Anyone running 225/50/17 winter tires?

[r6speed]

I know I know, this subject has been beat to death, I'm very sorry
BUT, I really want some reviews and wouldn't mind some opinions either

Tell me what they think, would a 215/45 snow tire handle much if any better than a 225/50?
I realize this is wider than usually preferred for a winter tire, but I can't get my eyes off this deal on a brand new set of toyo observe studless snow tires for $200
Has anyone ran these observe tires yet? How about in the 225/50 size?

I found this thread
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/appearance-interior-exterior/225438-215-50-17-225-50-17-a.html

From what I gather, a 225/50 WILL fit my stock height awd 2g is that correct? I want to be sure...



Any comments, reviews, advice, or even a slap upside the head (for starting another thread about tires) would be appreciated!

 

[crimsondragon]

The 225 will have a bigger diameter from stock by about .6". You'll have plenty of clearance. Reviews on the Toyo's seem favorable.

 

[estoyaqui30]

I'm running 225/45-17 Blizzak LM-60 snows and on my car (GSX) it's ALMOST unstoppable.

 

[Boosted6]

It makes my car read 6mph slower than it's actually moving.

 

[r6speed]

Thanks for the info guys

the 225/50/17 toyo observe snow tire fit (barely clearing knuckle but doesn't rub) with stock suspension.

As for a review on the Toyo Observe tires themselves, Not very impressive in my book.
They are decent on snow and ice (better than street tires anyways, far from amazing).
They are decent on dry pavement (pretty quiet for a snow tire and handle fine).
They are bad on wet pavement, very disappointing, break loose with ease.
I never got the chance to drive through much standing water (hydro plane test) but I did drive on a good amount of road with gravel on it (left from a recent snow storms recently drying out) and they where terrible on that, much worse than the street tires it was on before (toyo proxies 4 Z rated) the observe tires felt like they where constantly pushing the gravel.
These are tires are siped.

Overall I give them a 3.5/10
(and the .5 is just because they look cool ha ha )
Not worth the high price, many other tires are cheaper and perform better.

As a reference, On a different car I have, I'm running Bridgestone Turanza series (I think EL400) all season tires and they out perform these observe tires on everything from dry pavement to solid ice (Especially braking on ice, the toyos do a very poor job) and I know the Turanzas handle standing water pretty well too. I give these tires a 9/10 especially given how they handle on snow/ice and are not even rated for it.
These tires are not siped.

The Toyo Proxy 4 z rated tires are also a pretty good tire, I give them an overall 7.5/10.
They are amazing in water even high speed standing water, great traction on dry pavement but are noisy (I think because they are so soft) the noise is worth the traction they provide in my opinion.
They are decent in the snow/ice but nothing special (wouldn't expect them to be)
These tires are not siped.

Obviously these are all just my opinions and obviously the different cars, wheels, offsets, etc makes a difference as well (which I'm accounting for to the best of my ability)
However, I've driven all these tires on every road surface for hundreds of miles (with the exception of the observe tires on lots of standing water) and advise anyone looking at these observe tires to keep looking don't trust all the hype on these.

I'm running 225/45-17 Blizzak LM-60 snows and on my car (GSX) it's ALMOST unstoppable.

This is my next set, probably within next couple months because I don't think I can deal with these toyo observe tires very long, and I'll probably go with the 215/45's but yeah, good choice