rktskicar

whoa. I worked on the Alaska pipeline from Valdez to Isabel pass. Also worked at Cape Lisburne just below Barrow in the old days. Have also worked at NakNek,

Bruce
old and moldy.

sworksone

seinsmeld13

I am running 225-45-18 Yokohama W-drive. They are excellent tires. I went with this size as my friend who owns a performance shop was about to return them and gave me them at cost. If I had to pay full price I would have ordered 245-40-18. If you decide to go with 225's one negative when using the stock rims they would be more susceptible to curb rash.

quattrovant

Hey Hey How small the world is...Know your work areas well. I also was w/Fluor & Green Co. from Valdez to Pump Station 6 on the Yukon River. We might have crossed paths...Many stories to tell w/LOL but don't want to steal the thread here... So Bruce you know about tall tires working well, even in some snow covered "tundra"..LOL

Excelsior7

A thinner tire puts more pressure down, which helps for traction on ice, and digs through light snow to reach pavement below. In addition, the narrower profile allows the tire to track through the snow almost like a sled runner, giving better lateral stability.

I'm pretty sure it would be impossible to fit tires that are wide enough to float on top of snow on a passenger car, and I doubt most people are going to be tackling feet-deep snow in these cars.

The biggest downside is that a narrower tire deflects more than a wider one, which is the principle reason wide tires are used on performance cars. (Maximum traction is not dependent on surface area.) However; I find that most snow tires have such terrible performance on dry pavement and ESPECIALLY wet pavement that you won't be able to put much lateral load on them anyway.

I've got 225's on my 335. One barely notices the difference. Who spends their time looking at the width of your tires anyway?

zooomart

I run 235/45/18 which show 1-2 mph slow on the speedo ( 1-2 mph slower than actual). I like the handling just fine, slightly taller and narrower than stock 245/40/18. Look fine to these eyes.
Merry Christmas

Excelsior7

Additionally, a taller tire means more ground clearance which means you can get through deeper snow.

Now, if only someone made a spacer lift for the S4

(For the non-off-road types here, a spacer lift involves placing a hard spacer between the top of the spring and the spring seat, effectively increasing ground clearance at the expense of uptravel. I don't even know if the S4 has enough slack in the shocks and suspension geometry to accomodate such a thing, but you never know.)