Winter tire thread :)

Mazda3

Member
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2007 CX-7 GT and 2008 Tribute GT AWD
Its about time for the CX-7 to have its own winter tire thread. :)
The tires that come on the CX-7 are crap for winter driving(RS-A or Turanza). So I have to decide on something better. After considering many options I have narrowed it down to two. I'm considering a true top-line winter tire or the lastest thing to hit the market an all-weather tire.

Nokian and Goodyear make an all season tire that has the "snowflake" extreme weather designation. The tires are WAY better in the winter than a regular all season, they handle great on dry roads, and are guaranteed for 100,000 KM's. I can buy most tires at dealer cost which really helps. The Nokians I can't get so they are too much money.

So my choices are Goodyear Fortera Triple treads for all-weather tire or Pirelli Scorpion Ice Kings for real winter tire. I also considered Nokian and Blizzak snow tires, but the Pirelli's are rated almost as good for ice traction and the are H speed rated and are supposed to last longer.

The advantages of the Fortera:

1) Cost!! One set of tires instead of two. I can get some trade value on the OEM tires as well.

2)Forteras will go on the factory rims, not ugly steel wheels.

3)No need to worry about when to switch tires, because they are mounted year round.

4)Excellent on the highway and will probably handle better than the OEM tires.

Advantages for the Pirelli:

1) State of the art snow and ice traction.

2) 100% sure of the performance level. Forteras level of performance is not proven to me at this point.

Money is a bit of an issue at this point. We just bought two new cars and are landscaping the back yard so excess cash isn't abundant at the moment.

The cost of the tire for me is about the same, but with the Forteras I can trade in the OEM tires and don't need to buy extra rims. A savings of about $650.

So the question is how good are the Fortera Triple treads in the winter? All our cars for the last ten years have had Blizzak or Nokian snow tires, will I be satisfied with the Fortera tires? I have reviewed all the reviews and survey's available. They basically say that the Fortera is better than any all season on the market, but not quite as good as the elite snow tires.

This is causing me stress!!(bang) Does anyone have experience with these tires?
 
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Mazda3 said:
So my choices are Goodyear Fortera Triple treads for all-weather tire or Pirelli Scorpion Ice Kings for real winter tire.

The Forteras get good marks on Tirerack.com
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Fortera+TripleTred#Survey

However, I wasn't able to find them in 235/60-18. I was also cautioned about putting other sizes on because it might screw up the AWD.

For the Pirellis, if you mean the Scorpion Ice & Snow, then they're also highly rated on tirerack
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Pirelli&tireModel=Scorpion+Ice+&+Snow#Survey

and definitely come in the right size. Though I guess you were going to buy wheels for them, so that's not a big factor.
 
I've only had the Blizzaks in the past so I'm no help.

I will say though that if you're a good driver, a good set of all seasons will probably work just fine.
 
1Sleepy93 said:
I've only had the Blizzaks in the past so I'm no help.

I will say though that if you're a good driver, a good set of all seasons will probably work just fine.

My concern is the wife's driving. The driving traction with the AWD will abviously be fine. However she will have Blizzaks on her M3 and has always had Blizzaks or Nokian's. My concern is the stopping distance on ice. She has never had to drive on ice with a regular all season. The write-up on the ice traction for the Fortera sounds great, but does it work is the question? I will drive the CX-7 75% of the time, but it still has to work for her as well.
 
080669 said:
However, I wasn't able to find them in 235/60-18. I was also cautioned about putting other sizes on because it might screw up the AWD.

As long as all 4 tires are the same size I don't see how it could hurt the AWD setup. Going with a different width is a different story. They have to clear brakes and suspension, even when the front tires are turned.

My old jeep had a "quadratrac" system on it which is a type of AWD and different size tires was a big deal. All 4 tires need to spin at the same speed all the time (ofcourse one wheel spinning in dirt or snow is not a big deal as long as it is not excessive). It was important enough for them to recall the spare tire on all of the jeeps with quadratrac they swapped the tire out with one the same size as the other 4. Also the only way they would tow this vehicle was by flatbed so all wheels were off the ground.

I just went and checked the spare on my CX-7 it is a 155/90/D18 which by my calculation is 28.98 inches in diameter and the stock tires 235/60/R18 are 29.10 inches. Not a big difference but I don't know how much it takes to cause problems. I wonder if Mazda will do the same thing if they realize it?
 
Spikes

Offtopic, but those 0.12 inches wont matter so much :)


Ontopic:

I still use spiked wintertyres - so check out those...

Continental_WinterViking1.jpg (omg)
 
I ended up going with the Nokian WR all-weather tires. They are V-rated, have the severe winter weather designation, and 100,000 KM guarantee. They seem to handle about the same as the Goodyear's on dry pavement and they were AMAZING in a rain storm last weekend. I was cruising down the highway at about 85 MPH in a downpour and they just sliced there way throught the water. No hydroplaning or slippage at all. Now awaiting the first big snow fall!!! So far very happy with these tires.
 
The only downside to having good traction for stopping on snow or ice...

...is that the person behind you might not.

:)

I may be looking into snow-tires myself
 
CX7_Scott said:
The only downside to having good traction for stopping on snow or ice...

...is that the person behind you might not.

Yeah that always sucks.
 
I just got a price for four(4) Toyo G-02 Severe Winter tires, same size: 235/60-18... mounted, balanced and FREE seasonal changes every year;

$879 - I "think" that's before tax... so probably $922.95
 
FWIW: Changing the overall diameter "does" effect the vehicle in small ways.

It will render the speedometer and odometer inaccurate - if your tire size yields an overall increase in circumference of 1"... that's an additional inch of travel with each revolution of the wheel that's not accounted for in the speedometer and odometer - not sure if it'd effect the timing of gear-shifting on a minute level.

Over-time... that adds-up. 12 revolutions of the tire and you're 1-foot farther than your odometer thinks. 63,000 revolutions later, you've traveled a mile further than the odometer thinks, etc...

So... for every 90 miles you drive, it will only record 89 of them.
Subtle... but present.

blah blah blah - just being anal about it. :)
 
Had a chance to test out my CX-7 in winter conditions here in Calgary for the first time today - and all I can say is yikes!@?$ This thing does NOT corner well in slippery conditions. We got about 6 inches of snow over night and temps today were around -6 celcius (too lazy to convert right now). Here in Calgary that usually means there's about an inch of ice at the bottom and a few inches of packed snow on top.

I have the stock all season (read "no-season") tires on and am planning to buy true winter tires asap. I took several turns at slow speeds (30km/h) and almost ate a few telephone poles. A few amazed on lookers thought I was going to crash into them. I used to own a Subaru Forester and it handled icy conditions much better than this. I'm a little worried what will happen at higher speeds.

I've got my eyes on two tires right now. Michelin's Latitude X-ice and Nokian Hakkapeliitta SUV. Unfortunately for 18" tires it will probably mean a special order.

Once I get them I think I will find a nice quiet parking lot and see how they do. It almost felt as if the rear end was kicking me out of the turn (excess power to the rear tires).
 
jrpembe said:
Had a chance to test out my CX-7 in winter conditions here in Calgary for the first time today - and all I can say is yikes!@?$ This thing does NOT corner well in slippery conditions. We got about 6 inches of snow over night and temps today were around -6 celcius (too lazy to convert right now). Here in Calgary that usually means there's about an inch of ice at the bottom and a few inches of packed snow on top.

I have the stock all season (read "no-season") tires on and am planning to buy true winter tires asap. I took several turns at slow speeds (30km/h) and almost ate a few telephone poles. A few amazed on lookers thought I was going to crash into them. I used to own a Subaru Forester and it handled icy conditions much better than this. I'm a little worried what will happen at higher speeds.

I've got my eyes on two tires right now. Michelin's Latitude X-ice and Nokian Hakkapeliitta SUV. Unfortunately for 18" tires it will probably mean a special order.

Once I get them I think I will find a nice quiet parking lot and see how they do. It almost felt as if the rear end was kicking me out of the turn (excess power to the rear tires).

It's not the vehicle it's the tires. The stock tires are total crap!! Most Subarus come with a better all-season tire then the crap RSA's on the cx-7. Either of those tires you mentioned will get the job done.
 
Woke up to 6" of snow this morning, probably 10" by now. The Nokian WR all-weather tires performed like champions!!! Passed many 4WD trucks on the highway. The DSC works great when you have proper tires. I highly recommend these tires to anyone who lives where there is snow. My wife has the same tires on her Mazda3 and said they worked great as well.
 
Nash04 said:
Who makes the Nokian tire,

Thanks

Nokian is a company out of Finland who has made the best winter tires in the world for many years. Rather than spend millions on advertising like the big name tire companys the spend all there money research. These tires are truly amazing.

They out handle the RSA's that came on the CX-7 on dry pavement, only a true top notch summer performance tire will top them on dry. They are the best tire in the world in the rain. And will out do all tires in the snow/ice except for maybe the top 3 snow tires like Blizzak and the actual Nokian snow tires. They are V-rated and come with a 60,000 mile guarantee. I recomend these tires on just about all vehicles, except maybe a true sports car where I would want the maxium summer performance tire and top of the line designated winter tire. You can find more info at www.nokiantyres.com
The Nokian WR all-weather tires are the ones I'm talking about.

No I don't work for them :) lol!!!

We've been buried in snow for about 4 days now and the CX-7 is a riot to drive with these tires. Even on our Mazda 3 the only way it will get stuck is if the snow is deep enough to hang up the bottom of the car.
 
Just got a set of four Nokian Hakkapeliitta SUV tires installed and they make a world of difference over the all-seasons that came with the CX-7. I also reduced the rim size and increased the tire size. Instead of getting 18" rims and 235/60/R18, I went with 17" rims and 235/65/R17
 
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Where can u buy these

jrpembe said:
Just got a set of four Nokian Hakkapeliitta SUV tires installed and they make a world of difference over the all-seasons that came with the CX-7. I also reduced the rim size and increased the tire size. Instead of getting 18" rims and 236/60/R18, I went with 17" rims and 235/65/R17

You have sold me but can we order them on the web, the closest dealer is 40 miles down the road.

Thanks(peep)
 
jrpembe said:
Just got a set of four Nokian Hakkapeliitta SUV tires installed and they make a world of difference over the all-seasons that came with the CX-7. I also reduced the rim size and increased the tire size. Instead of getting 18" rims and 236/60/R18, I went with 17" rims and 235/65/R17

Your next snow experience will be alot more fun now. I elected to go with the new all-weather tire so I wouldn't have to switch tires or have ugly steel wheels on half the year. But you definately can't go wrong with the dedicated winter tires.
 
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