[9thgencivic21]

I have a 2012 Honda Civic LX (Auto) with the original tire size 195/65-15. I looked up online, and it size for winter tires, I can downsize to the following size:
185/75-14
195/70-14
195/75-14
205/70-14

My questions are:
1. Should I downsize for winter? The cost advantage between 14" and 15" seems to be quite significant.
2. Which of the 4 should I go for? They are all 14 inches.

 

[BrianJR]

Careful with 14"...not sure if they would fit around the brake rotors/drums.

I ended up getting the same size winter tires as my summer tires (16" on my EX) because I wanted the handling to stay roughly the same.

 

[JJreal]

I know this is an older post, however, I wanted to give the reason why a person would consider downsizing in the first place. First and foremost I would definitely invest in a set of "Winter Tires", especially driving on the highway in the winter tire belt. Keep in mind to get ones that are mainstream & plenty available from tire companies, not an odd size order tire. My experience is tire companies often discontinue less popular sizes. So back to the reason, the whole idea of the smaller tire is that it will "Slice" through the snow on the road. It makes it easier for the car to move and drive without resistance from the snow. A fat wide tire will have a more difficult time pushing that snow out and away from it. My 2012 Si has a factory tire of 17" so in the winter I run a 16" with Blizzacks. The control is unbelievable. This year I upgraded to aluminum rims and a new set of sport style Blizzacks. Can't wait to see how they're going to handle.

 

[kev604]

I know this is an older post, however, I wanted to give the reason why a person would consider downsizing in the first place. First and foremost I would definitely invest in a set of "Winter Tires", especially driving on the highway in the winter tire belt. Keep in mind to get ones that are mainstream & plenty available from tire companies, not an odd size order tire. My experience is tire companies often discontinue less popular sizes. So back to the reason, the whole idea of the smaller tire is that it will "Slice" through the snow on the road. It makes it easier for the car to move and drive without resistance from the snow. A fat wide tire will have a more difficult time pushing that snow out and away from it. My 2012 Si has a factory tire of 17" so in the winter I run a 16" with Blizzacks. The control is unbelievable. This year I upgraded to aluminum rims and a new set of sport style Blizzacks. Can't wait to see how they're going to handle.

Blizzaks are good snow tires so I wonder if this is more the quality of your tire rarher than the size.

 

[dpetro1]

I know this is an older post, however, I wanted to give the reason why a person would consider downsizing in the first place. First and foremost I would definitely invest in a set of "Winter Tires", especially driving on the highway in the winter tire belt. Keep in mind to get ones that are mainstream & plenty available from tire companies, not an odd size order tire. My experience is tire companies often discontinue less popular sizes. So back to the reason, the whole idea of the smaller tire is that it will "Slice" through the snow on the road. It makes it easier for the car to move and drive without resistance from the snow. A fat wide tire will have a more difficult time pushing that snow out and away from it. My 2012 Si has a factory tire of 17" so in the winter I run a 16" with Blizzacks. The control is unbelievable. This year I upgraded to aluminum rims and a new set of sport style Blizzacks. Can't wait to see how they're going to handle.

While I agree with the concept of "slicing" through the snow I don't see how that has anything to do with rim diameter. The width of the tire could be the same on different diameter wheels.
Now if you are downsizing to a narrower width wheel to accommodate a narrower tire, that totally makes sense.
I personally ran the OEM 17" with a 205/50/17 and had aftermarket wheels with 225/45/17 for the summer.

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