Pot holes and winter snow

[R1Sfamily]

I have been flipping back and forth between the 20” and 22” wheels. Will be in the Boston area where potholes are the norm and winter snow exists.

Which wheel would be best for my use? R1S will be used on the road as a family car with yearly ski trips to NH. Don’t plan to off-road at all. Question is will the 22” hold up to pot holes and are there good winter tires available or are the 20” better for my use case? Like the look and tire option availability over the 21”

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[Jac]

I live in Connecticut and travel regularly to Massachusetts and Maine year round. My R1S is getting 20” ATs without question - snow, potholes and also less vulnerable to curb rash than the 22. 20” wheels are forged and may be tougher.

 

[COdogman]

I sure wouldn’t want to be caught in a Nor’easter with the stock 22s on there, or any east coast winter storm for that matter. Both the 20s and 22s take a range hit so if it were me I would just go with the 20s.

 

[cbuckley]

I’m in TX so can’t speak to snow personally but have seen others say that light chains should work well with 22’s for these purposes.

Regarding potholes, I have no issues with rim damage on my 22’s. The ride will be rougher over lumps and bumps compared to the other wheel options but the look and handling of the 22’s outweigh those issues for my use-case.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

I’m in TX so can’t speak to snow personally but have seen others say that light chains should work well with 22’s for these purposes.

Regarding potholes, I have no issues with rim damage on my 22’s. The ride will be rougher over lumps and bumps compared to the other wheel options but the look and handling of the 22’s outweigh those issues for my use-case.

Having lived in Texas, I can safely say Texas potholes are NOT bigger than what they see in the northeast. Texas doesn't have the kind of weather that produces large numbers of large potholes.

All that said, the more sidewall you have, the less likely you'll have any damage to the wheels or undercarriage. The 20s are still the best tire for the scenario. Failing that, I'd go for the 21s.

 

[Zybane]

20 AT were the only option for me. I drive in snow, off-road, US roads are getting worse/rougher, and the ride will be better than the larger wheels.

 

[R1Sfamily]

Bumping to see those that have the 22 in wheels, how have they handled pot holes in real life?

 

[crashmtb]

FWIW I’m doing 20” for tire availability, severe service rating of the OEM AT, and getting as much sidewall as possible.

My residential street has a crevasse right in the driving line that’s about 8” wide, 6” deep and 6-8 feet long. it will rip a ball joint clean half in two.

the back lane looks like cobblestones but it’s just broken concrete.


the city rates my street as being in fair condition.

potholes here are so big people pretend to go fishing in them.

 

[Zoidz]

On Saturday, my daughter in law swerved right on to the shoulder of a rural road to avoid hitting a dog that ran out (did not hit the dog). The right side of her Mini encountered a typical Pennsylvania pot hole. Here's the result. Both tires on the right side blown wide open.

This is one of the reasons I'm getting the 20" ATs. Low profile tires and potholes don't play well together.

 

[Rivian_Hugh_III]

I have been flipping back and forth between the 20” and 22” wheels. Will be in the Boston area where potholes are the norm and winter snow exists.

Which wheel would be best for my use? R1S will be used on the road as a family car with yearly ski trips to NH. Don’t plan to off-road at all. Question is will the 22” hold up to pot holes and are there good winter tires available or are the 20” better for my use case? Like the look and tire option availability over the 21”

21s and 22s will hold up until they don’t. R1T is 7,000 pounds, R1S must be close. Throw that weight 30,50,70 miles per hour into a few blue ribbon potholes and you may be wishing you had the forged wheels with lots of sidewall.

At least that’s what I’m telling myself. 20s give you tire options, strong rims (wheels), AT tires standard that are three snowflake rated, and some peace of mind.

 

[COdogman]

The only time having more sidewall didn’t help me was in a super icy Lowes parking lot where my Jeep slid sideways into a curb going less than 5mph and popped a tire off the wheel.

Luckily there was also a Les Schwab in the same shopping center so I just took it off, rolled it across the parking lot and had them mount it again. Same thing could happen on the trail - just has to hit a rock in the right spot ?

 

[crashmtb]

On Saturday, my daughter in law swerved right on to the shoulder of a rural road to avoid hitting a dog that ran out (did not hit the dog). The right side of her Mini encountered a typical Pennsylvania pot hole. Here's the result. Both tires on the right side blown wide open.

This is one of the reasons I'm getting the 20" ATs. Low profile tires and potholes don't play well together.

Excellent opportunity to do the easiest modification to help a mini ride better: non runflat tires!

I did this to one of my minis when it was just two months old. The impact from the hole I hit on the highway was so big the dome light came out of the headliner

 

[Milermore]

I have been flipping back and forth between the 20” and 22” wheels. Will be in the Boston area where potholes are the norm and winter snow exists.

Which wheel would be best for my use? R1S will be used on the road as a family car with yearly ski trips to NH. Don’t plan to off-road at all. Question is will the 22” hold up to pot holes and are there good winter tires available or are the 20” better for my use case? Like the look and tire option availability over the 21”

I got 22s on my R1S. For my use 90-99% of the time they're perfect.
However, if I were to do it again, I would go with the 20's.

The standard 22s won't be great in the snow (have already tried them a little), the standard 20s may be acceptable and are snow rated.
But also the lost opportunity for rugged off-roading is a sacrifice I wish I hadn't made - for that 1% of the time.
For snow, I'm going to try chains if I need to go over mountain passes. I don't really want to pile up (another) set of tires in the garage for 3 months of use per year.

 

[R1Sfamily]

Now that winter is mostly over, wanted to see real life reviews for those lucky enough to have their vehicles

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