Snow tire advice needed
 

Hi everybody. I'm going to be moving up to Annapolis next month from Miami. Woud you advise me to make the change to snow tires here or would it be fine to wait until I drive up to Maryland.

Also, my stock tires are still fairly new, with only 8000 miles. Would it be ok to just swap winter tires for them on the stock wheels? That way I can put the stock tires on new wheels when I can affort to get them.

Thanks for any help. I look forward to meeting some of you guys and attending events when I finish moving.

Rino

I think you want new tires for the trip up. You may encounter snow and the stock tires are reputedly very bad news if there is.

I have been keeping my 8 in the garage ay any threat of snow. I am on the verge of deciding that I don't want to keep it shacked up for the next two months so I think I will replace the stock tires. However, for the DC area I think all-weather tires will be preferable to snow tires. They are almost as good in snow and are much better when there is no snow. They are also better than summer or winter tires in the rain. I will put the stock tires back on, but I might wait till May to spring for new rims and TPMS sensors.

The Canada forum has a lot of threads on winter/all-season tires. I have Dunlop M3's.

dag

I've also heard and read that Pirelli makes a good "performance" snow tire. Not as good as the stock tires on dry pavement, but MUCH better in snow. Coming from Miami, if you have little snow driving experience then I'd strongly suggest snow tires. Some all-season tires are ok in snow, but many others aren't.

I think it'd be fine to wait until you get here. If it's snowing (long shot) 1" per hour when you want to make the trip, wait a few hours. We get snow about 15 days (+/-) per winter. Depends where you are of course and where the snow dumps in a storm. They keep the main roads fairly clear. IF you have to drive it daily, with no alternative transportation, on days it could snow on your way to / from your daily activities, all-seasons might do you. IF you have to go over any mntns or up any steep hills in that driving you should consider winter tires (I have the Dunlop M3 also - but I have to cross two mountains each way as part of my 43 mile commute). I have 17" on extra rims. Ebay was source for both. Wheels came from a guy w/ a Protege 5 that didn't want them anymore. Tires from an Audi TT owner. If you get them put on your OEM wheels you have the risk of damage to your wheels plus the expense of remounting and balancing at the beginning / end of each winter. I have < $500 in mine. But I had all spring and summer to make acquisitions. Several sets of OEM wheels out there for about what you might pay for new rims. But 17" tires for winter driving will cost you less. Suggest that if you get extra tires to get them as a set. Or piece together as I did if you have the patience and time.

Maybe a silly question, but for whoever has snow tires on alternate rims, how did you get the original tires/rims home? Is there any way to get 4 mounted tires into an 8?

I think I've heard of someone putting a tire in the back seat. But I wouldn't. If the only way you have is the 8 you could do it one tire at a time. I used the family van to take the rims and tires to have the tires mounted on the rims. If that's not an option find a friend with a truck or a van or a trailer or some other spacious form of transport.

I transported my wheels this way:

1 in the front seat
3 in the back seats

Of course the seats/tires were covered to protect the leather/keep the car clean. I had the dealer do the switch and asked the dealer to clean the wheels coming off. They did a decent job, but I ended up going to a self-clean car wash and gave the wheels a thorough cleaning and put them into garbage bags for storage.

dag

If you mail order the wheels and tires from Tire Rack, they'll mount and ship them to you.

I had my snow tires shipped from Tire Rack to Trussville Mazda, where they were installed onto my winter stock wheelss, then shipped to me.

Saw the dread S letter on the forecast for the 19th... did some research m, here and on the miata.net site. TireRack and lots of $$ less equals 4 new wheels, new Blizzak LM22, and sensors. So now I have five vehicles in my shop, and have a total of 8 for the 8, and 12 for the STO, with the three trucks (work related) having only 14 amongst them. I did forget the three on the autoX trailer :) . Too many to keep track off. :eek: slow_eddie

I think you'll be fine to wait, just check the weather before you come up- its cold here in DC/Annapolis, but while it was 20 on Sunday, should be 50 by Friday.
At any rate, I have Pirelli Winter Snow Sports on my stock rims- I really recommend them. they are excellent in the cold days we get here, and the occasional 1-4 inch snow storm. While i won't be driving my 8 when it gets that nasty out, you never know when you'll need it. Plus, lots of times it'll be sunny in the morning, and snowing by the time you leave the office.

I, like you plan to buy nice rims for summer use come summer. My stock tires only have 5500 miles on them and are stowed away safely for future use/spare use. I'd recommend ordering tires from Tire rack, then taking them (I used girlfriends suv) to your Mazda dealer and having them installed there (and they can swap the tps sensors too). It only cost me 80 bucks which is cheaper than some tire stores.
good luck on your trip!

I can vouch for this, they are terrible

Tire Rack delivers! :D They were mounted, TPM'd, pumped and ready to swap. (17" Blizzack LM22 on a Mille Miglia HT3 rim) Used them last winter. Just made the switch for this winter about three weeks ago.

I'm going to drive up on the stock tires, then I'll probably get new tires. It seems that it would be difficult to find winter tires in Miami, plus the hassle of lugging the stock tires up, make it a good idea to wait. I've been checking the weather though just in case, but it seems like it won't be snowing (I'll keep my fingers crossed).