For quite a long time, it was believed that winter tires must be narrow and high-profile. Indeed, when the only means of improving behavior is winter road there were thorns, there were no other options. But with the advent rubber compounds based on silica and the development of lamella technology (see. ), this problem has been significantly mitigated. Moreover, real winter studless ones have also appeared. – wide, with low profile and serious

What differences will there be if you compare two identical models, but in different sizes? In this case, all the initial data except the dimensions are the same. This means that the difference in results will be caused only by the tire geometry.

Similar tests have been carried out by many European publications. In Russia, “Behind the Wheel” distinguished itself, making a comparison dimensions 195/65R15 and 205/55R16.

Neither European nor Russian journalists discovered the sensation - tire behavior is very similar. However, there is a difference.

It's obvious that The larger the contact area of ​​the tires with the road surface, the better the braking properties. A larger contact patch allows for more complete braking force. This is true on asphalt - the braking distance is inversely proportional to the width of the tire. Simply put, wide tires They brake better.

On ice, the situation is different - studded tires exert braking force on such a surface mainly by “biting” the studs into the ice. And with the same number of spikes there should be no difference. The test results confirmed this.

Slashnapping (sliding on snow) is better resisted by more narrow tires. The reason is the lower specific pressure on the snow. Here the “old fashioned” rule – the narrower the better, works 100 percent. When the wider tires float up, the narrow ones still retain traction.

But with large lateral loads, both on ice and snow, a wide tread is a benefit. The physics is again simple - the increased contact area in this case allows you to achieve large lateral overloads without sliding. This rule is in principle similar to that for summer tires. Not for nothing sports cars equipped with wide tires.

If we talk about cross-country ability, then again narrower tires with a high profile win here - a smaller contact area allows you to more effectively remove snow or water from the contact patch. The tread gets washed out later.

However, the whole difference here is on the verge of nuances - 2-3 percent of the difference does not play a big role. But this is only in case little difference in sizes. If you compare tires with a profile width that differs by more than 10 percent, the difference will be more noticeable. What recommendations can you give?

If you drive on studded tires and consider their main advantage to be cross-country ability, then your choice is narrower tires. If, on the contrary, your credo is active driving in “mild” winter conditions, then a wider tread is for you. Especially if the tires are not studded.

But the main conclusion is even simpler - to be afraid of wide winter tires not worth it.

Actually, it’s already mid-November and most car enthusiasts have already changed their shoes. But today I saw a couple of cars on summer tires, as for me, this is completely wrong. Not only are they risking their health and their car, but they are also setting pedestrians up. In general, change your shoes on time and it doesn’t matter that the snow hasn’t fallen yet.

They asked me a tricky question about the width by email. winter tires, because you know very well that you can take tires of clearly different widths for your car. And if it’s better to take it wider, then you’ll have to deal with the winter one. Go…

You all know very well that the first parameter that you can see from the markings is responsible for the width of the tire. That is, a 215/65R16 tire will be exactly 215 mm wide. But there are also wide ones from 265 mm and narrow ones from 175 mm.

Let’s take for example the popular - excellent “breeches”, which have collected many positive feedback. However, here’s the problem - the size range is very wide; for diameter r16, the narrowest tires will be 185/55, and the widest will be 275/70. The difference in width is as much as 9 cm. What tire size should I choose for winter to make driving comfortable?

Look - a narrow, high profile tire is designed primarily to cut through drifts/snow to get to a hard surface and grab onto it with its studs. Therefore, narrow tires are more suitable for deep snow, when you need to dig into the snow and reach a solid surface.

When a tire rolls well in the snow, it’s just great; many Russian cities are cleared of snow only on holidays, so in a good snowfall, being shod with narrow tires, you will be “on horseback.” However, there are also disadvantages, which you probably guessed yourself)) I’ll tell you - the contact patch. A narrow tire will have a noticeably lower contact patch with a hard surface than a wide one. Therefore, driving on bare ice or icy asphalt with narrow tires will be very uncomfortable.

High tires make the car unstable, so the car will roll more when cornering. So for winter it is justified to take high wheels if you drive purely in snowdrifts and snowy off-road conditions.

Wide winter tires, and even studded ones, will allow you to feel confident on any icy road without snow, the contact patch of the middle part of the tire will be maximum, thanks to which the car will hold firmly on the ice, and will also noticeably increase directional stability from lateral drifts.

It seems that everything is clear, but there are still nuances - the recommended tire size for your car and the maximum possible deviations (they are also called tolerances). Before buying winter tires, or any tires in general, read the booklet for your car, find out the recommended tire size and possible deviations. Based on this, make your purchase.

But remember that if you buy a tire slightly larger than the recommended size, you run the risk that the wheel will touch the arch (even if not with the steering wheel in a straight position, but definitely when turning). That is why SUVs are lifted (raised by 2 inches or more) so that it is possible to install a wider and larger tire; for mud, this option will be optimal than the standard and narrower sizes.

Imagine the picture - they put narrow rubber on the Niva, it began to cut through the mud and “cut” until it sat on its belly. We have seen this more than once, especially in the spring slush on the field, the car, even with standard tires, sinks into the mud up to its “belly”, as soon as you press the pedal a little. Because under the mud you can’t reach the hard surface))

When choosing winter tires, questions often arise: which tires? better in winter– wide or narrow. There is an opinion that if the tires are studded, then they are effective on ice until they are completely worn out. To answer these questions, at the end of last winter we conducted two non-standard test. In one of them, we compared the braking characteristics and acceleration dynamics of winter tires on ice and snow with different widths tread pattern, and in another, on the same winter surfaces, they tested similar properties of a new studded tire and a worn one. The results were as follows.

Wide vs narrow

205/55R16

225/45R17

In the debate about which tires are better on ice and snow - wide or narrow, supporters of the latter base their arguments on the fact that narrow tires have higher specific pressure in a smaller contact patch. The opposite side has different arguments: wide tires have a large total length of lamellas, which provide traction properties on slippery surfaces. We decided to find the answer to this controversial issue and compared two tire sizes on ice and snow Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 – 205/55R16 and 225/45R17. For comparison adhesion properties We conducted four tests: acceleration on ice, braking on ice, acceleration on snow and braking on snow. The result was mixed. So, on ice, a wider tire (225/45R17) brakes and accelerates better. Slats with a larger total length actually improve grip properties on ice. The difference in the graphs may seem small, but it should be noted that acceleration was only up to 30 km/h, and braking was from 30 to 5 km/h. On lightly packed snow, the result when braking is the opposite. Here the lamellas are already ineffective. A significant role is played by the smaller contact area with the road surface. Accordingly, there is a higher specific pressure in the contact patch, which allows the tire to push through the snow. But the acceleration dynamics on snow are the same.

Old vs new

Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8

Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5

We decided to check the difference in grip on ice between a new and a worn studded tire using the example of the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 and Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5 tires. The tread of the latter was worn to a depth of 4 mm, while the tread of the new one was more than 9 mm. The spikes on the “five” also turned out to be worn out. Their carbide core protruded only 0.4 mm above the worn stud body (for new ones - 1.2 mm or more). The ice temperature during the test was -5 °C. These are optimal conditions for the operation of the spikes, since at very low temperatures the ice becomes very hard - and it is difficult for the core of the spike to push through it. At temperatures closer to zero, the ice, on the contrary, is soft, so it “plows up” more easily, which contributes to less braking force. The test result was as expected. The acceleration dynamics on ice of the new Hakkapeliitta 8 with its progressive hex spike in a very narrow speed range of 5-30 km/h turned out to be almost 1.5 seconds better. When braking from a speed of 50 km/h to a deceleration of 5 km/h, the stopping distance is new tire shorter by more than 3 m. If we proportionally project this onto more realistic speed limits, then the difference in braking distance can be from 10 to 20 m. This is very dangerous, since it can lead to tragedy on a public road. Here is another proof of the low grip properties of worn tires.

The new Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 stud, thanks to its large core width and height, provides more effective deceleration on ice than the worn NHKPL 5 stud.

Photo by Evgeny Sokur

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The beginning of winter in the European part of Russia once again makes us doubt the need for studded tires. winter tires. Is there any point in traveling in winter? low profile tires? I tried to find the answer in German AutoBild magazine, taking seven new friction, or studless, tires for the test.

What's better: remount the wheels twice a year, putting them on the same rims different tires, or have two sets assembled - summer and winter? And if summer tires low-profile, then is it necessary to follow the “experienced advice” that says that tires for winter should be taller and narrower, that is, have high profile, and mounted on wheels of a smaller diameter. After all, everyone knows how large openwork wheels and wide “rollers” decorate almost any car. And you want to be beautiful not only in the summer, even if you have to sacrifice something. How great were these victims, and the Germans undertook to find out by comparing the behavior Volkswagen car Golf in different conditions on standard studless tires of size 205/55 R16 and in more fashionable tires 225/40 R18 of seven new models. All these models, by the way, are also presented on the Russian market.

The good news is that modern tire technology can minimize the impact of tread width itself on vehicle performance. Today, a much more important role is played by the composition of rubber compounds, where every self-respecting manufacturer has its own know-how, and the tread pattern - on modern tires, as a rule, it is either directional or asymmetrical. It is believed that a directional pattern, which requires compliance with the direction of rotation of the wheel during installation, better resists hydroplaning, that is, the tire floating in puddles. A asymmetrical pattern, when the tire has an external and inside with different properties, allows you to achieve better driving comfort and reduced noise when driving. The test results confirmed this only partly: in the hydroplaning test the most high speed, in which the wheels maintained contact with the coating in a layer of water, actually showed two directional patterns - Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 2 and Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D, but only in straight-line driving. In the wet turn, the asymmetric Pirelli Winter SottoZero Serie II tire came out ahead: it was on this tire that the Golf began to drift off the line later than on any other. Two more asymmetric tires-- The Continental ContiWinterContact TS 830P and Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 proved to be average in these exercises. And the outsiders were the Chinese product Maxxis MA-PW Presa Snow, which has a directional pattern, and, oddly enough, the asymmetrical Finnish Nokian WRg2. True, the latter was rehabilitated on a dry road, where the car shod with it demonstrated better handling, and was also recognized as one of the quietest and most economical, losing only to the loudest Michelin tire in the rolling resistance test. By the way, in almost all dry tests the tires are of the same model, but with different profile showed almost equal results, thereby calling into question the very meaning of using low tires.

There is one more fly in the ointment for those who like to show off: in terms of noise and comfort, it is definitely preferable standard tires. In addition, tests have confirmed that a narrower tread actually does a better job of removing water and snow and mud from the contact patch: the speed at which hydroplaning begins on wide low profile tires is significantly reduced. For example, a 16-inch Dunlop can travel almost 10 km/h faster through water than a wider 18-inch. But tests on snow revealed the unconditional advantage of wide wheels: they transmit traction force more efficiently, hold better in turns, and the braking distance is shorter on them (as, indeed, on a wet road). The most slippery ones in the snow were Michelin tires, because of which in the final table they slipped to penultimate, sixth place with a “satisfactory” rating, and the Maxxis tires earned a “failure” for their disgusting behavior on wet surfaces. Overall a C German experts Nokian was also rated, and Goodyear, Continental, Dunlop and Pirelli tires were found to be well suited to the conditions European winter. It is curious that all four models showed quite high rolling resistance, that is, you will have to pay for tenacity with some increase in fuel consumption.

But the topic of costs for the tires themselves is much more important, because with an increase in the tire diameter and width, the price of the same models, as a rule, grows exponentially. And here the test results primarily warn against purchasing budget tires manufacturers with a dubious reputation, who have recently been actively developing both the European and our markets. In other words, 16-inch tires from a well-established brand are better than luxury ones. Chinese tires 18th diameter. Otherwise, options are possible.

In the process of choosing winter tires, no unnecessary questions should arise - in the instructions for the car, the manufacturer clearly provides all the standard sizes of tires that can be installed. But, wanting to give the car a sporty character, make it taller and softer, car enthusiasts are ready to violate the manufacturers’ recommendations. And they violate them. And the automakers themselves indicate several different sizes tires for wheels. Larger and wider rims look more impressive. But is it really that simple? Let's try to figure out which tires are better in winter - narrow or wide.

What is profile width?

Before talking about the characteristics of wide and narrow tires, it is necessary to find out what profile width is and what it affects. So, this is the distance between the side parts of the tire, which is inflated to the usual manufacturer's recommended condition. The profile size and tread width may not always match. However, there is a pattern - the larger the profile width, the larger the tread. Everyone needs to know this.

Wide and narrow

There have always been debates about which tires are better in winter - narrow or wide. Thus, fans of narrower tires claim that they have a higher specific pressure with a smaller contact patch with the road surface. Opposite side I am sure that wide tires have longer sipes, which are responsible for grip on slippery areas.

Experts compared two tire sizes on ice and snow. Thus, the experiment involved Nokian Happelita tires with dimensions 205/55R16 and 225/45R17. To compare the grip performance, four tests were carried out. The car was accelerated on ice, then the braking was checked. Next, acceleration was carried out in the snow, followed by a decrease in speed. The test results were mixed. Winter tires should be narrower or wider - it all depends on the operating conditions and climate of a particular region.

On slippery surfaces, wider tires provide better braking performance. Due to the lamellas, the total length of which is greater, the grip properties on ice are actually better. But it can be taken into account that the car was accelerated to 30 kilometers per hour. Braking was carried out from 30 to 5 kilometers per hour. On a compacted snow surface, the test results were the opposite. In snow, the length of the lamellas has little effect. Important role The reduced contact area with the road also plays a role. This means that the pressure in the contact patch is also greater. This allows the tire to push through the snow. As for the dynamics of acceleration, it is the same on snow.

Test results

Let's see a comparison of narrow and wide winter tires. On snow on narrow tires the car accelerated to 50 kilometers per hour in 3.66 seconds. On wide ones - also for 3.66. But here are the results of braking tests - on narrow tires the car slowed down from 50 to 5 kilometers per hour with a braking distance of 27.11 meters. At wide, the result was 28.99 seconds.

And here's how the tires perform on ice. Acceleration on narrow wheels took 3.84 seconds. On wide ones, the car accelerated a little longer - in 3.55 seconds. Braking performance on ice are as follows: braking distance on narrow ones - 17.91 meters, on wide ones - 17.62 meters. Braking was carried out from 30 to 5 kilometers per hour.

As can be seen from the results, both wide and narrow are approximately the same, but in different conditions they are needed different tires. Therefore, it is difficult to answer the question of which tires are better in winter - narrow or wide.

Wet road tests

The shortest braking distance on wet asphalt provide wider tires. In addition, a car equipped with such tires handles better. But as for hydroplaning, here wide tires showed itself poorly, much worse than the narrow ones.

Dry winter road

Here winter tires are not in their element. But, as tests of winter tires (wide and narrow) have shown, the former significantly improves the car's handling characteristics and shortens the braking distance. But you will have to pay for it in fuel consumption. The wider the rubber, the higher its rolling resistance. This means fuel consumption increases.

Spikes or Velcro

This is also a topic of constant debate between car enthusiasts. Some people think that studless winter tires in our country are ineffective, others think the opposite. Let's see what the average car enthusiast should choose for winter operation car.

Studded tires

In my own way chemical composition Winter tires are much softer than summer tires. But it should be noted that it is rougher, unlike Velcro. Naturally, these tires have special inserts and studs. You can often hear that these same spikes wear out on the asphalt and also fly out. Yes, indeed, this is so. But modern technologies are constantly evolving - today you can find the most modern tires who know how to hide spikes on the asphalt. But when the car hits a snowy road, the spike appears again and bites into the ice or snow.

In addition, there may be a film of water between the tire surface and the road surface. This significantly reduces tire grip on ice. The spike consists of teeth that literally cut this film, thereby significantly improving grip. Studded wheels are very popular and effective, so they are now sold in huge quantities in countries with harsh climates.

Advantages and disadvantages of studded tires

Reviews say that these tires have high grip on icy and snowy surfaces under any loads placed on them. This can be turns, acceleration, braking. They provide shorter braking distances on icy roads. Patency in deep snow they have a very big one.

Among the disadvantages, reviews highlight high noise, especially when driving on asphalt. On wet clutch not just bad, but terrible. Due to the protrusion of the stud, the contact area of ​​the tire with the road is reduced. The grip decreases even in frosts of minus 20 degrees - the ice becomes stronger and denser, and the spike is no longer able to penetrate it effectively. Fuel consumption also increases due to the fact that the tire is very rough. There are slight vibrations on the steering wheel. The spikes often fly out and also wear off. Service life - no more than 4-5 seasons. At first glance, there are more pros than cons. But it will not provide comfort, as the reviews say. It will only give you confidence high cross-country ability, as well as controllability.

Velcro

Velcro or studless winter tires are a completely different matter. It can solve two problems. The tire is capable of holding the car on wet asphalt with slight ice. It can also keep the car on icy surfaces. For this purpose, soft rubber is used so that the tire can stick to road surface. But at the same time, the tire material must be stiff enough to ensure normal handling. Velcro is contraindicated for driving on dry asphalt - as a result, it overheats. Because of this, controllability will deteriorate. And in all other conditions, these tires are only slightly inferior to their studded counterparts.

Among the advantages is the lack of noise. Fuel consumption will be only slightly more than with summer tires. There are no vibrations in the steering wheel, and the tires behave well on wet asphalt. The service life is longer than that of studded analogues. There are also disadvantages. A car with such tires will handle worse on ice and snow compared to studs. Braking distances on icy roads is also increased. In snowy conditions, cross-country ability is slightly lower.

What's better?

Experts give advice on choosing winter tires. If the region has harsh winters, then you need to buy studded tires. But for the southern regions you can get by with Velcro. As for parameters such as width, everything is not so simple.

Narrow tires are needed, for the most part, to punch a rut in snow and snowdrifts. Then, when it hits the asphalt, it will catch on the spikes. Therefore, narrow winter tires are suitable for those places where there is a lot of snow and the roads are not cleared. Here narrow tires will allow you to be the king on the road. But there is also a minus - this is the contact patch. Reviews say that narrow tires have a smaller contact patch on hard surfaces. In addition, on ice or icy asphalt it is simply uncomfortable to drive on narrow tires.

With wide studded tires in winter you can be truly confident on icy roads, but without snow. The contact patch here is maximum, so the car will hold well on ice. Directional stability against lateral drift increases noticeably.

Now it’s clear which tires are better in winter - narrow or wide. For most cases, a wide one is better.