narrow winter tires on the other hand could not convince quite tire experts especially in dry conditions. With them is the longest stopping distance: As the GTÜ has discovered here around 47 meters from 100 kph to be factored in. With the Winter slippers in 17-inch format can however save a good meter. By comparison with summer tires, the test car was after around 38 meters . ( hd )