summer/winter what should I do?

[soulfood76]

Quick question for all you gearheads out there. I have a 2008 speed3, and have questions on tires/rims.

I live in Cincinnati where we do have some snow during the winter. I pretty much parked my speed3 this winter when there was any snow on the roads because I have the stock tires on. I'm thinnking of getting new 18" rims. I guess which of the following should I do?

1. Save my stock rims and run winter tires on those?
2. Sell my stock rims and get all-season tires when I need new tires (most likely this fall)?
3. I have a buddy that's willing to trade me his oem 'snowflake' 17" rims on his mazda 3 (06) plus some cash (yet to be determined) for my stock 18s. I would then buy winter tires this fall to put on the 17s.

Please give me advice as I am new to the whole summer/winter tire; actually new to car stuff in general.

thanks!

 

[robin2660]

Quick question for all you gearheads out there. I have a 2008 speed3, and have questions on tires/rims.

I live in Cincinnati where we do have some snow during the winter. I pretty much parked my speed3 this winter when there was any snow on the roads because I have the stock tires on. I'm thinnking of getting new 18" rims. I guess which of the following should I do?

1. Save my stock rims and run winter tires on those?

This is the most expensive option since you have to swap them out each season, and 18 inch snow tires are very expensive.

2. Sell my stock rims and get all-season tires when I need new tires (most likely this fall)?

What does selling your rims have to do with buying all-season tires?

3. I have a buddy that's willing to trade me his oem 'snowflake' 17" rims on his mazda 3 (06) plus some cash (yet to be determined) for my stock 18s. I would then buy winter tires this fall to put on the 17s.

This is not bad.

Please give me advice as I am new to the whole summer/winter tire; actually new to car stuff in general.

thanks!

I think the best solution is to buy a set of 16 inch wheels and winter tires. If you don't have room to store the winter wheels, then the best option for you might be to buy some high performance all season tires for your 18s, or swap with your friend and do the same on the 17s (much cheaper).

 

[Sport6]

Option #3 or robin's #4.

I have 18's, sold the stock 18's and bought 16" alloys with dunlop wintersport m3's.

 

[soulfood76]

Thanks for the advice. Oh, and I definitely have room to store tires during the summer (in garage, shed, or even heated storage room in my basement).

Is there anything I need to worry about when storing tires (can they go bad - any preventative mantenance necessary on a tire just sitting there for 8-10 months out of the year?

 

[tunersteve]

Right now Tire Rack has Blizzaks in our stock size for $121 per tire, which you won't find a better deal on. Get yourself a second set of 18" wheels (or 17s if you find a set) and go that route with two designated sets of summer/winter tires.

 

[jabba]

I went with 16" steel wheels and put Blizzaks on those. My stock wheels currently have all-seasons, and they suck here in Pittsburgh. The winter tires made a world of difference, but with the enormous potholes that don't get fixed in the winter, I just went with steel wheels. Why risk alloys. And the fatter sidewall on the 16's means better absorption on the winter roads, while sacrificing some handling.

 

[MS3Buckeye]

Hey, I also live in Cincinnati, so I know the kind of weather you are dealing with.

I personally believe:

1. You don't want to switch your winter and summer tires on one set of wheels every change of season. It is expensive, and it stretches out the sidewall on the tires after several switches.

2. You don't want all season tires. A standard 3 hatchback is 4-5 thousand dollars cheaper than the Speed. Why pay that premium to then neuter your cars handling and acceleration.

3. You don't want steel wheels for the winter. It is too easy to get used OEM wheels from other mazdas that are just as cheap or cheaper than steelies and look WAY better (like your friends).

Your options:

1. (best, most expensive) Buy winter tires for the stock wheels, get a new (or used) set of nice wheels for summer with summer rubber.

2. (middle of the road) Get a cheap set of wheels for winter tires, and put summer rubber on the stock wheels.

3. (worst option) Ugghhhh, all season tires.

I have Dunlop Wintersport M3s for the winter on the stock wheels. I have gotten out of places my Dad's 4 wheel drive truck has gotten stuck. Winter tires and a locking diff, FTW!

Just today I got my hyperblack Rota Torque wheels (thanks wheeldude.com) and have Potenza RE-01Rs.

Where you at in Cincy? I'm in the Silverton/Deerpark area.

 

[Stamperman]

Snow tires are the way to go for winter. One of the issues with summer tires in winter is that the rubber compound will freeze below certain temps and the tire will have very little grip.

I live in the Colubus area and we've been hammered with snow this year. Even with 6" of snow on the ground I could go about anywhere I wanted with Blizzaks on my car. Last year I tired using Yokohama W4 all season tires on the stock wheels. They are all season, until it snows, then they suck.

I ended up using 17" ford fusion wheels for my snow tires. They work great.

 

[Darth Vader]

16" steels and Michelin Primacy Alpin. Withstands the torque of the S3 engine, allows pretty high performance driving in better conditions and lasts.

 

[H3br3w_Ham3r]

Was able to get 16 inch winter tires and rims from tire rack cheaper than just four 18 inch snow tires..... WTF!

 

[kooofie]

broo just get winter tires on the stocks and summer tires on the new 18s....that wat i did and in the winter just raise ur car a little bit on coilovers

 

[rsvinylgraphics]

just get some all-season tires such as Goodyear Eagle F-1's like I did, you shouldn't have
any problems with those.

 

[robin2660]

Everybody has advice ... does anyone ever listen to what the OP wants?

 

[ohioan]

I say run two sets of rims with one summer set of tire and one winter set. One: I think it looks horrible with steel or smaller rims then stock. And two: performance performance performance.

 

[60181]

You have a long while to decide and find the right deal. I run both a summer 18" setup on my stock wheels and a 17" winter set up that I found on Craig's List.

I just now replaced the OEM rubber with some all season hi-po Eagle F1-ASC's and love them. I won't run them in snow, but I will likely leave them longer as here in Columbus we usually don't see snow until Jan. So instead of running my Blizzaks from Oct through March, I'll likely only use them Jan-March.

Personally, if you don't travel all over Ohio or other areas, Cinci is pretty mild in terms of winters, I think you'll be fine with some good all season tires. The question then becomes do you want to remove the OEM rubber and sell them now or look around for a dual season set up. Again, you have plenty of time.

These are the new all season Goodyears:

Here's what I have for summer and winter.

Winter Set up: Blizzak LM-25 on 17" O.Z. Superleggera

 

[diddiyo]

Blizzak WS60 on some random 17" wheels here.

 

[Metro Gray]

Like many here have already suggested, winter steel wheels and a set of snows are a good option. The higher profile tire you get with the 16/17" wheels lets you drive the pothole covered winter roads without damage to the rims/tires. I bought WS60 and 16" Steel wheels for $600 last fall. Judging by the wear I should get at least two more or even three more winters out of them. The original wheels and summer tires are stored in my basement and I will reinstall as soon as the potholes have been patched.

Note that the 16" Wheel/Winter Tire Combo will have a profound affect on handling. Hard acceleration on the highway can cause a strong pull to the right or left so you have to pay attention. The steering won't be sharp either, expect a slight delay in response during turn in or transitions. Manageable but certainly something to be aware of.

 

[Mike240SX]

I highly disagree that ultra-high-performance all-seasons will "neuter" the performance of the car. I put stock size Goodyear Eagle GT's on my MS3's stock wheels when the stock RE050s were toast, and the only decrease in performance I felt was in dead-center steering response. Lateral grip seemed to increase, with a cleaner and more predictable break point. I also notice reduced wheelspin on launches. And that's just in the dry. Wet performance skyrocketed, and obviously snow performance was a marked improvement as well. This is all butt dyno, no monitoring equipment.

If you ask me, running pure winter tires on a separate set of wheels "neuters" performance more unless you live in a climate where there's constant snow on the ground for several months (or you change your wheel/tire set every day based on the weather).

For those that don't live in the great white north where there's constantly snow on the ground, I think the perfect dream setup would be on set of wheels with extreme summer tires, and another with high-performance all-seasons. ::shrug:: Maybe that's just me.

 

[MS3Buckeye]

I highly disagree that ultra-high-performance all-seasons will "neuter" the performance of the car. I put stock size Goodyear Eagle GT's on my MS3's stock wheels when the stock RE050s were toast, and the only decrease in performance I felt was in dead-center steering response. Lateral grip seemed to increase, with a cleaner and more predictable break point. I also notice reduced wheelspin on launches. And that's just in the dry. Wet performance skyrocketed, and obviously snow performance was a marked improvement as well. This is all butt dyno, no monitoring equipment.

If you ask me, running pure winter tires on a separate set of wheels "neuters" performance more unless you live in a climate where there's constant snow on the ground for several months (or you change your wheel/tire set every day based on the weather).

For those that don't live in the great white north where there's constantly snow on the ground, I think the perfect dream setup would be on set of wheels with extreme summer tires, and another with high-performance all-seasons. ::shrug:: Maybe that's just me.

While Cincinnati is far from being snowy all year round, I don't think all seasons are better than winter tires when there isn't snow on the ground. It is just too damn cold. When it is in the 30s and below, the tire compound in summer, and even all season tires is too hard.

Can you drive real fast in winter tires? No. Nobody drives fast in the winter when its cold anyway. Everyone just sits around waiting for it to warm up.

But when the snow does hit, you will be best off in winter tires (and better off when not snowing too IMO). And when it does warm up, you are waaaay better off in summer high performance tires. All seasons just don't stack up. They are holding you back. I didn't pay the extra money for this engine to be held up by my tires.

http://www.insideline.com/features/tire-test-all-season-vs-snow-vs-summer.html

All season tires are jack of all trades, master of none. To me, you buy all seasons if you don't really care how your car performs. To me, people bought the MS3 over the regular 3 aren't these people. People put aftermarket parts on their car because they care how it performs. Someone who goes on a forum to solicit advice on what tire/wheel setups he should buy probably cares about how their car performs.

From your sig, you have a lot of cars that can handle a lot of different roles, so your situation could be different, but if you only have one car and it is a Speed, I strongly recommend designated winter and summer tires.

Think of why you bought the car.

 

[robin2660]

While Cincinnati is far from being snowy all year round, I don't think all seasons are better than winter tires when there isn't snow on the ground. It is just too damn cold. When it is in the 30s and below, the tire compound in summer, and even all season tires is too hard.

Can you drive real fast in winter tires? No. Nobody drives fast in the winter when its cold anyway. Everyone just sits around waiting for it to warm up.

But when the snow does hit, you will be best off in winter tires (and better off when not snowing too IMO). And when it does warm up, you are waaaay better off in summer high performance tires. All seasons just don't stack up. They are holding you back. I didn't pay the extra money for this engine to be held up by my tires.

http://www.insideline.com/features/tire-test-all-season-vs-snow-vs-summer.html

All season tires are jack of all trades, master of none. To me, you buy all seasons if you don't really care how your car performs. To me, people bought the MS3 over the regular 3 aren't these people. People put aftermarket parts on their car because they care how it performs. Someone who goes on a forum to solicit advice on what tire/wheel setups he should buy probably cares about how their car performs.

From your sig, you have a lot of cars that can handle a lot of different roles, so your situation could be different, but if you only have one car and it is a Speed, I strongly recommend designated winter and summer tires.

Think of why you bought the car.

What you fail to keep in mind, it seems, is that not everyone's objectives are the same as yours. Also, not everyone is out to push their car to the limits, so what's the point of having a tire that's marginally better when you're not going to utilize its capability?