Mazda 5 on snow?

[36Crazyfists]

get snow tires and drive cautiously

 

[Wuster]

I'll get to test out how well the MZ5 does in snow today. The weather service is calling for 3 to 6 inches of snow in the Washington, DC region for today.

 

[perfecto]

Yeah, I had my 5 out in the snow (about 2-3 inches) and it was just fine. I can't imagine what it'd be like when pushing through the deep stuff, but thankfully I live in Vancouver and don't have to worry about that.

 

[pbdave]

OEM tires

Mutual consensus is that the OE tires suck.

Anyone else comment/agree/disagree/elaborate on this statement? Are we all talking about the 17"s? I swear I read something about this elsewhere and cannot find it again.

 

[Wuster]

I do have to say that I'm kind of surprised that Mazda went with Toyo for the OEM tires.

My Mazda3 had the same tire sizes (205/50-17's) but it came with Goodyear RSA's. The RSA had pretty decent performance in the snow.

 

[baxtersit]

gettting snows

I live in Cleveland and the stock tires are pretty bad. I nicked a front rim turning onto my street going about 5mph. It just wouldn't turn and went straight for the curb. Ouch. I'm just asking for trouble this winter so I'm thinking about a set of Blizzak Revo1 from Tire Rack. Does anyone have any experience with the Revo's? Would you get 205/55 16's or go for 205/60 16's?

 

[canadianexpress]

I live in Toronto and I have 4 snow tires on (pirelli winter carving with steel rims). We have had some light snow so far (about 5 cm) and no problem. These tires are great on slush, water and light snow. I am still waiting for that big snow storm so I can really test it.

 

[Mr.Smith]

It's safer to have an even amount of traction all around.

That is true. More traction out front will have you swaping ends. It is not a safe set-up. (spin)

 

[5thAve]

I live in Cleveland and the stock tires are pretty bad. I nicked a front rim turning onto my street going about 5mph. It just wouldn't turn and went straight for the curb. Ouch. I'm just asking for trouble this winter so I'm thinking about a set of Blizzak Revo1 from Tire Rack. Does anyone have any experience with the Revo's? Would you get 205/55 16's or go for 205/60 16's?

I don't have experience, but I'm looking at them too. From what I've read on TireRack and elsewhere, they look like a really good price/performance ratio.

 

[pbdave]

follow-up

just thought I would mention that we picked up our 5 this weekend and drove around on compact snow for a couple days. I actually have to say I found the stock toyos handled the conditions really well for the size, and have no real complaints! I guess for those who will have only brief encounters with snow, they seem to work just fine.

 

[Wuster]

Qestion for you guys with snow tires.

How does having snow tires affect the TPMS?

Does the light just stay on till you put the original rims back on?

 

[5thAve]

Help? Who knows the truth on fittment?

I had four 16" steel wheels set aside at the dealership awaiting the delivery of my car (MAV?). Now I"ve learned that they sold them out from under me. Grr. The worst of it is that it was a salesman who informed me of this and offered an excuse "Mazda doesn't have steel wheels available for the Mazda5 yet." I think this is a load of bull$%&@ since I've been assuming that wheels from the Mazda3 would be interchangeable. Does anyone have the truth on this? Is there a difference in clearances between a 3s or 3i and the 5? How about the 6? A second dealer says they've used steels from the 3 on the 5 but he asked a price 50% higher than my home dealer so I'm reluctant to buy from him. (Cdn$98 ea. versus my dealer's original quote of Cdn$65 each).

 

[5thAve]

Qestion for you guys with snow tires.

How does having snow tires affect the TPMS?

Does the light just stay on till you put the original rims back on?

The TPMS transmitters are in the special valve stems. You can buy a set of valve stems for your winter rims (assuming they will fit -- I understand they are slightly oversize???)

If you use duplicate transmitters (i.e. a summer set and a winter set), you have to go through a TPMS reprogramming procedure at each changeover. I think it is outlined in the owner's manual, if I remember.

Maybe you could have the valve stems from your summer rims fitted on your winter rims? I wonder how many times you could do that remove/replace of the valve stems before you have problems sealing though...

Just my $0.02

 

[canadianexpress]

I had four 16" steel wheels set aside at the dealership awaiting the delivery of my car (MAV?). Now I"ve learned that they sold them out from under me. Grr. The worst of it is that it was a salesman who informed me of this and offered an excuse "Mazda doesn't have steel wheels available for the Mazda5 yet." I think this is a load of bull$%&@ since I've been assuming that wheels from the Mazda3 would be interchangeable. Does anyone have the truth on this? Is there a difference in clearances between a 3s or 3i and the 5? How about the 6? A second dealer says they've used steels from the 3 on the 5 but he asked a price 50% higher than my home dealer so I'm reluctant to buy from him. (Cdn$98 ea. versus my dealer's original quote of Cdn$65 each).

The 16" rims are the same on the Mazda3 and mazda5. I got my package from GYRO Mazda, try them if you are living in Toronto. They do charge more for the Mazda steels if you don't buy the tires from them. They sold the Pirelli Winter Carving for $795 + tax (Tires & Rims).

 

[Wuster]

The TPMS transmitters are in the special valve stems. You can buy a set of valve stems for your winter rims (assuming they will fit -- I understand they are slightly oversize???)

If you use duplicate transmitters (i.e. a summer set and a winter set), you have to go through a TPMS reprogramming procedure at each changeover. I think it is outlined in the owner's manual, if I remember.

Maybe you could have the valve stems from your summer rims fitted on your winter rims? I wonder how many times you could do that remove/replace of the valve stems before you have problems sealing though...

Just my $0.02

Interesting. I didn't realize the sensors are in the valve stems.

Any ideas where I can find another set of TPMS valve stems? I don't remember seeing them on any of the Mazda parts website.

 

[5thAve]

Interesting. I didn't realize the sensors are in the valve stems.

Any ideas where I can find another set of TPMS valve stems? I don't remember seeing them on any of the Mazda parts website.

Your Mazda dealer should have a part number for them. They're not offered here in Canada so I have no idea of price. I'm interested to hear if they're cost effective though. Please post any info you dig up. (thumb)

 

[5thAve]

The 16" rims are the same on the Mazda3 and mazda5. I got my package from GYRO Mazda, try them if you are living in Toronto. They do charge more for the Mazda steels if you don't buy the tires from them. They sold the Pirelli Winter Carving for $795 + tax (Tires & Rims).

Thanks for the info. Looks like Mazda's rims are sold out for all of Canada, according to 2 different dealers I talked with. I'll call Mazda Canada directly though, and try for more info. I also was told by one that there are only *2 WHEELS* !!! left in stock in the U.S.A. Wow. this sounds a little far fetched to me. I guess I'll keep trying to track down some aftermarket steel wheels at a reasonable price. Most places local to me are sold out. (Ottawa).

 

[canadianexpress]

Thanks for the info. Looks like Mazda's rims are sold out for all of Canada, according to 2 different dealers I talked with. I'll call Mazda Canada directly though, and try for more info. I also was told by one that there are only *2 WHEELS* !!! left in stock in the U.S.A. Wow. this sounds a little far fetched to me. I guess I'll keep trying to track down some aftermarket steel wheels at a reasonable price. Most places local to me are sold out. (Ottawa).

There are lots of aftermarket steelies which will fit the 5 but just make sure they are hub-centric.

 

[the_saint]

There are lots of aftermarket steelies which will fit the 5 but just make sure they are hub-centric.

Can't you get hubcentric rings to make them fit?

 

[canadianexpress]

I have been told by tire experts that the ring only fits in the alloy wheels and there is no place to properly mount them in the steelies.