Quote:
Originally Posted by BAN SUVS
I know it's anecdotal, but I would say that we could find conditions locally in the winter that would favor both wider and narrower tires without going to extremes. Basically if there is loose ice/snow/slush/whatever that can build up and prevent getting a lot of pressure on compacted ice or pavement, narrower is better. But on smooth ice or dense packed snow, I'd want wider.
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+1
This is something that rally teams struggle with all the time in snow rally. Conditions vary so much, so easily, that the "ideal" tire for one mile can also be the worst possible tire for the next. Slush performance is very different from ice, which is very different from packed snow, which is very different from a light dusting over ice.
IMO, for winter tires, you should pick the tire that performs the best in the most dangerous condition, which to me is ice. A tire that's great on ice but passable in slush is far better than some slush racers that will get you crashed on ice. With the exception of the Tahoe folks, 90% of our winter driving here in Reno is on dry or damp streets... it's only in the morning after some fresh and before the plows that we really need "snow" tires. And then, the most dangerous roads we see in Reno are the roads after fresh snow is packed into ice by traffic (which is even worse when that's followed by more fresh snow).
So go for a tire that performs in those conditions. And for ice, I have to agree with Dean, basic physics seem to indicate the more sipped surface area you can get down on the ice, the better. Even if it's not "ideal" for cutting through the new snow to get to the ice or road underneath, it's still going to be the best traction for the really harry situations, and "not bad" in the rest.
Or, you could just get a set of these:
