Quote:
Originally Posted by mitch808
If you have 20" wheels, and are buying 18" wheels for "snow tires," who cares? You're doing this for snow traction, not to run ice rally's.
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You are correct that "you are buying 18's for snow and traction" but in this case there will be NO traction difference. If you look at the rubber specs on a 18" vs 19" one will find that they are in fact the same width (255/55/18 vs 255/50/19) so there is zero advantage because they have the same width. Yes you can argue that the 1" additional sidewall profile will be an added benefit for potholes and rim protection but living in Chicago, the pot hole capital of the world, I have not experienced this to be true.
Also, the OP is living in Denver and I have been traveling to Denver for over 20 years now and I am very familiar with the OP's driving conditions in winter. The OP will be hard pressed to be driving on snow/wet roads more than 50% of the time while he/she has their winters on. The other 50% of the time will be spend on dry yet cold roads which traveling at highway speeds and above is safe. The Op now gets the benefits of the winter tire yet similar performance characteristic in terms of tire sidewall support of the 19" tire.
The 18" tire to me was much softer and very noticeable in normal driving conditions and I did not like how it handled, very floaty. I originally purchased 18's and had them for about 1 month before I sold them and bought 19's to replace them. I am just trying to provide the OP with additional information and opinions so that they can make an informed decision based on their situation.