Narrow wheel & tire = better in snow?

[msanford]

I live and drive in a lot of snow in the winter (Montréal, Ottawa, Québec, and the highways...fuhgeddaboudit). We're not always amazing about snow-clearing, and chains are illegal (and just unthinkable).

I'm going to buy some steelies for my (new to me) 04 Matrix, and wanted to hear your opinions on narrow tires.

I've heard, and intuition agrees, that a narrower tire will "cut" through the snow better than a wider wheel and tire combo, which will tend to "snowshoe" over it. How much truth is there to this? How about sidewall height?

I assume, too, that having a narrower tire will not only reduce traction on dry pavement, but on ice as well?

(Any recommendations on a tire you've used and love?)

[darksparkz]

Err, noone answer these forums.

Anyways.

Narrower and taller is definitely better for snow and going through slush, but you will sacrifice traction on dry pavement, but winter tires will still perform better then all season tires in freezing temperatures on dry pavement as well, Snow tires are built with a special rubber compound that stays soft when it is freezing and below freezing. All seasons and performance tires will harden and loose traction in freezing conditions.

I wouldn't go below the manufactors or wheel's reocmmendation on what is the thinest tires you can get. If there is actually that large of an amount of snow, you can consider studded or studless tires as opposed to performance winter tires.

It depends how much snow vs dry pavement you get in a typical season.

I'm not too sure about the ice issue, but I would probably say just get the most narrow tire that fits well on your wheels and that would suffice for working with ice.

Remember, that if also get the higher profile, it will perform worse on dry pavement as well, due to the possibly play in the higher profile sidewall vs low profile tires.

[msanford]

Thanks for your reply darksparkz.

I went with some Gislaved Nordfrost 5 (non-studded) 205 55 16 on steel rims.