If you happen to stay in a snowy a part of the world, you’ve seemingly come throughout the assertion that slim tires provide higher grip within the snow. Conversely, you might have encountered the argument that wider tires are superior as a result of they supply extra rubber floor, leading to elevated grip. So who’s appropriate?

Properly, Tyre Opinions determined to seek out out, and put 4 winter tires of various width on the identical automotive, to see which one was greatest in a brand new video. All had been from Hankook and the three widest had been from the identical line, nevertheless, the slimmest one featured a distinct tread sample, which can have affected its efficiency.

So, which one carried out the most effective? Properly, from a subjective viewpoint, it was laborious to say for certain. The host stories that the entire tires labored effectively on the take a look at monitor, with just some minor variations in really feel. The one clear benefit that the narrowest tire had was its further sidewall, which made driving alongside the bumpy snow monitor a little bit extra snug.

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YT 2023 Tire Width Test 1 1024x577 - Auto Recent

Sadly, the info wasn’t an entire lot extra useful. Neither the widest nor the slimmest tire had been the quickest. Really, the second-narrowest tire (225/45 R18) had the most effective lap of 82.29 seconds, which was a little bit below a second quicker than the 205/60 R16 tire and round 2.4 seconds quicker than the widest tire mixture, which paired a 255/35 R19 on the entrance with a 275/35 R19 on the again.

The information solely will get extra complicated in relation to braking and acceleration assessments. Whereas the narrowest tire was actually the quickest off the road, it took the longest within the braking take a look at. As a traditional driver, I do know which I’d want, and it’s the power to decelerate.

In the end, when all of the take a look at outcomes had been tallied up, the narrowest tire did come out on prime. Nevertheless, the channel says that the variations had been very small. A lot the truth is, that the tire compound and tread sample make a a lot greater affect on efficiency.

And which will really be what’s occurring right here. If you happen to get rid of the narrowest tire, which contains a totally different tread sample, and look solely on the three others, the distinction in efficiency is negligible. So in case you’re in search of the most effective efficiency attainable this winter, you need to be searching for design and compound, not width.