Winter time in Canada; tire size question.
 

I was thinking about getting a set of snows and steelies for the winter, and I have a question about using a different size. In the interest of saving a few bucks, I was going to go with 205/55R16s instead of stock size.

Has anyone tried using "pizza cutters" this narrow on an SVX before? The load rating indicates it would be safe in that regard, but I am guessing it has an adverse effect on braking performance. Can anyone confirm or deny this theory?

They will work and will perform better than stock in virtually all winter conditions.

If you want a bit more clearance you could also go with 215/55-16's or 205/60-16's.

225/50-16: 24.86" tall
205/55-16: 24.88" tall
215/55-16: 25.31" tall (what I'm using)
205/60-16: 25.68" tall

I have 205/55/R16s on my SVX. They suck on corners and look weird, but work well in the snow.

Thanks for the advice, guys. Being as you live in Winnipeg, Earthworm, I know you know what REAL winter is like ;)

My main concern would be that I would lose braking performance with narrower tires (more weight/inertia ditributed over less surface area). If you say this isn't a problem, I will believe you. That size is always cheaper anyway.

I am going to stick with stock tire diameter though, since taller tires might also screw up the ABS if I go too tall. In any case, while I used to live in Northern Ontario, I live in Southern Ontario now, so ground clearance won't be an issue like it would have been before :)

Winter tires in width 205 were common here for the SVX. There's no technical problem with breaking etc.

On snow, a little less width usually gives you better grip, due to higher pressure

Subaru also made a set of steel rims for the SVX with the right offset and strong enough.

Narrow tires will tend to cut down into the snow, wider ones will ride up 'on top' of the snow.

The last time I checked, I didn't have a lot of extra ground clearance on my SVX so I went with the stock size.

Hm, thanks again for the input. I didn't know that Subaru made steelies especially for the SVX. I was going to use steelies for Ford Probe/Mazda MX-6 applications, but perhaps I'll check with my local Subaru dealer and see how much they want for steel rims.

As long as all the tires are the same size your ABS will not complain. It doesn't matter what size you choose.

I'm looking at winter skins as well, and will more then likely go with 215/55-16" (stock 97' size) on the stock rims. I'm currently running 225/50-16's (stock 92-96 size) on aftermarket AMR rims.