Hey, this is my first time buying wheels, and I went with 18" wheels and Kumho Supra 712's. I live in colorado where it snows quite a bit. I will change to my stock wheels just cuz I dont want to ruin my nice ones, but do low profile tires preform and worse in the snow?

Thanks

 

hey man i'm in MN and we get dumped on with tons of snow. Let me tell you, get some good 15 michlins or you can have two set of tires one for the summer and the other for winter. As soon as my tires wear out i'm gonna wrap them in some Brigestone winter tires and then order my 17's
PS> snow suck

 

The profile makes almost no difference. Its what the tire was made for that does.

 

yes...whether their all-season or winter/snow or summer high-performance. See http://www.tirerack.com for an explanation. Different compounds of rubber have different properties at different temperatures...kinda like the viscosity of motor oil: some designed for high-temp hot enviornments...some for low temp cold enviornments....

 

Very true... I found this out with my SP9000s, which have a silicone-based compound. During the winter, they don't exuberate the same gripping properties when it's warm outside... and it's a HUGE difference.

 

I think that was an extreme understatement.
I had trouble stopping from 5mph in 1/2 inch of snow on my KES 712's.

 

try snow on bald tires and stock wheels....haha, it was fun in parking lots though....

 

Actually it does. The idea with snow tires is too cut deep into the snow and reach the road surface. Generally low profile tires are also wide and don't allow the car to sink down into the snow. Instead it holds the car up just above the road surface since the weight is distributed over a larger area.

If you look at some wheel and snow tire packages they use a smaller wheel and tire.

So it's a combo of tread design, size, and compound.

 

You are making an assumption.

 

Think about it you are spreading 3000lbs over 4 205 55 tires or over 4 185 65 tires. Now that weight will be more concentrated over a smaller area. Now why is FWD so good in the snow v. RWD, cause we have the motors weight over the front tires pushing them deep into the snow. It's not an assumption it's Physics.

I live in NH, I know a thing or two about snow tires and driving in the snow.

 

You are assuming that the lower profile tires are 1. on bigger wheels, and 2. are wider than those on smaller wheels. And that was not the question that was posed. You are right, but your making assumptions and drawing conclusion about a subtopic.

I live in NY, we get snow too.

 

The low profile tires will be on 18" wheels and Supra 712's as stated in my original quetion. Thanks for all of the replies, its been helpful.