I,m considering a vacation in New Mexico around Thanksgiving and where I am going will have snow. You all with this size tire, do you have any problems with traction/control when driving in the snow? All opinions will be appreciated. TYIA.

 

I have slightly less wide tires than you. I'll tell you this, your car will be a skateboard in the snow. The Gen 4 Maxima is one of the lightest 4 door sedans out there. Coupled with big tires and a relatively larger contact patch, your tires won't have enough downforce to grip very well.

Another thing, if you browse thru articles on this site, you'll find alot of people complaining about the ABS on our cars. Because I was able to switch to 15" tires for winter, I could see what the problem was. The ABS worked fine on my 15"s, but when I put my wide 17s back on the ABS came back with its tendency to activate way too early. This is again due to the fact that our light cars are using such wide tread.

So, if you must drive with such wide tires in the snow, learn to brake very early, and/or put some real snow tires on those rims. You're gonna need all the help you can get.

On the plus side, all this negativity about how Gen 4 maxes handle in the snow with wide tires, we really rock in the dry! The light weight/wide tire combo really works then

 

Yep. The first reply is right on. Wide tires on any car absolutely sucks in the snow(and rain for that matter). If you are traveling to a place w/ alot of snow, at least get 2 tires/wheels in the stock size that are dedicated snow tires. You should probably get 4 though.

 

Hmm, well I have driven through a couple of snow storms with my Yokohama 235/45/17's and it is like riding a sled but with out the ability to brake or turn. The other day I slid down my driveway totaly out of control nearly smashing into a few trees. You've got the idea,it a bad idea!

 

I found that with the 15" tires, the car handled pretty well, but with the 17" the car is a little harder to control. Then again, I have taken various EVOC and winter driving courses and have never actually skidded, just wiggled a bit. Put on a pair of 15" or get snow tires if you feel uncomfortable.