Pictures: Winter Setup - Drag DR 38 18x8 & Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1 245/60/18

Rawyzf

Contributor
:
2011 Mazda CX-9 GT AWD
Just had the Winter Setup Mount and Installed (Brother works at goodyear :)

CX9Winter_1.jpg




CX9Winter_2.jpg


CX9Winter_3.jpg


Summer Setup (Stock 20 Wheels & Tires)

CX9Summer_1.jpg
 
I was about to say those looked a bit off, but then they are 18's. Pretty cool. Glad I don't have to worry about snow tires here in FL. :)
 
I was about to say those looked a bit off, but then they are 18's. Pretty cool. Glad I don't have to worry about snow tires here in FL. :)

Thanks, and I wish we didn't have to deal with it either! But I do love MN.
 
I know how good Blizzaks are on a rear-wheel drive BMW M Roadster so I can imagine how well your CX-9 must handles in the snow with that setup!!

My Z3 was a daily driver for many years and snow tires were a must for the winter. I was amazed how much faster I could drive, stop and turn with blizzaks. You really learn a lot about how to drive in the snow when you have a rearwheel drive car. For those that don't know you can't have any wheel spin in the rear. The second that happens you start fish tailing. Unlike front wheel drive where you can floor it, let the wheel spin all you want and be fine.
 
I know how good Blizzaks are on a rear-wheel drive BMW M Roadster so I can imagine how well your CX-9 must handles in the snow with that setup!!

My Z3 was a daily driver for many years and snow tires were a must for the winter. I was amazed how much faster I could drive, stop and turn with blizzaks. You really learn a lot about how to drive in the snow when you have a rearwheel drive car. For those that don't know you can't have any wheel spin in the rear. The second that happens you start fish tailing. Unlike front wheel drive where you can floor it, let the wheel spin all you want and be fine.

I put Blizzaks on all my cars, lol. I had them on my AWD Mazdaspeed 6, that was unbelievable in the snow. Way too much fun and easy to drive. I am sure the CX9 will be a blast too!

This will be my 3rd winter with the G8. The first 2 were excellent with Blizzak LM-25's. This year I have changed to LM-60's. Hopefully they are just as good. For the G8 being RWD, it handles excellent in the snow. The car is balanced perfectly.

Now, a Z3 in the snow....I'd be scared, lol. So small and light!
 
I put Blizzaks on all my cars, lol. I had them on my AWD Mazdaspeed 6, that was unbelievable in the snow. Way too much fun and easy to drive. I am sure the CX9 will be a blast too!

This will be my 3rd winter with the G8. The first 2 were excellent with Blizzak LM-25's. This year I have changed to LM-60's. Hopefully they are just as good. For the G8 being RWD, it handles excellent in the snow. The car is balanced perfectly.

Now, a Z3 in the snow....I'd be scared, lol. So small and light!

I didn't realize how good Blizzaks were until I bought a set of wheels that had dunlop winter tires. They did not compare at all.
Yeah you really feel the lightness of the Z3 in the snow. The cars weight distribution is 50/50 but it's nice to put some sand bags in the back when it snows.

Btw, nice G8! Did they come with the corvette LS engine?
 
I didn't realize how good Blizzaks were until I bought a set of wheels that had dunlop winter tires. They did not compare at all.
Yeah you really feel the lightness of the Z3 in the snow. The cars weight distribution is 50/50 but it's nice to put some sand bags in the back when it snows.

Btw, nice G8! Did they come with the corvette LS engine?

Thanks, I love the G8. It has a 6.0 L76, so based on the LS engines in the Camaro/Vette family. The G8 GXP came with the LS3, 6.2L which is in the Camaro also.

I drove the CX9 in the snow/ice Sunday AM for the first time. It was amazing, not issues concerns at all. There was only about 2" of snow, but there was a lot of ice, and the tires and awd treated me very well. I was alone on the roads and testing them out!
 
I put Blizzaks on all my cars, lol. I had them on my AWD Mazdaspeed 6, that was unbelievable in the snow. Way too much fun and easy to drive. I am sure the CX9 will be a blast too!

Hmm, I was going to get the General Altimax Arctic which have the same tread pattern as the Gislaved tires, and I have experience with them in Montreal winters, and I can attest that they are very good tires. However, the Blizzak DM-V1 are a little bit more expensive: is the price difference worth it?

And do you think 17" wheels would have cleared the calipers on your GT? I'm thinking of getting 245/65R17 winter tires instead of 18".

This will be my 3rd winter with the G8. The first 2 were excellent with Blizzak LM-25's. This year I have changed to LM-60's. Hopefully they are just as good. For the G8 being RWD, it handles excellent in the snow. The car is balanced perfectly.

Now, a Z3 in the snow....I'd be scared, lol. So small and light![/QUOTE]
 
Hmm, I was going to get the General Altimax Arctic which have the same tread pattern as the Gislaved tires, and I have experience with them in Montreal winters, and I can attest that they are very good tires. However, the Blizzak DM-V1 are a little bit more expensive: is the price difference worth it?

And do you think 17" wheels would have cleared the calipers on your GT? I'm thinking of getting 245/65R17 winter tires instead of 18".
I personally like Blizzaks best. I tried to use dunlops on my RX-8 and wasn't happy with them, not sure if it was truly the tires or the car. I had Blizzak ws-60's on my G8 last winter and the car did awesome with the near record snow we had. To me it's worth the few extra bucks for Blizzaks. My original plan for the CX-9 was a 17" package from Tire Rack, but the shortage of cash changed that idea so with tax money I may get aftermarket wheels for summer instead.
 
Hmm, I was going to get the General Altimax Arctic which have the same tread pattern as the Gislaved tires, and I have experience with them in Montreal winters, and I can attest that they are very good tires. However, the Blizzak DM-V1 are a little bit more expensive: is the price difference worth it?

And do you think 17" wheels would have cleared the calipers on your GT? I'm thinking of getting 245/65R17 winter tires instead of 18".

17's will work, CWW confirmed that on ebay, they are a seller of Drag Wheels and Winter Tires. They didn't offer the Blizzaks though, so I didn't go through them. I have always used blizzaks, so I just go with what I know works. CWW only offered Hankooks.

I personally like Blizzaks best. I tried to use dunlops on my RX-8 and wasn't happy with them, not sure if it was truly the tires or the car. I had Blizzak ws-60's on my G8 last winter and the car did awesome with the near record snow we had. To me it's worth the few extra bucks for Blizzaks. My original plan for the CX-9 was a 17" package from Tire Rack, but the shortage of cash changed that idea so with tax money I may get aftermarket wheels for summer instead.

Hey G8 Brother! ;)
 
It's that time again, time to put the winters back on!

How many season's you getting outta the DM-V1 @Rawyzf?

I'm thinking about throwing a set up on my CX-9 soon-ish... I have my Enkei RSF5 (17x7.5 ET50) wheels that I took off my 6 before trading it in and thinking they are my new winter set. Looked great on the 6, a little concerned they will be "small" on the CX-9. Tire rack reccomends the 17" package anyway, so I feel confident in fit. Reccomended tire is 245/65R17 which will only change overall diameter 4mm (750mm vs. 754mm for the stock 245/50R20).

Gonna do some PhotoShop to see what the tires/wheels would look like.
 
17's are a good option, there are a few pics on here that I saw when doing research. I too thought 17" wheels would look small, but when you get some beefy winter rubber, they fill in just fine. I ended up going with 18s because of the deal I found on the Wheels.

Longevity, let see. First winter with them was 2011, so 2011, 2012, 2013. This will be there 4th Winter Season, 2014. They are well over half tread. However, Winter tires are really only "Winter" tires until you get to the first depth marker. We are about 2-3mm away from that, so I think this will be the last winter season on these tires. Then, they become All Season tires. I'll probably sell them on Craigslist after this winter season, and get some new ones for 2015. I am sure they'd do fine still, but I perfer to know they are still within Winter Rubber depth here in MN. The compound in that Winter layer is different, and I trust it a bit more than A/S compounds :).

So, 4 seasons probably, at 12K ish per season.
 
17's are a good option, there are a few pics on here that I saw when doing research. I too thought 17" wheels would look small, but when you get some beefy winter rubber, they fill in just fine. I ended up going with 18s because of the deal I found on the Wheels.

Longevity, let see. First winter with them was 2011, so 2011, 2012, 2013. This will be there 4th Winter Season, 2014. They are well over half tread. However, Winter tires are really only "Winter" tires until you get to the first depth marker. We are about 2-3mm away from that, so I think this will be the last winter season on these tires. Then, they become All Season tires. I'll probably sell them on Craigslist after this winter season, and get some new ones for 2015. I am sure they'd do fine still, but I perfer to know they are still within Winter Rubber depth here in MN. The compound in that Winter layer is different, and I trust it a bit more than A/S compounds :).

So, 4 seasons probably, at 12K ish per season.

Great to know! That's where my WS60's were on my 6 when I traded it in, so I didn't feel bad about losing the fancier rubber as they were down to the first bar. :) Let me keep my nicer Enkei's as well.

So 12k total you think or 12k x 3 seasons? Because 36000 miles would be intense! If I got 4 seasons outta them that would be perfect though. That's a long time + added longevity on the late spring/summer/fall rubber.

One more question. TPMS> Is it worth it to install in the aftermarket winter wheel? That would add about $200 bucks to the purchase, and I'd like to keep this cheaper than that. Is the light in the CX-9 obnoxious if left on the whole season?
 
Great to know! That's where my WS60's were on my 6 when I traded it in, so I didn't feel bad about losing the fancier rubber as they were down to the first bar. :) Let me keep my nicer Enkei's as well.

So 12k total you think or 12k x 3 seasons? Because 36000 miles would be intense! If I got 4 seasons outta them that would be perfect though. That's a long time + added longevity on the late spring/summer/fall rubber.

One more question. TPMS> Is it worth it to install in the aftermarket winter wheel? That would add about $200 bucks to the purchase, and I'd like to keep this cheaper than that. Is the light in the CX-9 obnoxious if left on the whole season?

12K x 3 season, so 36K on them thus far. Just put them on Sunday for season #4. I agree also, rather than buying tires every 2-3yrs, you can get away without buying tires for 5yrs, but then you might have to buy 2 sets :).

The light isn't bad, the ding noise is annoying. I'd opt for the TPMS. $100 for the safety of knowing if have a tire going flat is peace of mind for me.

You can get them way cheaper than $200. I got mine from TPMS Express for $90 shipped. I don't think they are around anymore, but check out ebay and such.
 
12K x 3 season, so 36K on them thus far. Just put them on Sunday for season #4. I agree also, rather than buying tires every 2-3yrs, you can get away without buying tires for 5yrs, but then you might have to buy 2 sets :).

The light isn't bad, the ding noise is annoying. I'd opt for the TPMS. $100 for the safety of knowing if have a tire going flat is peace of mind for me.

You can get them way cheaper than $200. I got mine from TPMS Express for $90 shipped. I don't think they are around anymore, but check out ebay and such.

Gotcha! That is really great tread life, as I expect to only drive 6k or so in the winter. We don't have snow coverage as much as you probably do in Minnesota, so that could affect life as well I suppose (even though everyone thinks Denver is up in the Rockies, perpetually covered by snow, lol! :))

And that TPMS price is WAY better. I was just looking at the price TireRack quoted (even though I'll probably be getting the tires through DiscountTire, as they are cheaper and local if I have a problem).

Any issue with used ones? I found a couple that state they are Mazda, but if they are 315Mhz any should work, right? (ignorant somewhat about TPMS due to this being my first car with it).

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)
 
Last edited:
Gotcha! That is really great tread life, as I expect to only drive 6k or so in the winter. We don't have snow coverage as much as you probably do in Minnesota, so that could affect life as well I suppose (even though everyone thinks Denver is up in the Rockies, perpetually covered by snow, lol! :))

And that TPMS price is WAY better. I was just looking at the price TireRack quoted (even though I'll probably be getting the tires through DiscountTire, as they are cheaper and local if I have a problem).

Any issue with used ones? I found a couple that state they are Mazda, but if they are 315Mhz any should work, right? (ignorant somewhat about TPMS due to this being my first car with it).

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)

Yeah, I am suprised at how well the Blizzaks have held up on the CX9. Definatley worth every penny. I am on Season 2 with Hankook RW11 iPikes on the Saab, and they look brand new as well. I think as long as you rotate, they'll last at least 4yrs. LOL, 8 yrs if you only drive 6K on them.

I have no issues with used ones, as long as they are tested and guarenteed to work :). I have used ones in the Snaab, no issues at all. Just make sure they'll mate with the CX9 (all newer Mazda should be the same though). Go onto Rock Auto and see if they list a part number and then compare to see if that matches ebay.
 
Back