08' GTS...71K miles w/ air suspension. The snow is finally peeling away off the dirt roads in the Sierra. I have a free weekend coming up to do some backcountry skiing in the Sierra and I'm getting mixed answers from friends about how 'off-road' I can get in the 21" summer setup. I'm really torn on this one and I need some opinions. No mud-crawling, no massive boulder management or extreme jeep roads, but the occasional trench management and rocky road crawling. I have a set of 18" winters I can put on for the weekend if need be, but I'd rather just avoid that process altogether.



(photo taken June 22nd, 2011 - Dana Meadows, Yosemite)

 

1. why would you go offroad on 21s?2. i doubt anyone has performed a study on this

 

I'd be more concerned with damaging the wheels over getting stuck. You should be ok.
Both my RR and escalade both with 20 inch and 22 inch wheels ive taken off road stock and been fine. Nothing extreme but off road nonetheless.

If I was you I'd feel better having more rubber on the 18's than the 21's.

 

Got the exact same car, and I've taken it off road, many times. Snow, gravel, mud, LA freeway system, you name it, its been there. Just did a semi off road trip to the Grand Canyon, which required some fairly gnarly bits. Car does just fine with the summer tires.

I got my rims powder coated, so that I wouldn't have to worry as much about beating them up. First trip I took it up to the snow, the rims took a pounding, and the paint flaked like mad. So far, they've come through just fine.

 

As others have said, my biggest concern would be bending a rim.

The other concern to consider is that summer tires are very soft, and they can become damaged quite easily, especially on the side wall by a rock...

 

Thanks guys. I'll take some pics if I get off the beaten path this weekend

 

I dunno. These are 22" just parked on a gravel driveway.

 

Cole,thanks for posting..informative
Look how close the rims are to the gravel

 

I would concur that it is not worth scratching your 22"s. Either take it to a shop to have them throw on your 18"s or just put in the 2 hours and do it yourself in your garage.

Not worth the risk in the long run to me.

 

Do you serve a Latte and breakfast with this service?


I bet without using my air tools I can swap all 4 tires in less than 20 min.