Roto8

Connor, is bolt patter 5X114 the same as 5X114.3? I am not sure if Tire rack just does not add the .3 or if there is an actual differance. Thanks

Bigdog6060

I live in indianapolis, and my parents live close to southbend would it be possible to pick up tires that i ordered on the Site, insted of getting them shipped? I am also looking at getting snow tires. And would love to test the tires around your track haha

glassetcher

Connor,

I apologize if I have missed this comparison in another thread, but how would you compare the Blizzak LM-22 vs WS-50? Why would a person buy one over the other?

Thanks!

Zoom, Zoom!

Roto8

Looking at a set of Pirelli's but not sure about the staggered tire size, any suggestions? Thanks.
225/50HR17 PI W210 SNOW SPORT 94H TIRES

235/50HR17 PI W210 SNOW SPORT RF TIRES

swoope

iTrader: (5)

staggered in snow bad. you want to go with the narrowest possible.

yea l live in fla, but i am an x pro skier. cold is bad. for the price of those you could buy a subrua 4wd wagon late 80s and never put the 8 in danger.

beers

Krankor

Ok, I am trying to make sense of this thread and failing. Can someone talk to me about tires in the language of someone who doesn't know anything about tires?

All I know is, winter is around the corner and its time I figure out what I'm doing about snow tires. The only thing I know for sure is I need 4 snow tires. And maybe wheels.

Newbie questions:

1) The normal wheels are 18", right? But 17" wheels seem to come up in this topic. Are 17" wheels better? Why?

2) If I change the wheels... isn't there some kind of sensor doohickey thingy for the tire pressure monitor? What are the issues with that if I change wheels?

3) Particularly in light of 2) above, do I need to go to a Mazda dealer for tires/wheels or can I (should I?) go to just a regular tire place?

4) So let's say take the car somewhere and get 4 wheels/tires. How do I get the 4 summer wheels/tires home in my RX-8?

5) Obviously people have different opinions of different brands; just how much difference does it really make in the end? Are there any brands that really SUCK and should be avoided?

advTHANKSance for helping to educate me.

Krankor
05 Shinka 6MT

jaedcem

I'll take a shot at these questions, but I'll also say that I'm not an expert. I expect Connor will gladly correct anything that I say incorrectly. I have lived in Wisconsin my whole life, and have had snow tires (Blizzak WS-50s only) for about 10 years. I feel strongly that you should have dedicated winter tires if you live in "snowy" parts of the US. Anyway, here goes:

1. The stock wheels are 18"x8" and most people consider using 17" wheels for snow tires. I have 17"x7" winter wheels. Buying new wheels allows for a narrower size, which is better for snow traction. (You want the tires to "cut" through the snow to the hard pavement below, rather than "floating" on the top of the snow. Narrow tires will do this, and wide tires act like skis.) Also, some of the more aggressive snow tires are only available in taller, narrower, lower-performance sizes. I wanted the WS-50 rather than the LM-22 because I drive on poorly cleared back roads, and I felt comfortable giving up the dry performance of the LM-22 to gain the loose snow perfomance of the WS-50.

2. Yes, the sensor doohickey thingy is called a TPMS sensor, and you don't HAVE to install one on your new wheels. If you don't, then the TPMS light will be on all winter. If you do want them installed on your new wheels, you just need to buy four of them and have them put on the wheels (very easy to do) before mounting the snow tires. Some places (insert plug for Tire Rack here) will install the sensors and mount/balance the tires before sending them to you. This is the easiest. Anyway, any garage monkey can, if he's careful, mount the sensors and the tires for you without any special training.

3. covered in 2.

4. Heh heh. Good luck. You can take them home in your passenger seat one at a time, you can bribe your friend with the pickup/SUV to help out, or you can pay the tire changing place to store them for you. My suggestion is to buy the wheel/tire combo already mounted, and change them at home. You just need to jack up the car, change a wheel, and repeat X 3. (This is another argument for winter wheels, rather than just buying tires. You will have this problem next spring, and next fall, and the following spring, etc. If you pay $50-60 each time for mounting and balancing, you aren't spending much more to buy some cheap winter wheels.)

5. I can't really answer this one, as I've only used one brand my whole life. I used the Blizzak WS-15 until it was replaced by the WS-50. I've used them on three different cars, and a minivan with great results. I can't comment on any other brands, or even other Blizzak models. As for what tire you should choose, the main issue is what you expect from the tires. If you plan to drive on dry roads all winter, except for the three or four times it flurries a bit while you're at work, then you should get performance winter tires. If you get the ones I have, you will NOT be able to beat any other sports cars off the line without hopelessly spinning your squishy, soft tires into little melted blobs. You will NOT be able to accelerate hard on the on-ramp without your DSC light blinking angrily at you. You will lose a lot of steering feel, along with a lot of dry road traction. As I said above, this is what I need where I live, or I can't get to work. The trade-off is that I've been able to get out of my driveway when my co-worker's 4wd blazer couldn't.

Good luck with your decision.

Krankor

Much thanks for the info! Very helpful! Let me ask some follow-up questions here...

Yeah, that much I was already convinced of.

Ok, this is finally starting to make a little bit of sense to me. But does one inch of width really make that much difference in cutting through to the surface?

Interesting. And if I wanted to get winter TPMSs, what's the ballpark for how much they cost? And where would I get them from?

And ballpark what would it cost for them to store them?

So wait a minute. Are you saying that I can get someone to just mail me the whole kit'n'kaboodle, and it just means I have to put them on myself?

Well, that may have contained some useful stuff. Boston is of course hardly dry-roads-all-winter-except-for-the-three-or-four-times-it-flurries-a-bit, even if it isn't quite Wisconsin. But jeez, beating other sports cars off the line in February is the LAST thing I'm thinking about! I just wanna be able to get through the winter safely! If those are the kind of issues people are worrying about in winter tires... well, this will maybe help me make more sense out of posts here.

Thanks, and thanks again for the good info!

Krankor
05 Shinka 6MT

jaedcem

I'm not sure how much difference it makes, but that's the argument used, and it makes some sense to me.

I think they are around $100 each (give or take $20) - you can check with the Tire Rack and see. Make a wheel/tire package for the RX-8, and the checkout page will ask if you want the sensors. It'll say how much they are.

That depends on the shop. My local guy stored them for free, but others may charge. And, my local guy sold his semi-trailer storage place so he won't store mine any more. They're in a stack in the garage.

Yup, that's what I did. I got them from the Tire Rack, and had them sent here before I even bought the car. (I bought my car in Jan. in Chicago.) I loaded them into my dad's truck and had the dealer install them before I even drove off the lot. They even had the right air pressure.

Yeah, I agree. But you do need to realize that my tires have MUCH lower dry performance than the stock tires. I accept this trade-off, but you may not have to, if you can get by with the "performance winter" models.

UgE

Hey Connor (I wonder if he's still checking this tread?) or someone else who really knows alot about tires,

Now here's my final choices with 225/50-17 :
- Bridgestone Blizzack LM-22
- Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2

I saw on the Tirerack.com reviews that the Michelin was better rated!
Then why do you (Connor) still recommend the Bridgestone?

Also, why don't you recommend 215/55-17 tires? Is it because there are less that are offered with this size? If not, then why? I've always thought that smaller width tires were better in snow!


ThX !

connor@tirerack

In the testing that we have done between the LM22 and the Pilot Alpin PA2 the Blizzak has provided better sheer ice traction and better deep snow traction. The Blizzak will also last longer. I believe you are referring to the customer service surveys which i would never use to make a recommendation to a customer. There are to many unknown variables as to why the person writing the review said what they did.

You can use either the 215/55/17 or the 225/50/17. However there is very limited availability of tires in the 215/55/17 size. Also most of the people that i have spoken to with RX8's have requested using the 225/50/17 even after i recommended the 215/55/17.

I apologize for the delay in responding to any posts. This is the busiest time of year for the Tire Rack and i spend pretty much the entire day just trying to keep up with the incoming phone calls. If you have a question that need a quick response or would like to place an order just give me a call. I will be able to answer your questions much faster on the phone than through the forum.

Groo

I just ordered up a set of 215/55-17 Dunlop Winter Sport M3 with Kazera KZ-V rims from tirerack.com. Thanks to everyone who has posted advice in this thread and others, helped guide me through the whole snow tire decision process quite nicely.

I haven't talked to you connor, but I put your name down on the sales form anyway since I used some of your advice, figured it might help you out in some way.

connor@tirerack

Thank you very much, i appreciate it. As always, if i can be of any assistance just let me know.

Bigdog6060

So i was looking around and can get the M2's for about 70 bucks a tire, but the size is 225/40-18 other then the speed being off a few mph is this that big of a deal im cheap and for half the price its hard to beat

Groo

I understand the argument that narrower tires cut through the snow better, but it seems that for better stopping performance you would benefit from wider tires, with more contact surface to the ground. Is that not true?

willhave8

Sounds like a good deal to me. Perfection is not the goal.

RA-Eight

iTrader: (6)

Connor,

Are the Dunlop Graspic not Uni-Directional? It shouldn't matter which side I mount them?

Thanks,
Ra

connor@tirerack

You can use the 225/40/18, however this size will not perform very well in the snow due to the shorter side wall. When you shorten the sidewall you make the tire stiffer which limits the ability to retain traction on ice and snow. there is also the fact that the tires have a lower load carrying capability due to being smaller. To compensate you will need to run the tires at a minimum of 36 psi to meet mazda load requirements.

connor@tirerack

On dry pavement this is true but on snow or ice the wider the tire the worse the traction will be. This is cause by a couple of different factors:

1) A wider tire has to cut a wider path through snow which causes more rolling resistance, which will limit the amount of control you have on snow.

2) By going with a wider tire you are spreading out the pounds per square inch in the contact patch. With a narrower tire you are focusing the weight of the vehicle onto a smaller area which concentrates the amount of pounds per square inch. As an example: what happens when you step on the an ice rink with a pair of regular shoes. You fall on your butt. But if you are wearing a pair of ice skates you can stand up with no problems (unless you are me and then you still fall on your butt) because you are concentrating your weight into a smaller area.

connor@tirerack

The Dunlop Graspic DS2 are not directional. You can mount them on either side of the vehicle.

StphNieuw

When are people putting their winter tires on? At night it is getting close to freezing here but day time temperatures are still ranging from 40-55. What is the ideal time to put them on? (I know prior to snow fall I know during warmer weather they wear a lot faster.

glassetcher

Groo - I ordered exactly the same combination and just received them today. I'll probably put them on this weekend. What's your experience so far? Do you have any pics with the winter tires/wheels installed?

Zoom, Zoom!

Durahl

In response to StphNieuw, I feel that right now is about the right time to put your snow tires on. I feel much more comfortable once they're on, knowing that I won't get stranded if there happens to be snow or ice on a random morning. I had my 8 through its first winter last year with 17" wheels and Blizzak WS-50's ordered from TireRack. I installed them about this time last year and took them off in April. I just put them back on today. Last year I had no problems in snow (I was living in Saratoga Springs, NY). I had a back-road drive to work and a few times had to go through ~6" of unplowed snow. Hope this was of some help.

Da_Lawya

Guys Hello,

any suggestions for snow chains or similar product for 19'' alloy rims?
I know the Autosock and Spikes - Spider solutions,but the first won't come out for 19'' and the second is very expensive solution.
And i wouldn't like to get winter tyres,as this would end up cost more than $800

Regards

BoosTED

iTrader: (2)

Lawya, after much research, firsthand experience and comments from Conner@tirerack I would say to nab a set of 17's and decent winter rubber.

It is insurance from the ditches, curbs, oncoming traffic, ...

I won't drive my stock tires on anything under 40 degrees Farenheit, they get too squirrely.

Groo you will be happy with the Dunlop M3 Wintersports. I have them on now and ran them all last winter. No problems, 'cept when I disabled traction control to check ability of tires. Keep in mind this was my first winter with a rear wheel drive car. A bit different to pull out of a spin than FWD. With FWD a person can pump the gas to get the wheels to grab. Do that in RWD and it spins out faster.