Alternative tire sizes for 20" wheels

[Neon001]

I've purchased a custom set of 20" wheels in 20x9.5"ET35, 20x10.5"ET40 sizes for my 22 MS. They're the same width as my stock arachnids but pushed 5mm to the outside. I'd really like to go with Conti DWS 06+ for these as opposed to the seemingly more popular Michelin PSAS due to the ride harshness I'm reading about on the latter, but the sizes aren't perfect. The best sizes for the Contis appear to be 275/35/20 for both front and rear.

These give the closest rolling diameters to the stock 265/35/21f, 295/30/21r, and the tires are speced to accept rim widths of 9-11", so both front and rear wheels shouldn't be a problem. Two concerns:

1. 275s on the front are slightly wider than stock 265s, but will only inset into the wheel well 5mm more than stock given the offsets of the wheel.
2. 275 rears might be narrow for 10.5" wheels - not much rim protection there.

Anyone see any issues with these?

I could also do 265/35/20 f, and 295/30/20 r, but circumference difference is 3.7% smaller with each, and they're obviously 1" smaller diameter overall, which might be a weird look.

Any thoughts or other sizes you used with 20s are appreciated.

 

[HP Man]

I'm running a 275/30/20 square setup for my winter tires and have zero issues. My wheels are 20x9.5 ET35 so I can confirm you'll have no issues on the fronts. I'm running a square setup with identical wheels, so I can't confirm anything on your rears, but a 275 is a little small for a 10.5 wheel. That said, if you don't mind a bit of a stretched look on the back, you may be ok.

 

[airborne spoon]

i run 255/40/20 for my snow tires and they work fine

 

[MFrunkerOG]

my suggestion is to focus on the load rating of the tire to avoid blowouts when you hit a pothole hard. A minimum of 102 load rating in the fronts.

For the front, do not exceed 28.5” diameter because of the upper control arm knuckle. No such problem for the rears.

I’m running the Michelin PS4 All seasons in 265/40/20 front and 295/35/20 rears. Ride is not harsh at all.

Of course, the 275 in the front will be great for a grippier front around corners.

However… depending on how much snow you expect to be driving over, narrower is better for traction over snow because of higher pressure caused by a smaller tire patch.

 

[Neon001]

I'm running a 275/30/20 square setup for my winter tires and have zero issues. My wheels are 20x9.5 ET35 so I can confirm you'll have no issues on the fronts. I'm running a square setup with identical wheels, so I can't confirm anything on your rears, but a 275 is a little small for a 10.5 wheel. That said, if you don't mind a bit of a stretched look on the back, you may be ok.

Do you happen to have any photos of this setup? The diameter of 275/30 seems quite a bit smaller than the stock 265/35, leading to almost 7% of a speedo discrepancy. I'm curious if the overall wheel/tire looks significantly smaller on the car.

I'm inclined to go with the 275/35/20s all around. The specs for the Conti DWS show they work up to 11" wheel widths, so the stretch should be fairly minimal in the back. I worry a tad that I'll be losing some of that rim protection from the tires, but I figure that's more important on the front anyway, where I'd expect to maybe hit a curb.

 

[Hayseed_MS]

I am using 285/35r20 square as my winter set-up. Ran just fine through midwest and northern midwest snow last season. This is on 10" wide wheels. I think the 285's are overkill on the front.

May change to 9.5 and 10.5 widths - then go with @MFrunkerOG sizes. That seems to mimic the OEM parameters the best.

 

[Neon001]

I am using 285/35r20 square as my winter set-up. Ran just fine through midwest and northern midwest snow last season. This is on 10" wide wheels. I think the 285's are overkill on the front.

May change to 9.5 and 10.5 widths - then go with @MFrunkerOG sizes. That seems to mimic the OEM parameters the best.

I'm not tracking the user sizes you referenced, but part of my difficulty is that it seems DWSs don't come in almost any of the reasonable sizes for this type of setup - including the 255/40/20 and 285/35/20 I was going to use.

 

[HP Man]

Do you happen to have any photos of this setup? The diameter of 275/30 seems quite a bit smaller than the stock 265/35, leading to almost 7% of a speedo discrepancy. I'm curious if the overall wheel/tire looks significantly smaller on the car.

I'm inclined to go with the 275/35/20s all around. The specs for the Conti DWS show they work up to 11" wheel widths, so the stretch should be fairly minimal in the back. I worry a tad that I'll be losing some of that rim protection from the tires, but I figure that's more important on the front anyway, where I'd expect to maybe hit a curb.

Sorry, I inadvertently had a typo. I'm 275/35/20 not 275/35/20. I agree that 275/30/20 would be too small.

 

[MFrunkerOG]

I am using 285/35r20 square as my winter set-up. Ran just fine through midwest and northern midwest snow last season. This is on 10" wide wheels. I think the 285's are overkill on the front.

May change to 9.5 and 10.5 widths - then go with @MFrunkerOG sizes. That seems to mimic the OEM parameters the best.

Listen to @Hayseed_MS .
It’s about time all y’all started doing what I do!

 

[EV-Fixme]

We have installed 335 in the rear on the new body with no rub, the setup is pretty specific and made by Signature Wheels. I run 285/35/20 with different offsets and have not had any rub on my original body style.

 

[EV-Fixme]

This is the mentioned set of wheels. 285x35x20 in front and 335x30x20 in the back.

 

[Neon001]

This is the mentioned set of wheels. 285x35x20 in front and 335x30x20 in the back.

View attachment 855884

Looks great! I did get the new tires/wheels put on. Went with 275/35/20 all around, though the wheels are 9.5x20ET35 f, 10.5x20ET40 r. I LOVE the ride improvement going to the 20s, but I'm a little disappointed that it made the wheel gap *slightly* larger. It's still not bad with the suspension in low mode, but it's back to what I would consider a "normal" OEM wheel gap. I suspect you have lowering links? That gap looks great.

 

[scrapps]

I'm running the following on my Signature wheels.
20x10.5 (285/35/20)
20x11 (305/35/20)
I have Michelin Pilot Sport ASs and they howl around 60-70mph (varies slightly with tire pressure).

 

[EV-Fixme]

Looks great! I did get the new tires/wheels put on. Went with 275/35/20 all around, though the wheels are 9.5x20ET35 f, 10.5x20ET40 r. I LOVE the ride improvement going to the 20s, but I'm a little disappointed that it made the wheel gap *slightly* larger. It's still not bad with the suspension in low mode, but it's back to what I would consider a "normal" OEM wheel gap. I suspect you have lowering links? That gap looks great.

Car is lowered about 1.25" I had a set of tires on the rear that were 275x35x20 that came with a set of wheels, the smaller diameter had too much gap all around for my liking. I was glad when the tires wore out and I went back to 285x35.