Snow tires or better all season in MD?

[cartera45]

Just bought my daughter a 2005 Mazda 3 that has the Goodyear Eagle tires. I am in Maryland - 70+ degrees today - but some snow will come. Should I get snow tires or a better set of all season that will perform better than the OEMs in snow? She will only be out in if snows when she is at school or gets caught away from home. I don't mind switching tires for the season, but a better all season may also be better in rain, right?

 

[TheMAN]

maryland won't ever get enough snow to justify snow tires

 

[dread]

maryland won't ever get enough snow to justify snow tires

I agree, especially for this winter, you are much better off with all seasons as snow tires will ruin your gas milage and handling in this kind of weather.

 

[cartera45]

I agree, especially for this winter, you are much better off with all seasons as snow tires will ruin your gas milage and handling in this kind of weather.

Well then, for a newbie teenage driver, should I replace the Goodyear Eagles with a better all season?

 

[ZoomZoomH]

i thought the goodyears on the 3 are all-seasons?

 

[cartera45]

i thought the goodyears on the 3 are all-seasons?

They are, but I have read terrible things about the OEM's performance on wet roads and especially in any snow - even 2-3 inches, and we do regularly get more than that in Maryland.

 

[ZoomZoomH]

They are, but I have read terrible things about the OEM's performance on wet roads and especially in any snow - even 2-3 inches, and we do regularly get more than that in Maryland.

i see, how about these then:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ContiExtremeContact&partnum=055VR6CEC&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=3&speed_rating=H&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&minSpeedRating=H

seems to get decent snow traction for an all-season tire.

 

[WildChild]

I don't think any all season tire will be noticebly better than the OEMS. If you don't mind switching tires go for the snows. In my opinion having two sets of all seasons isn't the way to go.

 

[D-rock240]

I didn't want to mess up my rims with the salt they put on the road so I swapped for the winter. Figures that we haven't had any salt yet. I am running all-seasons on my stock wheels, not snow tires.

 

[Hikaru9]

I agree with the others. I don't think the winter weather in MD/VA can justify having dedicated snows. IMHO, the OEM all-season should work fine for your daughter, but I also understand your concern for better performance & safety. I went with Pirelli all-seasons myself (in Northern VA).

 

[Olestra]

Bought my 3 just before winter hit and it was scary how bad the OEM Goodyears are in anything but dry pavement. Even wet pavement can be a hazard. I'd replace them with better all-seasons (sister in law took Michelin Exalto A/S on the same car as you).

 

[cartera45]

Bought my 3 just before winter hit and it was scary how bad the OEM Goodyears are in anything but dry pavement. Even wet pavement can be a hazard. I'd replace them with better all-seasons (sister in law took Michelin Exalto A/S on the same car as you).

I've read this opinion a lot - enough to scare me. I have a Prius with Goodyear Integrity tires and I have read bad things about them too but I never had any problems. I should probably have tires I trust on at least one of them.

 

[Erin]

I am in MA and we get a lot of snow (you'd never know it)! Up here i would say definately snow tires. in MD i wouldnt waste the money. Put some heavy stuff in the trunk like bricks.

 

[Olestra]

Well cartera - yes it is pretty scary. I've had a few scary moments when I had my Goodyear RS-A's on and I only kept them for the first 2300kms. One I can remember is when I was turning a corner and just as I hit the bend in the corner, rather than continuing the turn, my car started to slid. That translated into me sliding into the oncoming lane where a huge 4x4 just happened to be coming from. This was a side street, with little traffic, so having that truck there was really bad luck. Luckily, I knew how bad these tires were and I was going pretty slow, probably around 15-20 km/h or less and was able to stop in time. Only thing I had to do left was keep the wheel straight and hold the brake, and hope I could stop. ABS kicked in and probably saved me. After that, I went straight to the shop as I was still looking for a good deal but had enough of those Goodyears. I bought Hankook Ice Bears for about $720CDN installed.

However, my sister in law drove all last winter and a good portion of this winter with her Eagles and said they were crappy but wasn't anything she couldn't handle as long as she was careful. She put on something close to 20000 kms before she put on the Exaltos.
I was contemplating just putting up with those Goodyears since my sister was able to do to it but I work downtown where it's full of hills and bad side roads. She works on the edge of the city where the freeway/highways are well sanded and the roads are flat and straight.

So just take into consideration whether your daughter is a cautious driver and where she will be driving. You mention in your OP that she will possibly be going out of town. You don't want her to get caught in bad weather with the Eagles, as I remember at high speeds and snowy roads the car wobbles back and forth on them.

PS - bricks = bad fuel economy and you only do that on RWD.

 

[drumboy]

Just bought my daughter a 2005 Mazda 3 that has the Goodyear Eagle tires. I am in Maryland - 70+ degrees today - but some snow will come. Should I get snow tires or a better set of all season that will perform better than the OEMs in snow? She will only be out in if snows when she is at school or gets caught away from home. I don't mind switching tires for the season, but a better all season may also be better in rain, right?

cartera45,

If I were you, I would get better all season tires as well. Goodyear Eagle RSA's are awful in wet weather and snow. They also wear out quickly--most members here will probably agree that 20,000 miles is all they will give you. I replaced mine at 18,000 miles, and not a moment too soon. I highly recommend Kumho tires, especially the Kumho Ecsta ASX model. Go on http://www.tirerack.com/ and read some reviews on that model or other tires, if you wish. You will be glad you did. Kumhos are both good and cheap, and that, my friend, is a rarity these days. (first)

 

[gar777]

I would get high performance winter tires and run them from mid-Dec to mid-April. I have the Pirelli 210 Winter Snowsport. They are HR rated and about as good in the dry as a real all-season (one that would be good in snow anyway) and way better in snow. That way, you won't have to give up the great summer performance of the OEM tires or have any worries about your daughter's safety those times it does snow.

 

[Foolish]

When we lived in NoVA, I had snow tires for my Miata, but Miata's are RWD, and my summer tires were summer tires! On the FWD cars, I've always done fine with all seasons. If the OEM's on the 3 are that bad (I'd believe it, too, the P5 stockers were bad just in rain) get better all seasons, but for MD, I wouldn't bother with snows on a FWD.

I've been really happy with Falken Ziex 512's. Cheap, quiet, very grippy. Vulcantire.com and edgeracing.com are the two best places I've found for price. Vulcan is a bit more expensive usually, but they have an option of getting road hazzard protection. I've gotten great service from both.

 

[Olestra]

give up the great summer performance of the OEM tires.

What "great" summer performance?

 

[WetsuitxNinja]

Bought my 3 just before winter hit and it was scary how bad the OEM Goodyears are in anything but dry pavement. Even wet pavement can be a hazard. I'd replace them with better all-seasons (sister in law took Michelin Exalto A/S on the same car as you).

I will second that. RSA's were s*** in rain and even a dusting of snow.

Foolish I had the dunlop's that came on the p5 when I had that car, they hydroplaned about the same as the RSA's do on the 3. (omg)

 

[gar777]

What "great" summer performance?

I was speaking from my Protege experience. The OEM Dunlops on my 2003 Protege ES were very good for an OEM tire, great braking, cornering and steering response--as long as you were in the dry. They aqua-planed like crazy in the wet and weren't much use in the snow. I don't have experience with the OEM tires on the 3 but, from the complaints I've heard, I figured they were similar to the Protege OEM tires. If they just stink across the board, then shame on Mazda and, by all means, replace them first chance you get.