18 vs 20 inch winter tires (21 Tahoe)

[Nima]

My apologies in advance if this is repeated tread but couldn't find my answer.
I have a 21 diesel tahoe which came with a 22 factory all season rims ( high country)
Looking to make the decision for the winter set of wheels and tires.
Look matters but of course not as much as performance. I live in Toronto and we get snow. And ofcourse 18 is a better choice for winter no doubt. My question is how bad is the 20 compare to 18 for the same tire brand and same rim brand.
Is it a mistake to go with 20 for the winter?
How much am I really loosing?
If you ask me between the 17 and 18 I would tell you they both are over qualified for winter for tahoe but I have no experience on the 20s.
Let me know your thoughts
Thanks

 

[swathdiver]

My apologies in advance if this is repeated tread but couldn't find my answer.
I have a 21 diesel tahoe which came with a 22 factory all season rims ( high country)
Looking to make the decision for the winter set of wheels and tires.
Look matters but of course not as much as performance. I live in Toronto and we get snow. And ofcourse 18 is a better choice for winter no doubt. My question is how bad is the 20 compare to 18 for the same tire brand and same rim brand.
Is it a mistake to go with 20 for the winter?
How much am I really loosing?
If you ask me between the 17 and 18 I would tell you they both are over qualified for winter for tahoe but I have no experience on the 20s.
Let me know your thoughts
Thanks

I'm not sure your new Tahoe can even run 17 or 18 inch wheels anymore. When I was shopping for tires some time ago, 20s were less expensive than 18s. Get some KO2s and you can roll on a set of tires year round. Get an idea of pricing between the various wheel sizes at TireRack.com.

 

[playadude]

Excellent question, I bought a 3.0 LS last week. So amazed with this vehicle, I love it.

I usually get blizzaks, I've had them on a Tahoe, an Audi Q5, a Honda Minivan, probably others over the years.

When you put them on a vehicle, you feel super confident. (I drive I70 up to Ski Country from Denver every weeekend).

Bridgestone has Blizzaks that fit my 20's on this new Tahoe, and I'll get them.

 

[Nima]

Excellent question, I bought a 3.0 LS last week. So amazed with this vehicle, I love it.

I usually get blizzaks, I've had them on a Tahoe, an Audi Q5, a Honda Minivan, probably others over the years.

When you put them on a vehicle, you feel super confident. (I drive I70 up to Ski Country from Denver every weeekend).

Bridgestone has Blizzaks that fit my 20's on this new Tahoe, and I'll get them.

The blizzard are solid tires, I think they would be my brand as well, but 20 or 18?
Keep in mind, my stuck is 22 and I can't convinced myself to buy 22 winters, so I am in to spend money for the winter set

 

[Hotwifes21Tahoe]

18's will fit your Tahoe. We put The 18" rims and tires from my 2020 Trail boss on her Tahoe. Also ran old 18" rims with studded snows all winter. One caution I will give you is the 22's take special TPM sensors. Your Tahoe is programed to read only those 22" sensors. Our dealer could not even program our Tahoe to read my 2020 Trail Boss stock rim sensors. The sooooo helpful tech line said "Tell the custom to put the 22 inch rims back on, or risk voiding warrantee". I will be putting the sensors out of our 22" rims in the 18's soon.

 

[playadude]

The blizzard are solid tires, I think they would be my brand as well, but 20 or 18?
Keep in mind, my stuck is 22 and I can't convinced myself to buy 22 winters, so I am in to spend money for the winter set

Excellent question, please post back here when you decide. (and why)

 

[Jeremie]

18" will have better performance than 22", due to the narrower profile, and will run just fine as long as you don't have the brembo brakes. I have an LS that came with 18" tires, and already purchased some 18" winters for them.

 

[Nima]

18's will fit your Tahoe. We put The 18" rims and tires from my 2020 Trail boss on her Tahoe. Also ran old 18" rims with studded snows all winter. One caution I will give you is the 22's take special TPM sensors. Your Tahoe is programed to read only those 22" sensors. Our dealer could not even program our Tahoe to read my 2020 Trail Boss stock rim sensors. The sooooo helpful tech line said "Tell the custom to put the 22 inch rims back on, or risk voiding warrantee". I will be putting the sensors out of our 22" rims in the 18's soon.

Thanks for letting us know, wouldn't be fun to find out afterwords.

 

[Nima]

Excellent question, please post back here when you decide. (and why)

I will for sure, I am hoping to be convinced here to put 20s for winter as they look better but I also don't want compromise safety and 18 looks pretty ok too. I guess we all know 18 is always better but let's see if anyone brings here more solid argument or facts to support any of it.

 

[Nima]

Excellent question, please post back here when you decide. (and why)

So I purchased IceContact continentals for my 22s just to save money and use my existing rims, I had them on all last year and they were OK. I did not love them and I did get stuck one day,
Now, a year after, I am thinking of selling them on Kijiji and buy a set of 18 or 20s for winter, thinking even more towards 18s if it doesn't make the car too ugly.