Rim size in the snow?

[Big__M]

Does anyone happen to know if the overall height of the tire has an impact on the performance?

Would I get better performance for a 205/55/16 vs 205/50/17?

The reason I ask is before I bought my 3, I have a Sunfire GT. It also had Eagle RSA\'s as the OEM tire however they were 16\'s. My sunfire seemed to handle great in snow and on ice. Now I have the 3 with the stock 17\'s with Eagle RSA\'s. My car was absolutley brutal last winter. I have never driven a worse car in snow before.

Since both cars had the same brand/model howver different size, I am wondering if this will affect performance?

Thanks guys.

Mike

[RedRaptor]

hey Big_M,

Its been awhile since we\'ve seen you here. :D

If both tires are 205 in width, there should be no difference. Going from 16\" to 17\" means you are losing sidewall of the tire which doesn\'t impact the footprint of it. I can\'t explain why your old RSAs handled much better tho.

[Big__M]

Hey how\'s it going?? How are the 18\'s?

Basically I am worried that if I buy 17\" snow tires for the stock rims I will see no improvment in performance vs. the RSA\'s.

I can\'t believe how bad my car was last winter in snow using the OEM tires. It was awful.

[RedRaptor]

18\"s are hawt in the summer time. But not so hot in the winter time as you may have read my review yesterday. :sarc

Thats okay cuz I\'m putting my winters soon.:)

Go with a 16\" winter tire for sure to save some money. :)

[///M]

Originally posted by Big__M


Hey how\'s it going?? How are the 18\'s?

Basically I am worried that if I buy 17\" snow tires for the stock rims I will see no improvment in performance vs. the RSA\'s.

I can\'t believe how bad my car was last winter in snow using the OEM tires. It was awful.

I have 17\" winter tires on the stock rims. They\'re a huge improvement over the RSAs.

[SABIO]

How old was the sunfire?

The RSA used to be the High Performance tire on \'vettes and Camaro/firebirds in the 90\'s...
Now they are pretty brutal... I guess it is possible that somewhere along the line Goodyear changed the tire compound???

[Big__M]

The sunfire was a \'96 however I bought replacement RSA\'s in 2001/2002 I think?

I am now looking @ the Hankook W300 for the 17\'s taxes & install for $600. I think this is pretty good.

I\'d like to buy 16\'s and steelies but I already have 2 sets of 17\" OEM\'s. I use 1 set for summer the other for winter. Logic would tell you to sell the winter set and use the proceeds to buy the 16\'s however there is a small scratch on one of the wheels so I probably wont get much for them. I also don\'t want to sell the summer set.

What do you guys think of those tires?

Mike