hi, guys. I live in London ON, Canada. I am gonna get a 8 next month. However, it snows alot here in winter . So i definitely need change the tires.

Since I dont know much about tires :s ... i really need help about what kind of tires should I get. Well, also, i dont want change tires all the time;

should i just get all season tires so that i can use them for the whole year? am i able to get the tires at the mazda dealer or what?

these questions are silly :s, but thank you for answering them. I really do need help...

 

Simple answer is - go get winter tires - it is worth the hassle - especially in Canada.

Cruise the Canadian section - there are some great thread on the pros and cons of winter tires, which brands to get, and where to buy them.

dag

 

winter tires. no doubt about it. get them. now.

 

And look at getting a set of 17" wheels to mount them on. The $200 difference between four 18" and 17" tires and the $40-$60 you'll save getting by not having to get your summer tires mounted will almost buy a cheap set of 17" wheels. My setup with Hankook W300s tires and 17"x8" Momo wheels cost me $780. That was less than a set of 18" Blizzaks cost.

 

thank you all for the replies

 

I went with a deal from Talon Tires last year (Toyo Garitt HT's on 17" rims). They were great in the winter.

When you already have summer tires, you might as well go for real winter tires!

 

I would invest in a wheel/tire package to make your winter change easy for years to come. I just picked up wheels with 17" Dunlop Winter Sport M3s. I have heard only great things about this tire. Tirerack.com has an excellent price on the Wintersports. Just be carefull that the 17" rim fits over the front brake. (6-speed has 18" stock rims) My first rim choice was a 17" Konig that only cleared the brake by about 2mm. So I tried a different one that cleared by about 8mm. Most wheel/tire packages I found cost between $1100-$1300 USD.

 

Hmmm, just out of curiosity, do you guys still strongly recommend winter tires even though the Avon Tech M550 High Performance All Seasons are out? Because there are 10 strongly positive reviews from RX-8 owners for these tires. They are VERY good reviewed tires. (Yes, in snow too!)

I'm still in the market for snow tires, but I think I may consider getting these instead. I can transfer my stick rims over too. This will save me a few hundred dollars too, considering they are only $129/piece. If I end up buying the car too, I'll probably end up getting new rims anyway. I'll still take care of the stocks during the winter.

They make them in 18's too, it would be perfect. A snow traction rating of "Excellent" an't too bad IMO. I bet these drive almost as good as Dunlop SnowSport M3 in snow.

Click here for the comparison chart! I demand you!

 

i'd say if you are up way north where snow is a going to be around for months at a time, get snow tires.. if you are somwhere where it snow occasionally, and maybe in a city where plows are very good then get all seasons.

 

It's usually no more than 2 or 3 days out of the year where we get hit really hard. The streets are generally always plowed and salted nicely. The only time I have trouble getting out is when we get 8"+ of unplowed snow on the street.

I've already driven my 8 in snow with the stock tires, and I managed to get around ok. Took out a couple mailboxes but it's all gravy.

I think these all seasons will be fine for me. Worst comes to worst I take the H3.

 

i have dunlop winter m3's on 17" rims and they are great. they seem to handle dry ground better than the stock bridgestone summer tires.

 

I have the Avon Tech 550's and they have been great wet traction tires. So far they have handled a couple inches of snow with ease. Some of that is no doubt because of the excellent DSC/TCS in the 8. If I lived in an area where I had to deal with more than a few inches of snow at time I would definately have purchased Winter tires though. Saving a few hundred dollars is not worth losing your life, killing someone else, or wrecking your brand new car IMO.

 

Thanks a lot for your input.

It is still the million dollar question, whether to get Tech 550's or Dunlop M3's.

 

Loved the Blizzaks yesterday. The 8 was much better with them than the Altima with allseason BF Goodrich.

 

No, I don't think there's any question. All-season tires are more properly called all-temperature tires - unlike summer tires, they retain grip at below freezing temperatures on dry pavement, and provide some capability on snow. Nobody, including Tire Rack, would claim that they are a reasonable substitute for real snow use.

All-season tires are a compromise - not as good as real winter tires in winter, not as good as real summer tires in summer. However, they're much close to summer tires in summer than they are to winter tires in winter - I'd actually consider using all-season tires in summer, but I won't ever again in winter. ESPECIALLY if you're going to run two sets of tires, there's no good reason to consider all-seasons instead of winters.

If you want to retain performance oriented tires, then the Dunlop M3 sounds ideal. I like my current Toyo Garit HT 215/55-17s, but if the M3s had been available in that size 2 years ago I'd have bought the M3s.

Note: for winter conditions, narrower is better - a 215/55-17 will give better performance than a 225/50-17 or 225/45-18. And winter performance, ie traction for acceleration, cornering, and braking, is the whole point of tires to use in winter, isn't it?

Regards,
Gordon

 

Thanks for the very helpful post Gord.

I guess I will just get the M3's then. Except the tire people tell me there are cheaper tires with the same speed rating, convincing me that the only difference is how fast you can go. I still think the M3's are best with noise/handling/traction.

The biggest question is do I go with 17's or 18's. This shouldn't have any performance difference I would think. Getting the 18's are only about $100 cheaper than 17's with new rims, so I think I'll just spend the extra $100 and get 17's with new rims. :/

 

Jusy my 2 cents
I have used Pirelli Winter210s the past 2 winters and they have worked great in the snow. This winter I'm running on the Avon all seasons and so far they have been real good on snow and slush. Had 4-6" of slush on roads last nite and the tires worked real well. There has been very little deop off in winter performance between the Pirellis and the Avons.