Winter Tires [Archive] - Mazda Forums

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10-19-2004, 02:42 PM

Question regarding winter tires for the Mazda 6. Its very difficult to find winter tire (and rims) for this car since the dimension for the tires are 215/50R17. Would it be possible to go smaller with a rim size (eg - 16) and and a taller tize height (eg - 60), the overall circumference would still be the same. Also is it fine to go with a small tire width (eg - 205) or stick with 215? Basically the winter tires and rim would be 205/60R16, it would similar size to the base four cylinder Mazda6 stock tires. Any help is greatly appreciated

Mazda3

10-19-2004, 03:33 PM

crossbow

10-19-2004, 04:35 PM

Supposedly you can fit 15's on the 6...if you find the right rim to clear the front calipers.

Remember that the stock setup is 17x7 +60 offset and 16x7 +55 offset...so try and match those width's/offsets as close as possible if you want to avoid fitment issues.

russr

11-03-2004, 03:06 PM

If you want to stick with stock size, here's a winter tire: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?shipquote=N&tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=Graspic+DS-2&x=16&y=10

CrazyXZac

11-03-2004, 03:21 PM

i'm thinkin' about winter tires... not sure tho... we'll havta see :P

russr

11-03-2004, 03:31 PM

i'm thinkin' about winter tires... not sure tho... we'll havta see :P

I have never been to Michicgan so I'm not sure how bad winters are over there, but I'm guessing that because of the great lakes you get a lot of snow. You'd at the very least need a good all season tire that has decent handling in snow. The stock tire will most likely get you into a bad accident and have you worried about even pulling out of your driveway.

CrazyXZac

11-04-2004, 05:59 PM

michigan can be a bitch... (eek2)

russr

11-05-2004, 09:36 AM

michigan can be a bitch... (eek2)
A week or two before the snow storms usually start, I'd slap on some winter tires.

Check out this link, if it doesn't work, just go into tirerack.com and choose 215/50-17 as the size.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.jsp?startIndex=0&width=215%2F&ratio=50&diameter=17&search=true&pagelen=20&pagenum=1&pagemark=1&performance=W&x=12&y=4

CrazyXZac

11-05-2004, 08:50 PM

i'll havta have a talk wit my rentz... :P

Mazda3

11-06-2004, 10:00 AM

i'll havta have a talk wit my rentz... :P
What?
No speaky englais?(doh)

CrazyXZac

11-06-2004, 11:17 AM

What?
No speaky englais?(doh)

my parents

Da 6

11-07-2004, 07:55 AM

forget what the dealer says about 15"s...they fit cause of the spare in the trunk.

CrazyXZac

11-07-2004, 09:04 AM

15s? what? (wow)

Da 6

11-07-2004, 10:01 AM

15 is the spare tire. 16's and 17's are stock 4 corners :) not shure if the mazda 3i rims fit. let us know how those 16's from a RX-8 "ATX" work out corssbow.

crossbow

11-07-2004, 11:37 AM

Shhhh....

russr

11-07-2004, 08:11 PM

Crazy, you're not going to be too satisfied with those stock tires on there because as winter comes, you're gonna have more miles on those tires. They won't be good at all and can be dangerous on hill and icy spots. I personally wouldn't risk an accident as that will cost you a lot more than a set of good winter tires and the costs to put 'em on.

Necessity

11-07-2004, 08:38 PM

I guess it's time to take the Azenis sports off. Then again.. it was like 80 degrees today. I could have sworn I was in Florida.

Mikey444

11-07-2004, 11:16 PM

the less wide the tire for winter, the better, it crunches right thru the snow and ice. If 15's fit at a width of 195 and is safe for use on 4 corners, that will be my choice this winter.

crossbow

11-10-2004, 07:00 AM

I just ordered my winter tires. They should be in later this week. (Temp this morning was 29F..gah)

http://www.vredestein.com/autobanden/index.asp

http://www.vredestein.com/images/wintrac_1.jpg

The WINTRAC V XL's.

Supposedly according to the people who own them, they make blizzaks look like those budget tires you can buy from pepboys for 20 bucks. I think necessity even thought they were performance tires when he was test driving an M3 about a year ago :).

russr

11-11-2004, 09:33 AM

Crossbow, where did you order them from since they are european tires? Also what size did you get? 225/45-17? I noticed they ddin't have 215/50

I just ordered my winter tires. They should be in later this week. (Temp this morning was 29F..gah)

http://www.vredestein.com/autobanden/index.asp

http://www.vredestein.com/images/wintrac_1.jpg

The WINTRAC V XL's.

Supposedly according to the people who own them, they make blizzaks look like those budget tires you can buy from pepboys for 20 bucks. I think necessity even thought they were performance tires when he was test driving an M3 about a year ago :).

Necessity

11-11-2004, 09:41 AM

Tireswap.com His contact info on his page. The tires may not be listed, but he supplies them.

- Edit - That's correct. I was driving a e36 m3 around with those tires and the back end didn't want to come loose. I was pretty damn impressed.

crossbow

11-11-2004, 09:52 AM

I'm working on sizing right now. Looks like its either going to be 215/55/16, or 225/55/16. I'm getting these babies through tireswap, info@liteswap.com.

Mounting them on rx8 atx rims.

russr

11-11-2004, 10:39 AM

I'm working on sizing right now. Looks like its either going to be 215/55/16, or 225/55/16. I'm getting these babies through tireswap, info@liteswap.com.

Mounting them on rx8 atx rims.
I thought the rx8 had 18" rims.

crossbow

11-11-2004, 10:47 AM

The base model atx has 16's. I'll post photos when they come back from tireswap.

16x7.5 +50 around 17 lbs. Or 8 lbs less per rim then the stock mazda6 16's or 17's.

Mikey444

11-17-2004, 05:14 PM

Lol, I'm getting the same tire, but 205/60 R16 with a black steel wheels

crossbow

11-17-2004, 11:35 PM

http://www.wam.umd.edu/~greghess/verd1.jpg
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~greghess/verd2.jpg
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~greghess/verdtread.jpg

Mine just came in. Excellent service from tireswap as always. I gotta wait for the temp to drop some more before I put them on, so everyone will have to wait for on car photos and driving impressions. (Gotta wait till the average afternoon temp is closer to 40F)

Da 6

11-18-2004, 09:10 AM

The night life unfortunately is 40F :) they look nice guess we'll see them next meet if it doesn't snow too badly...

ashutoshsm

11-19-2004, 11:09 AM

Hawwwttt! Vrede-what? :)

rsx

11-21-2004, 05:09 PM

Dealer told me they recommend and sell 205-55-16 for the Mazda 6. Which is perfect cause gonna take my winters from my RSX.

Mikey444

11-22-2004, 05:41 PM

I'm ending up getting 205/65 R15. the smaller the rim and the more tire, the better. much better grip, I am actually looking forward to driving on snow and ice with the winter tires that I am suppose to have installed this wednesday. I changed my wiper blades, I got the Motormaster REFLEX. total cost for 3 blades cost 70 bux (sad2) Oh well, what should I say, that's the cost of having a car.

russr

11-23-2004, 11:18 AM

15" rims do not look so good on a Mazda6. I would have probably gone either with 16" or 17" rims. If you wanted more tire, I think the 16" would have been a good compromise.

anyway, why do those motormaster reflex blades cost $70?

Mikey444

11-24-2004, 10:22 AM

I ended up putting these http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?tirebrand=Dunlop&tiremodel=Graspic+DS%2D2 size P205/65 R15. There pretty good tires and did not hurt my wallet too much.

Mikey444

11-24-2004, 10:29 AM

(pullup) 15" rims do not look so good on a Mazda6. I would have probably gone either with 16" or 17" rims. If you wanted more tire, I think the 16" would have been a good compromise.

anyway, why do those motormaster reflex blades cost $70?
15" is more than good for the type of snow and ice we have in Montreal, and the extrememe cold, when getting out of one and a half feet of snow, trust me, with my past experience I despise 16" and 17" for this type of vehicle.

The windshield baldes was for a set of 3, taxes included, and take note it's canadian dollars. the type is called Reflex. There not like regular winter blades, there the types they use on high end Audi's