Winter Tires!

[hj22lee]

Winters coming soon and I need to get some winter tires. I've heard the stock yoko's that come with MZ3's are horrible in the snow..I'll be mounting the tires on my stock 17" wheels.

I'm currently looking at:

Continental ExtremeWinterContact
and
Bridgestone Blizzak WS70

I looked at the test Tirerack did and seems the Conti EWC are almost as good as the Blizzaks plus they are cheaper and come with mfg road hazard warranty..

What other tires should I be looking at? What do you have? What do you recommend?

 

[2003.5_MSP]

i have nokian snow/ice, little pricey but worth it...

 

[chromal]

I bought a set of Hankook Winter i*cept Evo W310's for my Mazda3 last November, 205/55R16, though they're available in 205/50R17 according to the manufacturer. They were good on all sorts of wintery surfaces in the mountains, inexpensive.

 

[CTt3P5]

My wife is running on Kumho KW22s in a 205/55/16 and has been very happy with them. Inexpensive and greatly improved her confidence driving during winter conditions.

 

[GNO]

The stock tires are bad in snow because they are a summer tire.

I put a set of Blizzaks on my stock wheels and use a set of Mazdaspeed wheels in the summer. I'm happy with the Blizzaks, but usually recommend Nokian. Definitely get a second set of wheels, so you donMt have to mess with mounting tires twice a year

 

[hj22lee]

Actually, the stock tires are all seasons. Yokohama AVID S34D.

hmm thinking of just getting a set used off the forum.. tires and rims will cost atleast 1k for me so guess best thing to do is grab a set off the board haha

 

[GNO]

Sorry, I thought you had a speed3. My 2010 Mazdaspeed3 came with Dunlop SP Sport 2050 tires, which falls into Tire Rack's Ultra High Performance Summer Tire category.

Yes, there are great deals on the board. However, I've noticed a lot of my snow tires perform worse in subsequent seasons. Especially those equipped with Blizzaks. They still offer more grip in winter conditions than any all-season I've had.

 

[hj22lee]

its all good..

yea i was looking at some of the wheels on sale here and seem like they're being sold after like 2 seasons so i figured i'd just order new tires now and rather than get some next season.

Went out to get some lunch today in light snow. my god the stock yokos are horrible. I was slipping and sliding everywhere. Definitely forking over the money to get some winters asap. Looks like its still down to Conti Extreme Winter Contacts, Bridgestone Blizzak WS70, and Hankook I*Cept W310.

-edit-

so i did a little more research and seems like 16" are recommended. I'm still not sure if I want to down size to 16" from the stock 17"s. I've read that smaller wheel means more side wall which also increases traction and protection from pot holes. What are your thoughts on this? Also, I'm thinking of getting either the General Altimax Arctic or Continential Extreme Winter Contact. Price difference between 16" and 17" set would be about $150.00. What would you do?