Winter tire thread :)

CX7_Scott said:
And what is the cost of a life...? Your life...? Someone else's life...? I understand money is a factor - trust me. This is my FIRST time ever buying "winter" tires myself... but I learned that the investment is not about bragging-rights of traction, or being able to do wilder, faster stuff in the snow...

I had TWO close-calls in the snow last year (before I bought my CX7) that scared the bejesus out of me. I vowed I would get "better tires" for winter driving and so-far, I am 100% pleased that I made that investment.

$1,200 spent to potentially AVOID being in an accident is a far better insurance policy to me than a $300 deductible for repairs to my car, but also potentially being hospitalized, killed or injuring others.

Again... that's just me - not "looking down" on you for not getting them, just giving perspective to the reasoning that your deductible is a cheaper route.

Happy New Year.
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I agree with Scott.. i use to be the type who just get all season tires when i had my talon.. but than a friend finally convinced me to get winters.. and dude its like night and day.. and i have continued getting winters with my cx-7... i do not have to worry about driving careful and worried that i am going to lose control..

not saying you can drive crazy with winters.. you should still have some caution with winters, but atleast now i dont have to worry that i am going to slide into somebody or not even get up on my own drive way... 1200 is a very good investment and good winters should last you upto 4 winters or more depend how crazy u drive..
 
Valid points from both scott and wong.

I don't HAVE to be at work by a certain time so I can take my time heading in. I can even work from home if I have to. The sliding down the hill was at 10 MPH so no one's life or limb was in danger. In fact if I had hit the car I doubt there would have even been any damage.

The driveway was after I spun the tires creating incredibly smooth ice which would have probably caused traction issues for most winter tires. (Though maybe the winter tires wouldn't have spun... but whatever) Also, no one around so no danger to life or limb.

And I have had winter tires before... they make a huge difference. Hence why if I really needed to be somewhere in a snow storm, I can take the Speed6 -- AWD and Winter tires. The 7 is leased... I just can't justify snow tires on it for 1.5 more snow seasons... which aren't generally all that snowy. Probably less than 10 days per year where I have to take it easy coming in.

And the comment about the deductible was meant more in jest than anything else... I have every confidence in my ability to operate my vehicle in a safe manner; having survived many winters accident free (and that includes accidents not my fault).
 
I Just got the blizzak's for my cx-7 The tire guy said I should have great traction for my AWD cx-7. Exact measurements of those horrible stock turanza tires. I live in New york but, the tire guy is from colorado and said these will be great! I am having them put on this week w/ some expected snow friday to try them out....Any comments on the purchase??
 
I think you all have convinced me to get some new tires, probably the Nokian WR for SUVs if I can find them here. I don't drive much generally (I walk a mile and half to work instead for fun and fitness), but I have had a couple of slides while running errands (& driving slowly) this winter that have made me think twice.

I love this car and would hate to crash it or worse, hurt someone. Thanks for the good advice on options. I would love to step up to a winter tire that works all year as Nokian claims for its WR.

One concern I have is I see in the manual that it advises not to drive > 75 mph on winter tires. I have been known to drive that fast when the roads are dry, clear and inviting in the summer. (zoom zoom, you know) Do you think that manual advice needs to be followed for Nokian WRs in summer? For those of you that have them, what has been your experience with speed, if you leave the tires on year round? Have you had to slow down where you might not otherwise. Another way of putting it is: are the Nokians Zoom-worthy?

Thanks for any advice.
 
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75 mph limit for snow tires?

Sounds like over-caution by the mfr. w/r/t recommending such a low speed for the snow tires. Presumably the tires themselves are speed rated for at least 112-117 or whatever is that lower "letter" rating that makes them govern many U.S. market vehicles to that speed.

I ran Michelin Arctic Alpins on my Benz 190E for years, year round (too lazy to swap them out). Never a concern for a 75 mph limit.
 
The Nokian WR 18" are a v-rated tire good for 149 MPH. I've been over 75 MPH several times they handle great.
 
Re: Another Nokian installation

So we've had no more snow in St. Louis since the December blasts.

But I did get a chance to drive to Iowa (twice) and had some snow experience both visits.

We drove up to Grinnell IA on 1/5 to visit our GSD breeder...fun trip. They'd had a major winter blast mid-week, so the major roads were plowed. But the farm roads weren't, and I got a good read on how my CX-7 worked with the new Nokians.

Superb!

Very stable, good grip, braking and turning also improved. The drive to the kennels was steep with a good 6-8 inches of snow unplowed, some packed. Drove up very sure-footed, back-and-forthed at the top to get turned around. A real non-event...the type of performance I'd expect from a high-clearance vehicle with FWD. Piece of cake.

On the return trip a week later, temps were now in the 40's, and her drive was now about 6" of snot-slick melted snowpack. More challenging, since the tires really couldn't "dig in" much of the way. Between the ice siping of the tires and the traction control, we still made it to the top in great fashion.

Very impressive.

So I'm done with any snow traction concerns, other than non-sensical stuff through major drifts or somesuch. Good to go.
 
I've been driving in the mountains of colorado for the last few months. Lots of snow... a few feet last week. No problems with the Blizzaks. They work great. The only comment I have is that the CX-7 isn't quite as good in the snow as my Subaru WRX. Both have Blizzaks on them.
 
The Nokians are rated for a speed well-beyond what you should be driving at. :)

I had my CX-7 at around 95-97 for fairly-long stretches on a 4-Hr drive back from Maine. They feel fine to me. Traditional "old-school" snow tires could not handle that kind of speed. The Nokians are (supposedly) an "all-season" with snow-tire properties... or a Snow-Tire that can be driven year-round without excessive wear issues.

I dunno what magical elves created the super compound used in these tires... but I thank them immensely. :)
 
You all are making me darn happy with your answers to my questions!!

Thanks so much everyone! I can't believe I'm this happy about spending a bunch of money on tires. :)
 
Winter Driving Experience in Lake Tahoe

Just got back from Lake Tahoe and thought I'd describe my experience driving an AWD CX-7 with the Goodyear Eagle RS-A. Ten inches of snow fell while I was there.

Overall, I would have to say I was satisfied with the performance of the CX-7 and the RS-A tires. I drove uphill through unplowed neighborhoods and did not get stuck or slide around. I went up some pretty steep inclines and had no problems.

I did get stuck in the backyard (only place to park the car) of the cabin I rented. But that was probably due to the fact I wanted to see if I could plow the snow with the CX-7. I had to shovel out snow from underneath the car and place some cat litter under the tires to get it out.

Later, I drove over the summit along HW-50 with no problems. The plows hadn't cleared the roads, but had no problems over the steep inclines. The tires performed when it mattered.

I've read frequent criticism of the RS-As. I'm not here to endorse them, just to give my experience with them in snow. Maybe winter tires would have helped me while plowing around in the backyard.
 
CXTiger said:
Just got back from Lake Tahoe and thought I'd describe my experience driving an AWD CX-7 with the Goodyear Eagle RS-A. Ten inches of snow fell while I was there.

Overall, I would have to say I was satisfied with the performance of the CX-7 and the RS-A tires. I drove uphill through unplowed neighborhoods and did not get stuck or slide around. I went up some pretty steep inclines and had no problems.

I did get stuck in the backyard (only place to park the car) of the cabin I rented. But that was probably due to the fact I wanted to see if I could plow the snow with the CX-7. I had to shovel out snow from underneath the car and place some cat litter under the tires to get it out.

Later, I drove over the summit along HW-50 with no problems. The plows hadn't cleared the roads, but had no problems over the steep inclines. The tires performed when it mattered.

I've read frequent criticism of the RS-As. I'm not here to endorse them, just to give my experience with them in snow. Maybe winter tires would have helped me while plowing around in the backyard.
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The problem with the RSA's is not getting stuck in deep snow. The problem is on extremely icy streets they don't stop or corner worth a crap.
 
In all fairness... icy conditions are something that NO TIRE is going to deal with effectively without studs or chains. There's not a heck of a lot you can do to cheat physics. Mass + Inertia on an icy surface = lack of traction.

Yes, SOME tires will do slightly better than others on ice... but ice is ice. It's slippery and unforgiving. They are snow-tires, not ice-tires.

For me, the difference between the stock all-seasons and my Nokians have been demonstrated the greatest in snowy conditions and packed-snow roads and parking lots. It also seemed to respond "BETTER" over patches of ice, but it still would slide/skid if you pushed the limit.
 
bump :)


i'm looking into new winters for the cx-7, and i just want to verify that someone else here has actually run on the steelies that tirerack has as the "prefered package"

$640 for 4 wheels, 4 tires mounted, sounds like a deal to me, just want to make sure it will work.
 
You may want to keep checking on craigslist. I found some 17" Mazda 6 wheels for $75 total on there. Got some Blizzak DM-Z3s for them from Tirerack. They were great last winter.
 
i got my 235/70-16 Pirelli ice and snows mounted up today on old stock Protege wheels that i bought off a local member. got em sitting in the basement ready to go on as soon as the snow hits the ground :)
 
I am getting my RX8 rims powdercoated black this week they are at the shop, and tires are at the shop they are going to Sippe them a little, they are Cooper ZEON XST 255/55/18, will be on mid or end of October.
 
wannabe said:
oooh. pics of the black rx-8 wheels once done :)
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Here they are
Word096.jpg

Word092.jpg

Word094.jpg
 
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