During the warmer months I run 22's on my 2007 Screw. Now since the winter is here I went back to my stock 17's which I hate. They just look like crap and the General Ameritrac's that come with them are absolute garbage and downright scary to drive with in bad weather.

I was thinking of upgrading to a 20" rim but wasn't sure what would be better. Would a smaller rim with a bigger tire and more sidewall perform better than a lower profile tire on a bigger rim? Again, these will be used primarily during the winter months on wet, slushy, snowy, icy, and dry roads.

I know the type of tire you choose and throttle control will ultimately determine which performs better , but I'm just curious if anybody has any insight into this. Hypothetically lets just say there were Nitto Terra Grapplers on both sized rims, would there be a difference?

 

It's not the size of the rim that matters, and not so much the size of the tire. What matters most is the width of the tire. A narrow tire will give better traction, while a wider tire will ride on top of the snow more. The problem with a bigger tires is that they are also wider.

Your best is to get the first number lower (because that is the width,) and second number higher, (because that is the ratio of height to width.)

Then pick a tire which does well in snow and slush.

 

I agree on the width being the major factor. My 265/70/17s are going back on tomorrow as my 305/50/20s are terrible in the rain and I do not want to even try running on snow and ice.

 

All that is great but tire brand and pattern are a majors player as well. My 265/70-17's have less traction than the 305/40-22's. 17's are uniroyal cross country radials and 22's are Yokohama Parada spec-x. The Yokos are a much better tire.