1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
![]() | [Main 9000 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ |
Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ]
Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Re: Winter wheel dilemma...looking for some opinions Posted by sam96CS [Email] ![]() ![]() In Reply to: Winter wheel dilemma...looking for some opinions, turrbo ![]() ![]() |
Disclaimer: I know nothing about New England winter driving. My '96 is not a super CS, but the PO bought the same Fondmetals and shod them with 195/65R-15 tires. You'll definitely lose some steering response, but I understand narrower tires are better for winter driving. The tire manufacturers publish a range of wheel widths that are suitable for each size tires. 7" will be at the high end of the acceptable range for 195s probably. Verify before you buy.
How well will it work? The industry rule of thumb is that for every 1/2" change in rim width, the tire's actual section width will correspondingly change by approximately 2/10", which is about 5 mm. The area of the contact patch will be about the same whether your rims are wide or skinny. With wide rims the shape of the patch will be wider and shorter than it will be with narrow rims.
I don't know how the above impacts New England winter driving. If you buy 195s that are suitable for mounting on your 7" Fondmetal rims and on narrower rims, then you can put the same tires on narrower rims if the handling isn't acceptable.
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |