255/55/18 Snow Tires?

[mcgaskins]

I just bought new Duratracs which I think will be great in the snow, but I also thought about getting a dedicated winter set for ski duty coming up soon. I found a set of brand new Cooper Discoverer M + S that allegedly came off a Land Cruiser on CL for cheap, but they're in a pretty small size: 255/55/18. I have some extra LC rims in 18" with no tires mounted currently, so I thought about picking these up and rotating between the two sets for ski trips. My question is though is are they too "small" to run? The overal diameter is calculated to be only 29" and right now I'm running 32.8" diameter, so I'm guessing my speedo would then be off in the other direction and rpms would be fairly high. Perhaps maybe I'd get a little better mpg with the lower weight/rolling resistance but it could be negated by the higher rpms. I dunno is it worth it to give it a shot?

 

[Yukon LX]

i would think the 285 duratrack on the 100 would do a great job as is. They have tons of siping and the snowflake on the side. i think 29s would look ridiculous in those huge wheel wells too, just my opinion though.

 

[AimCOtaco]

The DT's are so nice in the wet, icy and deep snow conditions we have in CO I can't imagine much improvement either... I bet the 29ers would end up just haunting your garage after a year or two.

 

[mcgaskins]

Totally agree with both points. I am just a sucker for a good deal so when I saw I could pick up the Coopers for cheap, I gave it some thought. I really like the Duratracs so far and think they'll serve me well this winter. They've been fantastic on the trail runs and great on the freeway too.

 

[mcgaskins]

i would think the 285 duratrack on the 100 would do a great job as is. They have tons of siping and the snowflake on the side. i think 29s would look ridiculous in those huge wheel wells too, just my opinion though.

My last ride was a BMW X5..maybe I miss the low pro look of 315/35s in the back What looks good on that would look terrible on the LC!

 

[uHu]

The Discoverers are useless on snow and ice. Well, maybe average when they are brand new, but within a few miles any tire with a bit of sipes would be better.