Wheel size

[xrtdr]

My Macan 4 (leased Dec 31) came with 22 inch tires and all season Continental. The sales team assured me they would be fine in light winter conditions.

I found over the last week that they slide bad on light slush and snow.

What is the thinking on wheel size and winter safety? Do I have any recourse to get Porsche to help change the wheels or provide winter rims and tires?

 

[Sideline]

Unfortunately, too many assume that all-season tires are suitable in "light" winter conditions but my experience (45 years driving in Ontario) is that all-season compound will loose grip when temperatures are below freezing, even when roads are dry let alone when there's slush and snow. That's where winter tires come in.

With respect to wheel size for winters, the diameter is less important than the tire width (although they are correlated as width generally increases with diameter). The smaller diameter (taller tire wall) will provide a more compliant/softer ride and possibly some benefits in grip or ability to plow through deeper snow. Porsche's winter packages are available in 20, 21 and 22 inch wheel sizes (at least here in Canada). The width of 20s are 235 front and 285 rears, the 21s 255/285 and the 22s 255/295. So the 20s will likely be your best choice for ice/snow performance but if you like the look of the 22s on your car, the 20s may look a bit anemic by comparison.

My Turbo was ordered with 22 Macan Sport wheels with all-seasons but with a mid-December delivery, I had my dealer install 21 Turbo winters with Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 SUV tires (I do the seasonal swap myself so I just store the "summers" at home). I tend to hold on to my cars (I've never owned one for less than 9 years) and I plan to do the same with my Turbo so it was easy to justify a winter-specific wheel set. My last daily driver was a 981 Cayman S which I drove through 9 winter seasons .

Since you're leasing, I'm guessing you want to avoid the expense and hassle of having two different wheel sets. I suppose you could save some money by swapping winter tires on to your 22s. With respect to recourse to your Porsche dealer, I suspect you have none. Maybe they'll offer you a discount on winter tires/wheelsets but I doubt they'll do much more.

 

[xrtdr]

Unfortunately, too many assume that all-season tires are suitable in "light" winter conditions but my experience (45 years driving in Ontario) is that all-season compound will loose grip when temperatures are below freezing, even when roads are dry let alone when there's slush and snow. That's where winter tires come in.

With respect to wheel size for winters, the diameter is less important than the tire width (although they are correlated as width generally increases with diameter). The smaller diameter (taller tire wall) will provide a more compliant/softer ride and possibly some benefits in grip or ability to plow through deeper snow. Porsche's winter packages are available in 20, 21 and 22 inch wheel sizes (at least here in Canada). The width of 20s are 235 front and 285 rears, the 21s 255/285 and the 22s 255/295. So the 20s will likely be your best choice for ice/snow performance but if you like the look of the 22s on your car, the 20s may look a bit anemic by comparison.

My Turbo was ordered with 22 Macan Sport wheels with all-seasons but with a mid-December delivery, I had my dealer install 21 Turbo winters with Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 SUV tires (I do the seasonal swap myself so I just store the "summers" at home). I tend to hold on to my cars (I've never owned one for less than 9 years) and I plan to do the same with my Turbo so it was easy to justify a winter-specific wheel set. My last daily driver was a 981 Cayman S which I drove through 9 winter seasons .

Since you're leasing, I'm guessing you want to avoid the expense and hassle of having two different wheel sets. I suppose you could save some money by swapping winter tires on to your 22s. With respect to recourse to your Porsche dealer, I suspect you have none. Maybe they'll offer you a discount on winter tires/wheelsets but I doubt they'll do much more.

Thanks I appreciate the thoughtful answer

 

[ColdCase]

Yeah, wide tires and slush do not play well as the tires ride up on the slush. Wide tires with sticky low temperature rubber on ice play better than narrow as there is more chance of catching a bit of traction. Winter specific tires compromise. but wear much faster on summer highways. All Seasons compromise winter traction for tread wear and noise/smoothness. Summer tires and winter are a dangerous combination. The Macan has very wide tires.

Pick the compromise that suits you.

My compromise is a Pickup with narrow tires for nasty weather, and a car with "performance" all seasons otherwise (can handle cold weather). The car just sits in the garage during nasty weather or when forecast which is usually the entire month of February.

 

[PanameraFrank]

Wheel size plays a role but the difference from the Macans 22 to 20 isn't going to make a huge difference.

What will make a difference is the tire itself. All Season tires are awful in winter conditions and awful in summer conditions. The joke is they're really "no season" tires.

You can check any of hundreds of tests and all season tires drastically underperform dedicated winter tires in winter and summer tires in summer.

Porsche is also known to use pretty terrible OEM all season tires. I'd at least want something like the Cross Climate, which still performs worse in winter than the cheapest winter tire but significantly better than most All Seasons.

I've never understood paying six figures for a car and then scoffing at swapping tires twice a year, which has more impact on performance than any option you can spec.

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