Rim size for rabbit (mk1) snow tires?

[ldeikis]

We're moving further north (from upstate NY to further upstate NY) and I'm thinking I'll finally get some proper snow tires.  It seems like the smart play in the long run is to pick up some spare steel rims and get tires mounted on them, then I can just take them off and on seasonally instead of paying for a mount/balance twice a year.  Storage isn't an issue.

The car's an 81 with stock suspension.  I believe I'm running 13s now (stock steelies).  Should I stay with 13s so I have room for bigger meaner tread, or step up to 14s (I don't know, for more clearance and some more crunching capacity???).  Anyone have suggestions on actual brands?  I use the car to run around town a little, but also have a long once a week commute (180 miles each way, from snow country to NYC and back).

--Luke

[srgtlord]

WHatever is cheaper. Its your call. I personally have 14's because I have found so many free snow tires and rims.

[VWCaddy]

Tall and skinny works well from my experience.  I used to run some 145-80R13 Kleber snow tires on 13x4.5 factory steel rims and they were awesome.  I had the wheels so picked up the tires to fit. 

[theman53]

I like the 13s as well. Best riding tire I have tried size wise is the 175/70r13 but tall and skinny is the best on snow and ice. 155/80r13 is good. The wider the less ground pressure and the easier it is to break them loose on snow.

[DCC]

I concur. The 13s are for me the best choice.

As for brands, Nokian's are great. I tested them on 13s in a friend's car on snow and they are very fine. Good on braking while keeping great steering control. I was surprised as well with Pirelli's snowcontrol (on 15s, on a mk2 gtd swapped to tdi).

[8v-of-fury]

Gf's '90 has 185/65/14 Nordic's and they are amazing in the snow..

The rim diameter means nothing, its the width of the tire that has to do with it. A 155/80/13 or 155/70/14 is essentially the same tire, only difference is rim size.. and a very small difference in side wall height.. HOWEVER! a 155 compared to say a 205 on the same car (being a light mk1), the 155 will outperform in the winter. There is more weight per square inch of tire contact to the driving surface.. therefore giving it a much better adhesion to the ground. Don't get me wrong a 205 winter will still do wonders, but it wont be as good as a thin tire.

Why do you think an old army Jeep never gets stuck? They have like 135mm width tires!

[Rabbit TD]

Gf's '90 has 185/65/14 Nordic's and they are amazing in the snow..

The rim diameter means nothing, its the width of the tire that has to do with it. A 155/80/13 or 155/70/14 is essentially the same tire, only difference is rim size.. and a very small difference in side wall height.. HOWEVER! a 155 compared to say a 205 on the same car (being a light mk1), the 155 will outperform in the winter. There is more weight per square inch of tire contact to the driving surface.. therefore giving it a much better adhesion to the ground. Don't get me wrong a 205 winter will still do wonders, but it wont be as good as a thin tire.

Why do you think an old army Jeep never gets stuck? They have like 135mm width tires!

Amen to that, I always said too that it's the same reason they sell so many 4 wheels drives today.  The stock tires have gotten so wide on everything that the same thing in a 2 wheel drive version would be lucky to get out of the driveway with the tires used now.  Skinnier is always best in snow.  Think farm tractor for pulling (tall and skinny) but I don't know how a John Deere handles at 75 mph. though

[Rabbit TD]

Tall and skinny works well from my experience.  I used to run some 145-80R13 Kleber snow tires on 13x4.5 factory steel rims and they were awesome.  I had the wheels so picked up the tires to fit. 

That sounds like a real nice set up to me, I wish I'd have went that way myself for the snow tires.  And it keeps the entire rotating mass weight down too which means a lot on these small lower powered cars.  I just went from 155x80 13's to 175x70 13's.  I measured both for heigth first for curiosity about gearing and they weren't off more than a sixteenth of an inch if that but you can feel a definate loss when first starting out due to the over-all mass weight difference.  It probably doesn't matter much once you get past 100 hp. or so but it is definately feelable on 70 or less but the 175's do ride nice though.  Cooper Touring GLS's., nothing special just nice tire but it's not a snow tire by any means.

[catlin_cava]

I ran wide tires on hard packed snow is great but ice and snow...THEY SUCK!!! lol, Especially 2054017s

[R.O.R-2.0]

I ran wide tires on hard packed snow is great but ice and snow...THEY SUCK!!! lol, Especially 205/40/17s

narrow tires, 155/80/13 my rabbit did better than my 4x4 toyota with 35" BFG mudders..

its really fun drifting in the snow, just yard the e-brake and rail down..

my tires were studded snow tires, but i chased someone down the first night i had the tires, so after that they were not so studded... but still worked good.

[8v-of-fury]

my tires were studded snow tires, but i chased someone down the first night i had the tires, so after that they were not so studded... but still worked good.

lmfao, I can only imagine

[R.O.R-2.0]

b@$tards EGGED my car, i was slightly mad.. didnt care about the tires at that point..

[AudiVWguy]

Find out if New York allows studs. If they do have them installed on the new tires. Tests show that Blizzaks perform well, although they are a slightly better ice tire than deep snow. For deep snow, go with  a Hakaplita from Nokian.
Cheers,
-JB

[ldeikis]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

I'm still shopping around, trying to sort out the options of what I can find used.  Looks like I'm looking for 13s and narrow rubber if I have my druthers, but will go for 14s if that's how it has to go.  Less rolling mass is definitely a plus-- I have to downshift a couple places already where I wish I could just keep pulling 5th.  I don't know if NY allows studs--I think not--but my "commute" is from way upstate down to the city, so I'd eat them to hell on the dry part of that.  I go from a real winter to a pretty tame mid-atlantic slush pile and back, so a lot of the miles are usually on clean, if not totally dry, ground.  It's just when I'm at home I live in rural snow country.

Luke 

[catlin_cava]

I find studs rather useless, Spin like crazy on dry pave. I'm running 185/65/15s on my 2001 TDI compared to the 195/65/15, Narrow little tires cut threw snow and slush nicely, and roll good. Now back to studs, if you do alot of pave road driving, don't waste your money, if you live on backroads and dirt roads that get hard packed with snow all winter then Maybe stud them.

155/85/13s would be a perfect tire for the winter, and there isn't alot of resistance with that sizes(put a set on my GTI this summer for fun and burnt them off in 1 after-noon of driving)

Now where in the US studs are allowed and not.
Ten states prohibit studded snow tires: Alabama, Texas, Florida, Maryland (exception five mountain counties), Louisiana, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Mississippi and Wisconsin. The District of Columbia and 33 states have seasonal restrictions: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. Seven states allow unrestricted use of studded tires: Colorado, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Kentucky, New Mexico, Vermont and Wyoming.

Read more: What States Do Not Allow Studded Tires? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_5468627_states-not-allow-studded-tires.html#ixzz14qd8QBc0
I got the info from that site