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Minus sizing


waqaszohair

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Hi guys, 

I wanted to know if someone has experience in installing snow/winters tires, yes I have moved to Canada so expecting much ice and snow here. My OEM size is 225/65 R17. Based on my reviews downsizing kind of help with traction on ice. My options are 215/70 R16 (2% less in overall diameter) or 225/70 R16 (-0.4%). Which one is a better option?

Second question: Micheline Xice and Bridgestone Blizzak top the chart however Cooper Discoverer M+S are 25 percent cheaper.  Should i go with the Coopers instead?

@Gaurav @Rahimdad @Barry 

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It snows 4-5 months out of the year in my home place. 

My advice is to stick to the same tyre size. Any brand of winter tyre is ok as long as it’s a winter tyre. Even the cheaper tyres will offer you better grip than standard summer tyres. Change all 4 though. If you only change 2 you are asking for disaster. 

For driving on ice, you need studded tyres which are hella expensive but if you’re on regular roads with snow, winter tyres are fine. 

Try to get yourself into an empty car park or open space. Learn how to use the handbrake to slide the car. Learn about countersteering. It will help you loads. 

Another bit of advice, go the the scrapyard and pick up a set of steel rims, 40-50 dollars and put your winter tyres on them. Even if you have an accident and bend one, your nice wheels are sitting in the garage undamaged waiting for summer. If you don’t damage your winter wheels, they are still waiting for next year along with your tyres. 

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@Barry Thank you for the detailed feedback, there is always something new to learn from you. 

car park advice sounds fun and practical for the real stuff when it does happen. i would love if you can share link of some youtube video ao i know exactly what to do. 

 

@Rahimdad missing the sun and sand a lot. needless to say carnity has always been there when in need. distance does not matter :)

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@waqaszohair, Barry gave you some excellent advice, but I would add this- enroll in an advanced driving course in Canada that covers driving on ice and snow. You just cannot learn how to do this by watching YouTube videos.    

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Nice to hear from you @waqaszohair after a long time. Hope you are enjoying in Canada

For the minus sizing, I honestly have no clue for ice terrain as I never lived in one. Last year I drove for a week in London a rented BMW and my brother's Discovery and realize that tires for snow and ice terrain have some great relevance as BMW probably has all weather tires and mostly skidding on corners a lot, as compared to Discovery that has winter tires.

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Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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In Turkey we are keeping 2 different set of tire. The one you going to keep for winter,you may take the smaller size. For the summer one you will have original size to have maximum handling. Best thing to do check the local agent for your car. Which size they are offering for your car. 

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I’ve had a look through YouTube and I couldn’t see anything I’d recommend. You just need to experience it and gain confidence. The best advice I can give is don’t brake, it will upset the handling even more. Plant the accelerator and steer into the slide. It will feel counterintuitive but that’s what you need to do. Implement techniques that you have learned in sand too such as rocking the car on the clutch to get unstuck. I found a lot of stuff I learned in snow can be applied to sand so you can reverse engineer it.

You might laugh at this, but get on the Xbox and play some driving sims like PGR or Forza. It will give you an idea of how a car reacts to different inputs.  But if you can drift a GT40 at 140 MPH on the TV, don’t assume you can do it in real life. 

Watch some in car rally videos on YouTube too, see how the drivers react when the car slides around corners. You’ll be doing this in no time 

 

 

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