New winter tires for MS6

[Matt'sSpeed6]

I gotta say: The stockers are definitely growing on me. I think they keep the car looking sleeper. With that in mind, I decided to buy winter 17's and Blizzaks and keep the stock for summer. $900 + change from Tire Rack. I am happy with the look!! Price out 18" snows and that might help change your mind.

Ultimately, it comes down to preference.

M

 

[Killer]

It's times like this i am glad I live in florida. July through September though is a different story.

 

[Elicious]

Price out 18" snows and that might help change your mind.
M

Exactly. The 18" snow tires were so much more expensive than 17's that I just went with all new 17" wheels and tires for just over $1000. Buying 4 18" snows would have been over $800 and then I'd still have to pay $150-200 probably to get the old tires removed and the new ones mounted. Mounting 18's ain't cheap.

 

[Bluesultan]

i never really got this question answered before, but will these 17" Mazda3 wheels fit?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FACT...tegoryZ43957QQihZ002QQitemZ120059034998QQrdZ1

yeah, i know there's only one wheel in that auction but i'm looking at a set for around $200. thanks.

 

[Benhaze]

Exactly. The 18" snow tires were so much more expensive than 17's that I just went with all new 17" wheels and tires for just over $1000. Buying 4 18" snows would have been over $800 and then I'd still have to pay $150-200 probably to get the old tires removed and the new ones mounted. Mounting 18's ain't cheap.

Thanks for the picture Elicious. I am also currently shopping for winter tires and I lean toward one of the Sport Edition 17" wheels from Tire Rack. You car looks great!

The Dunlop Winter Sport M3 is on top of mylist. I need to call Tire Rack to confirm they are available (it's on their paper ad but nowhere to be found online(huh)...)

 

[Elicious]

Thanks for the picture Elicious. I am also currently shopping for winter tires and I lean toward one of the Sport Edition 17" wheels from Tire Rack. You car looks great!

The Dunlop Winter Sport M3 is on top of mylist. I need to call Tire Rack to confirm they are available (it's on their paper ad but nowhere to be found online(huh)...)

I believe the Dunlop Winter Sport M3s are out of stock in the 215/50/17 size from tirerack. I bought them a while ago and a couple of days later someone was crying about how they were out of stock. I got pretty lucky!

 

[Redlinez]

You could try the General Exclaim UHP (is m+s rated). Best of both worlds and dumb dirty cheap $70 each in 17's.

 

[Benhaze]

I believe the Dunlop Winter Sport M3s are out of stock in the 215/50/17 size from tirerack. I bought them a while ago and a couple of days later someone was crying about how they were out of stock. I got pretty lucky!

Thanks for the heads up... I also noticed Tire Rack run out of Michelin X-Ice which was my second choice... Oh well.

Redlinez, I've never heard of the Exclaims so I looked them up. They are good only in very light and occasional snow which is not good enough for my driving conditions. If I would go that route, I would use the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 form our other Mazda6; they that are actually decent in snow but lack traction on ice. The other 6 car has steelies and X-Ice for the winter...

 

[Kansei]

You could try the General Exclaim UHP (is m+s rated). Best of both worlds and dumb dirty cheap $70 each in 17's.

terrible in the snow. My roommate has them on his summer wheels on his Volvo (turbo rwd) and man oh man was it some crazy dorifto action when we got the first snow here. He's now firmly planted with some Blizzak REVO-1s

 

[Newf]

X-Ice tires are rated very well almost everywhere I read. Above Blizzak's almost everytime

 

[Kansei]

X-Ices did well, but.. the first review I found (tirerack) placed them below both snow/ice Blizzaks

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=65

 

[mikeyb]

What about Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2s or RSIs? These are alot better then a Blizzak and will last longer. They also handle better then a Blizzak too. I sell these at work to BMW and Mini customers. They are awesome on RWD BMWs.

http://www.nokiantires.com/en/winter_passenger.aspx

 

[Newf]

nokian are supposed to be the best EVAR!

Kidding aside, I have never read anything bad about them. They are also priced well.

I would never buy blizzak. They don't last for s***.

 

[mikeyb]

nokian are supposed to be the best EVAR!

Kidding aside, I have never read anything bad about them. They are also priced well.

I would never buy blizzak. They don't last for s***.

Blizzaks are good for the first season but are basically all season tires afterwards.

 

[Kansei]

i am on season 3 on my ws-50s. nokians are awesome, i wish tirerack sold them.

 

[ns80]

Thanks for the heads up... I also noticed Tire Rack run out of Michelin X-Ice which was my second choice... Oh well.

Redlinez, I've never heard of the Exclaims so I looked them up. They are good only in very light and occasional snow which is not good enough for my driving conditions. If I would go that route, I would use the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 form our other Mazda6; they that are actually decent in snow but lack traction on ice. The other 6 car has steelies and X-Ice for the winter...

I ordered my WinterSport M3s from http://www.mavistire.com/ProductCart/pc/_default.asp and they are showing them in stock currently. They shipped fast and were around $1 cheaper than Tire Rack after shipping. So far I've driven in one decent snow fall of about 5 inches which turned very slushy after a while and they were great. They are also decent in dry handling however they are a big step down from the stock tires obviously.

 

[Skywlkr]

Got my tires and rims on Saturday. Went down to 17" with Continental ContiWinter Contact.
Don't mind the missing molding (thats a whole different story).

 

[Rawyzf]

put snow tires on the stock rims and buy new rims in the spring to go with the stock summer tires in the spring?

This is the route I went. This way I think the winter tires still look good because I like the look of the stock rims. Then in the summer, the car has another look. It's almost like 2 different cars

Winter = Stock Wheels - Blizzak 225/45/18
Summer = Black ALT Sonix - Stock Tires

 

[Elicious]

Got my tires and rims on Saturday. Went down to 17" with Continental ContiWinter Contact.
Don't mind the missing molding (thats a whole different story).

Nice wheels!

 

[Rawyzf]

LOL...where is the molding for the door?