Can anyone help me understand the difference in 195/55-16 , and 205/50-16 tires. Which one is a lower profile? and wider? I'm looking at tires on TireRack and one is recommended, and the other is an alternative.

BTW, these are for snow.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

If you are looking for snow tires, narrow is better than wide. 195/55/16 is narrower than the 205/50/16. As far as profile goes the 50 series is lower than the 55 series. I use 185/65/15 snow tires.

 

Thanks, this helps.

 

Book mark this tire calculator

The 205/50 is 1.5% smaller than the stock tire.
205/50 is lower profile (50= 50% of 205) and wider (205mm vs 195mm).
Generally for snow you want taller and skinnier to cut through the snow/slush.

 

Tires have a really funny dimension coding.

The first number is the width (in millimeters), the second is sidewall height (as a percentage of the width) and the third is the wheel size (in inches!).

So, to determine the profile you multiply the first number by the second:

195 mm X 55% = 107.25 mm

205 mm X 50% = 102.5 mm