zibby43

My C63 will be seeing some limited winter driving. I wanted to be prepared so I went ahead and put some winter/snow tires on (Blizzak LM-32s).

Those 225-section tires look awfully skinny on the rear.

For those that have also chosen this setup, how is the traction in cold, dry conditions (considering some width has been sacrificed)?

Thanks.

noodleman

i'm running 235/40/18 all around and the rears are pretty stretched as is.

benyl

Traction is better with a narrower tire. I am running 225 square.

zibby43

It certainly looks that way.

To an extent, I'm getting better traction in the cold now with the softer compound. Rear wheels are spinning now instead of hopping (I had noticeable wheel hop in cold temperatures with the stock Continental summer tires).

However, I do feel that I can light the tires up more easily while rolling now that there's a bit less rubber in back (e.g., downshifting at speed will cause the rear to step out with ESP Sport engaged).

Overspooled

Going to be driving with 225-40-18 square setup this winter as well on stock rims. I had these tires for half a season on my 335xi which worked great so hopefully it does well on the c63. My stock summer continentals hop quite a bit on cold days.

benyl

Sorry, snow traction is better with a narrower tire. Dry traction, not so much.

Vise_

Yeah I was gonna say...

This is why I went with 275 rear winter tires (Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme), 95% of the time the roads are dry/clear so I'd rather have good traction when driving hard on a daily basis vs the very few times there is deep snow.

We'll see what happens when we do get some snow...

coladin

I have 225/40/18 LM60 Blizzaks and ran them on my '11 and my '14. Traction is limited even in third or fourth gear but they work fine when the white stuff comes. I have winter rims so the tire is not overly stretched or anything.

If you get snow you want to stay away from wide tires. Ottawa gets a heck of a lot more snow than Toronto.

jblaw

Agreed, I have the square 225 set up and can spin the tires in almost any gear. Granted, it was a warm weather test...

Dogtag114

I bought the same 4x4 setup on PA4s to survive in snow, not for being a houligan in the winter.

I definitely spin the tires more if I want, but at least I rotate all four tires now to even the wear. I suggest you mark painter's tape on the inside of the tire as to where the wheel was last season... although I'm also logging the mileage and tread depth at each rotation for entertainment...

zibby43

I posted a thread asking about whether 2012+ C63 owners were experiencing wheel hop with stock summer tires in cold temperatures.

I think I've had more people confirm that occurrence in this thread than in the one I posted. I feel substantially less crazy now.

275s?! I lust for those with respect to my summer setup.

I imagine the cold/dry traction will be phenomenal. Interested to hear your feedback after you encounter some precipitation.

Yeah I'm spinning a lot now. Which I don't mind. Better than hopping around on the stock Continentals.

Interesting!