Currently running 16” winters and 18” summers. 
 

last time round I put all seasons on the 18, but frankly they’re poor on mud/snow compared to the winters and even the same tyres on 15” wheels on another car.

 

For now I will stay 16/18, but when one wears I may get a set of 16 or 17” alloys for all seasons all the time.

 

Anyone got experience on 16 vs 17 for grip for n the crap stuff? Clearly the 18” are too well de to work well on that.

What car and what tyres were they?

Very difficult to define a best size, without knowing what you mean by best : comfort, sportiness, noise, grip in muddy puddles etc

 

If it is a simple wheel size comparison then what what sizes were the model (which you haven’t stated) originally sold with, as an example (depending on spec) might have had 16, 17, 18 inch and optional 19 inch wheels.  I would suggest go for middle size (or if 4 sizes, 2nd from bottom).  Probably best balance for majority of people

 

If you want tyre suggestions.  Continental all season contact, or Goodyear vector 4season Gen3 (generation 3).   If you live on coast and snow is rare then Bridgestone weather control A005 evo (the evo version is improved).  The Michelin Cross Climate plus is also good (but a version 2 might be imminent).  For sporty cars with obscure size tyres then Vredestein Quattrac Pro would be good choice.

 

 

Fair points...

 

Car is the Octavia mk3 and currently it's running on 18" alloys with Michelin Cross Climate Plus on.

Previous cars have been the same as above, plus a MK2 and a few others on a wide range of tyres (Mostly Nokian, 5 sets) and currently michelin alpin6.

Tyres are on steelies and 205/55/r16

 

My issue is that the michelin are great on 14" on a completely different car, but just seem far far too easy to get to lose traction on the 18" in cold weather.

Not to the point they're summer tyres, but to the point a slight incline and light but not extra careful application of the throttle = slipping tyres.

 

Compared to the winters where you could pretty much mash the accelerator under the same conditions if you had been that way inclined and have no such problems, I am not really feeling confident in the all seasons.

 

Grip is the most important for me, then the others along with good life are a balance.

 

I don't live on the cost, but tbh I do travel all around (or did) and have had a rasonable amount of snow over the last few years, but far more cold icy road.

 

I'm trying to understand if a set of 17" with one of the better winter biased sets is the right option or if I just give up and go back to summer/winter wheels.

Edited 9 February, 20215 yr by cheezemonkhai

Having previously run VW Tiguans on 19", 18", 17" and 16" wheels with winter tyres on the 17's and 16's.  I concluded that the best compromise in respect of ride, handling, steering and traction was 17's.  

 

Indeed, I'm currently running Michelin CrossClimate+ on 17's on my remapped 150 TDI Yeti and Dunlop D5 Winter Sport on my wife's Karoq 190 TDI.  I find the CrossClimates on the Yeti to be great most of the time, especially in the wet and cutting through standing water.  They lag behind the Dunlops in ice and snow, especially in their braking performance.  I can't say good enough good things about the Dunlops, having used both D4 and D5 iterations as well as Pirelli, Hankook and Kumho winter tyres.  The Dunlops make an AWD car unstoppable in the snow, until you want to stop and they do that very well too. 

Edited 9 February, 20215 yr by Schtum