i have these wheels with 215/45/17 falkens

handles great in dry and wet conditions
but man they are dangerous in the snow.

i live in the nj suburbs near manhattan. 2 days ago when it snowed i was driving to work and the traction control light was flashing constantly. coming down the street on a slight decline going about 8 mph i hit the brakes lightly and the car started to slide so gradually applied more and more pressure till both my feet were on the brakes car slid about 10 feet and stopped in the middle of an intersection. its a good thing there were no cars around or i would have been t boned.

these tires are m + s rated all season tires and they have alot of tread left on em i'm surprised they have such poor traction in the snow.

 

What do you expect? you have a low profile and wide tires!

 

It's not about the profile, but about the footprint. According to the handy-dandy discount tire calculator, your tires are 1.18" wider than stock, meaning that they won't bite nearly as well in slippery conditions. If you're like a lot of folks, they're probably over-inflated, as well, further reducing grip...

There's no free lunch with tire selection...

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...TireMathNS.jsp

Corvettes, for example, are notoriously bad in snow- just leave it in the garage. Why? big fat tires, that's why...

 

The low profile has some effect, but the wider tire makes the biggest difference. For snow & ice, narrow is better. (It's all about PSI.) Of course, real snow tires on stock steel wheels are the best setup.

So is there lots of snow up in Jersey this winter?

 

Damn, beat me by 2 minutes.

 

no very light snow this year first snowfall of the year in fact.

but i dont think a 45 series tire is low profile. and the tires are inflated only to 32 psi because i'm trying to keep the ride plush.

 

Mine go great in the snow, ice, and rain. My fiance has 225/45 17s on her car and they go better than anything this side of a snow tire on her car.

 

my g/f has a 205/45/16 on her accord and they suck in the snow. it snowed over the weekend and she was sliding all over the place

 

I had these for a while...they're good all seasons, but forget snow...get snow tires on your stock steelies for when the white stuff starts to fall. When there's ice, just stay in.

 

yea these tires are way too wide for snow and plus there is too much psi in them as everyone is saying steelies would be better but i recommend throwing your stockies back on...i was gonna keep my konigs on but said forget it just not worth it to try and make it in any type of wintry weather