I live in PA and I drive to New York City for work every weekend which is 4.5 hours away from my home in PA. Winter is almost here and I'm worried about the drive. Right now I have 225/50-15's on my 03 Sunfire and when it rains I have almost no traction and I hydroplane like all hell... Friend of mine says I should go with tires that aren;t so wide for winter because wider tires aren't that great for snow or rainy conditions. What size tires would be best for winter. Also does anyone have any suggestions on what would be the best alround tire for winter and rainy condition? I don't care so much about all season tires. I want tires that will actually help improve my traction in bad weather conditions, because this drive sucks when it's raining or snowing.


"For some reason it is a very American thing to do to take highly unlikely vehicles and stick insane engines in them at huge cost for no reason." Oh hell yeah!!

The Hellserpent
Aiming to be the LARGEST directory of Sport Compact Enthusiasts in the Northeast!

By the way the hydroplaning wasn't from speeding. I was hydroplaing going 5 below the speed limit during a storm.


"For some reason it is a very American thing to do to take highly unlikely vehicles and stick insane engines in them at huge cost for no reason." Oh hell yeah!!

The Hellserpent
Aiming to be the LARGEST directory of Sport Compact Enthusiasts in the Northeast!

Narrower tires will give you a higher psi for your contact patch. Look at it this way, more weight per inch means the tires will be able to push through the layers of slush to get contact with pavement. I use base cavy 14" tires on my z24 during the winter for that reason.
Good Luck
Mike

In rain, it's all about the tread. Better and deeper tread will evacuate the water better. In snow, the width can play nearly as big a factor due to what Mike just said. More pressure to compact it and dig in.

225/50/15 is the wrong size for you no matter what. They're a full inch too short and probably look stupid on your car.

For the winter, pick up some 185/75/14 winter tires on some cheap steel wheels.

Maybe look at some Goodyear Assurance TripleTred. Very respectable ratings on Tirerack.


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i would suggest nokian tires... i've heard nothing but good things about them. they are supposed to be better than arctic alpins and blizzacks... click here to check them out