BMW M5 Forum and M6 Forums banner

Style 66 rear tire size

16K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  apexilude 
#1 ·
Looking to run staggered style 66 for winter, 17 x 8 front, 17 x 9 rear. I know the fronts run on 235/45/17 but can't figure out what tire size to run for the rear. I thought it'd be 265/40/17, but no snow tires come in that size:confused:?
 
#3 ·
That's a good point Doug, I'll give TR a ring. I run 17s mainly for pot hole defense. Over winter, the roads here crack a lot, but we rarely have unplowed accumulation. The reason I want wider rears is for 80% of the time when it's cold and dry, 8" rears are simply too difficult to put the power down.
 
#7 ·
if you're running snows, skinnier is better.

245 will fit fine, you may need to increase the profile by aspect ratio by 5, though.


You shouldnt' be comprimising in snow driving. When it's dry is when it's most predictable: if anything, you should be sacrificing dry grip for snow control as that's where most of the risk is.
 
#8 ·
Get some 215's - it's what all of the cool kids are doing ;)

Snow tires suck when the roads are clear, that is just a fact and everybody needs to accept it. They are superior in the snow, so you have to decide on how you want to make the tradeoff.
 
#11 ·
There's something of a misconception surrounding winter tyres - particularly in the UK, anyway, where people are only recently starting to know they exist (and that demand rapidly exceeds supply!). There's still a notion that they're all about chunky treads, but the reality is that the performance of standard tyres starts to go off at about 7C (that's 44F). The effectiveness of winter/cold weather tyres is primarily in the compound which works much better at low temperatures. The tread patterns are not extreme. In most parts of the UK, their value lies far more in their ability to work on icy roads than in snow - which can be a rarity (not where I am though!)

A few times a year I have to drive on untreated roads which have a nice layer of ice, compacted snow on top of that, another layer of ice, and then maybe fresh snow. The Nokians on the DD are completely unfazed; people on standard tyres get stuck. There again, unlike the Beast the DD isn't trying to put 400BHP onto the road through the rear wheels, which is not the ideal way to go looking for grip......... I haven't tried the Beast on winter tyres in icy conditions - be interested to know how others have found them. A fellow Beast owner reckons it's the safest car he's ever owned when it comes to icy conditions, as on standard tyres it doesn't even manage to get off his driveway!
 
#13 · (Edited)
Consider this a one year update, I ended up going with Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 studless snow tires. Since my style 66 were staggered 17x8 and 17x9, I opted for 235/45/17 front and 245/45/17 rear. No chance to rotate them, but I felt that gave me a better footprint since most of where I drive in the winter will be dry but cold asphalt.

So after one and a half seasons, the verdict is clear. These tires grip in the snow/ice/sleet like a MOFO! However, in complete dry roads, they can feel squirmish (is that a word?). I don't recall their speed ratings, but I did not feel comfortable taking them past 120.

If I were to choose again, I'd probably go for performance winters instead of studless snow simply based on the amount of snowfall we get in New York. Hope this helps someone out in the future.

Edit: 255/40 would've been my first choice, but there was no snow tires in that size when I looked.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top