Anyone "downgraded" to 16's?

[kyoshiro]

im scrapping my toyos, less than 4k km on em. it was sliding even on a straight on a cold day.

 

[07MZ5SA]

Factory MZ5's tires sizes are 195/65-15, 205/55-16 and 205/50-17.

 

[mrbwa1]

16" Steelies

Well winter has finally shown up here and the winter tires are getting their first workout. I ordered Dunlop Wintersport 3Ds from Tirerack in 205/22/16 on steelies. They have been on for about a month to wear off the mold release and have been pretty nice on the dry and wet. The wife drives the 5, so I haven't spent a ton of time in it, but enough to get acquainted. The 3Ds seem to be a really nice tire but look like a performance tire next to my Yokohama IG-10s on my 2001 Toyota ECHO.

Anyway, the first ice and snow has come this week and the 3ds are performing nicely. Again, mainly reports from the wife, but they are staying nice and planted, other than some slippage on sheer ice. I got to drive around last night a bit and wound that the 2nd gear start on the Auto cures the ice slippage issue.

One interesting tidbit I wanted to bring up is that the MZ5 owners manual states that snow tires should be run at 4.3 lbs more than stated on the tire pressure placard. I usually run higher pressures anyway (was running 36 or 38 in the Standard Toyos) so I put 40 PSI in the Wintersport 3Ds.

Also, for anyone wanting to get winter tires mounted on the steelies, I highly recommend tirerack. the Rims were much nicer than the rims I got locally for the ECHO!! They are proper bolt pattern, hub-centric wheels instead of multi-bolt pattern and stud-centric. They also threw in a set of lug nuts for the steelies.

As far as appearance, I think the 17s fit the care better. As a whole package, I don't really realize their size until I park next to a car with 14 or 15" rims and they like gigantic! Right now I'm just biding time until winter passes as the black steelies give the 5 a creepy unfinished vibe (It looks like it just rolled off the cargo ship and it waiting for hubcaps).

 

[skyhawk]

Well winter has finally shown up here and the winter tires are getting their first workout. I ordered Dunlop Wintersport 3Ds from Tirerack in 205/22/16 on steelies. They have been on for about a month to wear off the mold release and have been pretty nice on the dry and wet. The wife drives the 5, so I haven't spent a ton of time in it, but enough to get acquainted. The 3Ds seem to be a really nice tire but look like a performance tire next to my Yokohama IG-10s on my 2001 Toyota ECHO.

Anyway, the first ice and snow has come this week and the 3ds are performing nicely. Again, mainly reports from the wife, but they are staying nice and planted, other than some slippage on sheer ice. I got to drive around last night a bit and wound that the 2nd gear start on the Auto cures the ice slippage issue.

One interesting tidbit I wanted to bring up is that the MZ5 owners manual states that snow tires should be run at 4.3 lbs more than stated on the tire pressure placard. I usually run higher pressures anyway (was running 36 or 38 in the Standard Toyos) so I put 40 PSI in the Wintersport 3Ds.

Also, for anyone wanting to get winter tires mounted on the steelies, I highly recommend tirerack. the Rims were much nicer than the rims I got locally for the ECHO!! They are proper bolt pattern, hub-centric wheels instead of multi-bolt pattern and stud-centric. They also threw in a set of lug nuts for the steelies.

As far as appearance, I think the 17s fit the care better. As a whole package, I don't really realize their size until I park next to a car with 14 or 15" rims and they like gigantic! Right now I'm just biding time until winter passes as the black steelies give the 5 a creepy unfinished vibe (It looks like it just rolled off the cargo ship and it waiting for hubcaps).

it's 2nd winter on my dealer-bought hankook ipike 205/55/r16 on steelies. I'm not sure if it's psychological but the tire feels to perform better than the 1st winter. I'm still trying to figure out what was different. I know I put more pressure on the winter tire this time.. (and I will put more as per suggestion)

I have x-ice on my buick but it is dead at the moment under repair. So I can't compare the two. Where we are the frozen snow stays on the roads the whole winter. They don't remove them they just scrape the road flat and then sprinkle some sand at intersections. But lucky for us, not too much salt. Unlike in Toronto.

 

[mrbwa1]

I have x-ice on my buick but it is dead at the moment under repair. So I can't compare the two. Where we are the frozen snow stays on the roads the whole winter. They don't remove them they just scrape the road flat and then sprinkle some sand at intersections. But lucky for us, not too much salt. Unlike in Toronto.

skyhawk,

There is definitely a difference between the Wintersport 3Ds and the Yoko IG-10s! The IG-10s, like Revos and the Ice-Xs are a tall, square block tread. they look like tractor tires, but seem to "stick" to the snow and ice a little better due to square blocks. The 3Ds have a more sporting tread block that is rounded on the edges. the plus is much less noise that the Yokos and better dry/wet handling. So far, there doesn't seem to be that much less traction. I have only noticed that the MZ5 can spin tires easier on ice. Honestly, I think that's a function of the torque though as the ECHO only makes about 105 ft/lbs ate like 4200 rpm, so from idle to about 3000 rpm, torque is basically non-existent.

Also, on your snows, did you put them on right as winter started the 1st season? The good folks at tirerack.com noted that new tires need about 500 miles to wear off the mold release and "open" the tubular compound on newer snows.

 

[skyhawk]

thanks that explains it. It was already snowing when they first installed the winter tire last winter..

 

[raspykart]

looks like its $630 shipped for a set of wintersports and steelies (16") from tire rack... well maybe we'll get some cause the stockers are definitely not great in snow. I have heard great things bout blizzaks too tho

 

[Dyx]

looks like its $630 shipped for a set of wintersports and steelies (16") from tire rack... well maybe we'll get some cause the stockers are definitely not great in snow. I have heard great things bout blizzaks too tho

That's an understatement... I'm sliding all over before I changed to Goodyear Ultra Grip 7s on steelies on my 5. I'm amazed how majority of my friends doesn't think much of changing to winter tires considering the kind of weather we have here in Winnipeg. (uhm)

Now, I'm driving like it's summer although I'm still careful especially when braking at intersections. (cool)

 

[mrbwa1]

looks like its $630 shipped for a set of wintersports and steelies (16") from tire rack... well maybe we'll get some cause the stockers are definitely not great in snow. I have heard great things bout blizzaks too tho

raspykart: That sounds about right for the Wintersports. There was a $50 rebate going on, but it may be up now. Also, The Wintersport 3Ds were listed twice, the only difference being speed rating. I just checked and only see the VR rated ones. You might call and see if the HRs are still available (they were $90 a piece, so not a huge savings). H-rated tires are good up to 130 and I'm pretty sure the 5 would need a turbo and governer reprogram to hit that! Also, the Blizzacks are nice tires. My word of warning is that Tire Rack is clearing out the older Revo 1s. The issue with those tires is that they are only 55% micro-cell compound, so they will change in traction around half-life.

The Revos do have a bit more or a square tread design. It gives marginally better ice traction, but is usually noisier. My 2001 Toyota Echo has some Yokohama IG-10s with the square block design. There is a bit more traction the the 5 with the 3Ds, but they are very noisy on concrete roads. Also, they wander a little at speed. it feels kind of like the rears are sticking and not wanting to change direction in the same manner as the fronts. The Wintersport 3ds look and feel pretty much like an A/S performance radial.

 

[skyhawk]

on a really icy portion of the roads such as getting out of in 4-way stops, the MZ5 can easily spin the tires even if it is winter tire. I guess the challenge is to give max gas without spinning the tires. Or a spin sensor should be useful.. so I can ease up on the gas.