Winter tyre size

[robwils]

Taking my 20s off for the winter and got some 19inch 437’s to put winter tyres on for my F80 M3.
Quite difficult to get matching tyres for front and rear in Uk (in my preferred brands).

One possibility is to put 255/35 on all 4 tyres instead of 255 front and 275 rear.
Wheels are 9J front and 10J rear.
These seem to be one step down from what is standard on an M2 for summer too (265).

Any issues putting 255’s on the rear ? With the 10j width ?
Should I go up a profile to 40?
I don’t really need them for snow performance, I will use my little Toyota Aygo with its skinny tyres if it gets that bad. More really for the cold wet weather we will see for most of winter here in Uk.

Cheers
Rob

[jd__m4]

No issues. I have 255's square on 437's for winter. There's a little stretch on the rear, but nothing to worry about.

[DadVibes]

I'm in the same boat and have been holding off on getting winter tires because of it. Even as I sit here and stare at snow falling out of my window with my car now stuck in the garage...

From what I've gathered, it looks like figuring out a square setup really is the way to go for winter, especially so you can rotate the tires properly to help extend their life.

While I'm not completely opposed to stretching a 255 tire on a 10" wheel, I'm wondering if it might be slightly more beneficial to run a square 265/35 setup. This should yield the following benefits...

- Less tire stretch on the rear 10" wheel
- More cushion with the slightly taller tire in both front and rear
- More rubber on the ground and more traction in dry conditions (which is what I drive in 99% of the winter)


The obviously downside is that a wider tread is less ideal in deeper snow. This is where the narrower 255 would see benefit. But, would a 10mm width increase (~7mm, once mounted) really make that much of a difference, in this case? I'm inclined to believe a square 265 setup would have more pros than cons than a square 255 setup on the 437m's. Not to mention that going with 265 would only require a change of +10mm front and -10mm rear, rather than a full -20mm decrease in the rear.

Curious to hear what others say.

[robwils]

Originally Posted by S4toM3

I'm in the same boat and have been holding off on getting winter tires because of it. Even as I sit here and stare at snow falling out of my window with my car now stuck in the garage...

From what I've gathered, it looks like figuring out a square setup really is the way to go for winter, especially so you can rotate the tires properly to help extend their life.

While I'm not completely opposed to stretching a 255 tire on a 10" wheel, I'm wondering if it might be slightly more beneficial to run a square 265/35 setup. This should yield the following benefits...

- Less tire stretch on the rear 10" wheel
- More cushion with the slightly taller tire in both front and rear
- More rubber on the ground and more traction in dry conditions (which is what I drive in 99% of the winter)


The obviously downside is that a wider tread is less ideal in deeper snow. This is where the narrower 255 would see benefit. But, would a 10mm width increase (~7mm, once mounted) really make that much of a difference, in this case? I'm inclined to believe a square 265 setup would have more pros than cons than a square 255 setup on the 437m's. Not to mention that going with 265 would only require a change of +10mm front and -10mm rear, rather than a full -20mm decrease in the rear.

Curious to hear what others say.

Might make sense, as mentioned above the current rear tyres on the 437’s I have are 265 as they were taken off an M2. Not too much choice on the 265’s but there are some OE merc ones at that size.

New to all of this myself, but found this too, which you can input wheel size to see what min, Max and ideal are.
Apologies if you were aware.


https://www.tyresizecalculator.com/t...dth-calculator



Cheers

Rob

[DadVibes]

Originally Posted by robwils

Might make sense, as mentioned above the current rear tyres on the 437’s I have are 265 as they were taken off an M2. Not too much choice on the 265’s but there are some OE merc ones at that size.

New to all of this myself, but found this too, which you can input wheel size to see what min, Max and ideal are.
Apologies if you were aware.


https://www.tyresizecalculator.com/t...dth-calculator


Cheers

Rob

I apologize, I missed that from your initial post. Out of curiosity, are you running 265 square or 265 rear and 255 front? Regardless, I imagine the stretch with 265 on the 10j wheel isn't terrible, correct?

I'm personally leaning towards 265/35 square on my staggered 437m setup, for the reasons I listed as "benefits" above. Tire Rack has the highly rated Pilot Alpin PA4's in 265/35/19 in stock and ready to ship.

I have seen that site you linked. I personally use the following when looking at different setups. Both are great options to have though!

https://www.willtheyfit.com/

[robwils]

Originally Posted by S4toM3

I apologize, I missed that from your initial post. Out of curiosity, are you running 265 square or 265 rear and 255 front? Regardless, I imagine the stretch with 265 on the 10j wheel isn't terrible, correct?

I'm personally leaning towards 265/35 square on my staggered 437m setup, for the reasons I listed as "benefits" above. Tire Rack has the highly rated Pilot Alpin PA4's in 265/35/19 in stock and ready to ship.

No worries, i didn’t run them on my car, only picked them up second hand a few weeks ago. The fronts on the M2 are 255 I think, but your right the rears with 265 look Ok. I will try to take a pic but I like the thinking about 265s as square , I’ll see what tyre calc says for the front 9J wheels.

Cheers

Rob

[DadVibes]

Originally Posted by robwils

No worries, i didn’t run them on my car, only picked them up second hand a few weeks ago. The fronts on the M2 are 255 I think, but your right the rears with 265 look Ok. I will try to take a pic but I like the thinking about 265s as square , I’ll see what tyre calc says for the front 9J wheels.

Cheers

Rob

FWIW - I've been searching around and I'm finding a few people who have been using 265/35 winter tires square on the staggered 437m's for multiple winters and have nothing but great things to say. I haven't found anyone who has tried it and regretted it. Just some who regret running 255 on a 10" wheel due to stretch, leading to a bumpier ride and less wheel lip protection.

I think I'll be going the 265/35 route, personally. I already use 265/35 in the front for my summer setup and have been perfectly happy with it, in terms of overall feel and steering. The only new variable for me will be going from a 285 in the rear to a 265. But the stock 275 in the rear felt perfectly fine too so I don't imagine I'll really be able to feel much of a difference on a daily basis.

[F80Speed77]

Not all 255's are created equally and actual tire width varies by manufacturer so be sure to check Tire Rack for actual measured widths.

[trey100]

Just getting my winters put on and the tire shop was calling me to say the square 255s can't be installed on staggered stock 19's. I ran 3 years on same size Nokians that seemed fine besides crappy straight line traction in the dry. I told them to just install them.

[espressoo]

Just curious why some of you are installing square setup tires on different width wheels? I know you rather have narrower winter tires but you can’t rotate them. Also how are 255 in the rears in dry driving conditions? Does it give you enough grip for a 400hp rwd car?

[trey100]

Originally Posted by espressoo

Just curious why some of you are installing square setup tires on different width wheels? I know you rather have narrower winter tires but you can't rotate them. Also how are 255 in the rears in dry driving conditions? Does it give you enough grip for a 400hp rwd car?

The tires I am putting on (Continental Viking 7) are directional but many can be rotated I am guessing.

For me, the square setup is done because there are more choices available. Check tire rack and the stock 19" sizes (255/275) only show the Sottozeros. If I was going to put on a performance winter it would be the Michelin Pilot Alpin 4's or Continental 8xx series outside the US. But for studless tires, the 255 square setup has more choices.

Traction in a straight line on the studless ones were terrible in the dry for me but strangely enough worse once at speed than off the line. 6th gear dip into the throttle and the power gets cut and traction light flickers. Nokian Hakka R2s. I haven't driven on the Viking 7's yet but I expect the same. From what I hear the performance winters are fine for traction. In the snow the R2s didn't disappoint. Never even a slight concern driving in all types of conditions.

[trey100]

Originally Posted by F80Speed77

Not all 255's are created equally and actual tire width varies by manufacturer so be sure to check Tire Rack for actual measured widths.

It will list the maximum rim width for a specific tire size. So if you go 255s make sure the tire you get lists 10" as an option.

[DadVibes]

Originally Posted by espressoo

Just curious why some of you are installing square setup tires on different width wheels? I know you rather have narrower winter tires but you can’t rotate them. Also how are 255 in the rears in dry driving conditions? Does it give you enough grip for a 400hp rwd car?

Trey already answered the questions, I believe. But yes, it's extremely difficult to find a staggered winter tire setup for 255/275 sizing. It's much easier to just go with a square setup. It also allows for proper tire rotation to help increase longevity.

Like Trey said, the only 255/275 staggered option currently available (that I can find, at least) is the sottozero 3. And that tire has pretty poor reviews/ratings for anything other than dry conditions.

I've made the decision to go with the Michelin Alpin PA4's due to they great reviews of them, both in dry and snow conditions. I'm going with 265/35 square to keep as much tread as possible in the rear without over-stretching. The only caveat to this is that everywhere I've checked can only get 3 of them with the 4th coming in sometime mid-December. This includes Tire Rack. So I'm going to keep watching until Tire Rack or one of my local shops can get all 4. At which point, I'll pull the trigger.