Club 80-90 Forums

I like the way my van handles with stock wheels and tyres steering is light enough and road holding is as good as you might expect, so would fitting wider alloys really make it much more difficult to handle?

No, although depending on what you fit, you may need to strengthen your arms a bit for parking. Narrower wheels are best in snow by the way.

You would think the opposite that wider wheels would give you more grip but that does bare out something I read on FB last winter about vans with wide alloys struggling in the snow, luckily we very rarely get any here.

A friend was telling me he once went to the Yorkshire dales in winter in a citroen 2CV and he was the only one who could get around - even up steep hills in deep snow. The tyres on those are incredibly narrow. I agree, you'd think more surface area would be better but apparently its not.

Yeah the thinner tyre means pressure is increased for the relative contact patch and can dig into the snow

CovKid wrote:A friend was telling me he once went to the Yorkshire dales in winter in a citroen 2CV and he was the only one who could get around - even up steep hills in deep snow. The tyres on those are incredibly narrow. I agree, you'd think more surface area would be better but apparently its not.

I've been told this by a 2cv owner also. Apparently they are great on fields and in mud because the narrow tyres cut through the mud to the harder soil, I guess the same for snow! My driving instructor swore by a 850 auto mini for the snow!

So in summary Kit, its up to you. Personally I'd stick with stock unless you enjoy the paranioa of damaging alloys on kerbs etc. Price it all up (including cost of tyres to fit them) and see what conclusion you draw.

I wonder how much scrap alloy is worth these days?