michael dobony

LT's run at a higher tire pressure. There is more to gas mileage than the
width of the tires. The wider tire could have a lower rolling resistance
than the narrower tire. Reality check! any difference will not be noticed
unless you choose a totally junk tire. You also want a simple highway
tread.

Better traction is based on tread design and composition. A more aggressive
and wider tread has always done me well. That has a small cost in gas
mileage (at the most about $50 a year extra in gas), but with the benefit
of better handling and a safer vehicle (better traction and control in snow
and wet conditions and better breaking and handling). There are 2 trains
of thought with snow and it depends on what type of snow you get in your
area. Narrower tires sink down more to the base to get traction there, but
at a severe handling (cornering) cost. Wider tires get more of a grip and
float on the snow. Coming from Buffalo, NY I always went and still go with
the wider tire. My choice.

On ice, the more tread you have in contact the better. That means a wider
tire. You also want a softer tire, a P-metric instead of a stiffer
sidewall LT.

Your three priorities call for different solutions. Pick your priority and
choose accordingly. My fairly aggressive Coopers are LT tires and I really
didn't notice any gas mileage hit for going from mildly aggressive OEM
P-metrics to good all-terrain LT tires. I have excellent snow and
relatively good ice traction. My suburban also handled better than my
Toyota Corolla until I got new, more aggressive and wider tires for it.

none4u

All good advice except this above, Wider tires never get more grip in the
snow, they float instead of biting, due to less road pressure. And are
useless, just like low profile tires in the snow . Wider is always better
in summer, narower is always always better in the snow. reality is there
isnt long clear patches of ice either . Narrow tires are better on ice
and snow, Because of increased road pressure due to less tire footprint .
poor tread design on a narrow tire can make a wider tire better. But Im not
concened with cheap tires. Or touring tires or summer tires. Snow tires will
always out perform any tires in ice and snow. Maybe he should concider two
or four snow tires in the winter.