Snow tires

I'm a newbie so forgive me if I'm re-covering an old thread, I didn't see anything on this yet so I hope it helps.

I live in Kansas and it snows (duh). Mazda put tires on the Speed3 that react to snow like a 3100lb fat chick on a snowtube. Its a sports car, not a snowmobile, I get that, but I still have to drive in the fluffy white stuff sometimes and I didn't want to spend $800+ on tirerack.com for the Blizzak LM22 snow tires to fit the 18in stock wheels.

Stock tires are 215/45 R 18 and the Blizzak is the only brand I've found to fit that size and profile but the price is too high to pay for a tire you'll run on for 3-4 months. Now if you get some 16" steel wheels and put some 205/60 R16's on them the overall tire diameter is only .3% slower and so close in size you probably couldn't tell with a tapemeasure. Soooo if you are doing sixty miles an hour, you'll actually be doing 60.2 mph on this snow tire setup. Not too big of a difference and the pricing I found below isn't too bad.

Discounttiredirect.com for:

16 x 6.5 5-114.3 black steel wheels - $53.00 /each
Hankook Icebear W300 P205/60R-16 91H B - $66.00 /each

$476 + shipping for wheels and tires.

Tirerack.com

Winterforce M+S 205/60 SR16 - $63.00 /each

$252 + shipping for tires.

The Hankooks have a ton of siping, got good user ratings and you would save money having Discounttiredirect mount them to the steel wheels but the Winterforce tires from Tirerack are much more aggressive (also with a ton of siping) for deep snow. I'm sure Tirerack also offers steel wheels but they make it less than easy to locate them on the website.

You may even be able to find some cheapy steel wheels with the correct bolt pattern at a salvage yard. Six pack of beer and some spraypaint and you have new steel wheels. I love nice looking rims just as much as the next guy but the first time you slam your OEM or $500 alloy wheel into a curb in the winter and you'll think those dirt cheap steel wheels for a few months don't sound so bad!

YESSSS!!! I was gonna ask where is the cheapest place to get snow tires and wheels. Looks like you beat me to it. 16" black steel ain't sexy but it gets the job done.

No joke, just don't go smaller than 16", your brake calipers may rub!

If you're planning on keeping the car a few years... bite the bullet and get the blizzaks. I know they're a lot of money but a set of snow tires + wheels isn't free. The difference between the two overall will probably be around $400. In the end, you'll be able to maintain the look of your car (assuming you have them mounted to your stock wheels) while also maintaining at least a decent level of handling. (certainly better than a set of 16" snow tires anyway) If you're living in an area of the country where there's snow on the ground virtually every day for 4 months... it doesn't really matter. But, like CT, there's only a handful of days in which you'll actually be taking advantage of the snow tires on your car. The rest of the time you'll be driving like an old lady. Sure, it'll be cold... but there's no snow. No more grinnin as you hug the turn on the onramp. Instead... you'll be takin it nice and slow. Wouldn't want to blow a donut sized snow tire now would you?

If you insist on going the steel wheel/snow tire route (like I did) however... I can't recommend these tires enough. http://www.greendiamondtire.com/ Their customer service is top notch as well. After 3 seasons... I noticed one of my tires had a bubble in it. (turns out I layed it down wrong) I called them up and he sent me a new one for free. All I had to do was pay shipping. That's how you earn someone's business!!

C'mon now, they aren't donut sized snow tires! They are almost exactly the same rolling circumference as the stock tires, just more sidewall/less rim. I have definitely thought through Blizzaks vs. 16" steel wheels and tires and I really just made the post so that the technical info is out there so someone can make a decision on what is right for them. I may still go out and get the Blizzaks but not until I have a second set of aftermarket 18" rims to permanently mount my summer tires to. I don't want to have to mess with constantly mounting and unmounting the snow tires on the OEM rims. Regardless, if you drive the Blizzaks on dry pavement like you do the summer tires, you'll end up in a ditch anyway. They just aren't meant to perform like that.

http://www.greendiamondtire.com/ , cool concept!

I never said the Blizzaks would perform anywhere near your summer tires. I merely said they'd be noticeably better (if for no other reason than their size) than a set of 16" tires. For what it's worth... the donut comment wasn't meant to be taken literally. I was simply referring to the rather large difference in sidewall which will, again, contribute to a much less enjoyable experience.

I'm with you on getting a new set of wheels though. If I had an MS3, I'd probably convert the stock wheels (they look like snowflakes anyway) to my winter wheels and get something else for the rest of the year.

All I know is... from December to April, it doesn't matter how much hp... what my 0-60 or 1/4 mile time is... my skidpad rating... none of that s*** means a thing when you're rolling on a steel wheel/snow tire combo. I might as well be driving a freakin kia spectra or some s***! I'm guessing you bought your MS3 for it's performance capabilities. I just wanted you to realize that, for those 4-5 months worth, despite the fact that 95% of those days will be perfectly good driving weather... you won't be able to have any fun cuz your car will essentially, like mine, be neutered. Tires are essential. Especially for a car that handles as well as the MS3. If you can live with driving like grandma for the winter months... go with the steel wheel/snow combo. If you want to at least be able to enjoy your car a little... despite the fact that it won't even come close to your summer tires, a set of 18" all season or snow tires would be the way I'd go.

Hell... after 4 seasons of swapping my summer tires for the 'bad handling in everything but snow' snow tires... I've decided those days are long gone. I now have a set of all season potenzas waiting for the first flake. Once it comes, they'll be professionally wrapped around my 4 year old stock wheels (which are relatively flawless) and I won't worry a bit. My friend, who works at a local tire shop, insists my wheel won't get damaged in the process. In the end, my car will maintain its normal look (no more ghetto steel wheels) and, since my summer tires are on their last leg anyway, probably provide an even better ride than I"m currently used to. Needless to say... I'm not loathing this winter as much as I have in the past. AS far as the guy who mentioned curb rash goes... that can happen during any season. You just have to be careful.

Next year maybe for the second set of rims and Blizzaks. I'll have to roll ghetto this year. I spent all my money building this house and buying my wife a new Jetta GLI!

I got a set of 17" mazda 6 wheels for snows. 16" rims don't fit. Maybe some will but good luck trying that many to find a fit.

Twisted said:

Next year maybe for the second set of rims and Blizzaks. I'll have to roll ghetto this year. I spent all my money building this house and buying my wife a new Jetta GLI!

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Wow... 2 new cars and a new house to boot! Doesn't sound like you're rollin ghetto at all.

I would've sworn that 16's would fit. What keeps them from fitting? The brakes?

Yeah, well two new cars and a new house and absolutely ZERO savings now. We saved for 5 years for all of it and put some nice down payments down but not much left to spend on toys for the car!

Craighjr said:

I got a set of 17" mazda 6 wheels for snows. 16" rims don't fit. Maybe some will but good luck trying that many to find a fit.

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Tire Rack does not offer sizes that do not fit, as long as you select stuff specifically for your car.

Don't forget about Yokohama... They have some really nice High Performance snow tires...

15" will fit the sedans.
16" will fit the 5 door
17" will fit the MS

Okay, just looked at Tirerack again and now they've added two more options for the MS3's 18" rims. The Michelin X Ice is only $139.00 a tire!

Twisted said:

Okay, just looked at Tirerack again and now they've added two more options for the MS3's 18" rims. The Michelin X Ice is only $139.00 a tire!

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I have Michelin X Ice's on my other car as winter tires and am very happy with them

You guys are discussing the dilemma I am currently thinking over. I have an MS3 and I live in Wisconsin. If you don't keep the same size wheels and tires for winter wouldn't you also have the added expense of getting an alignment each time you change from winter wheels to summer wheels and vice versa? I know you probably don't have to but aren't you suppose to?

I also had questions about mazda rims on MS3. Are all 3 and 6 rims that are like 17" and bigger fitable on the MS3? What aboot RX-8 rims? Will they also work on the MS3?

I think getting an alignment after winter is more the norm for us in the northern climes... At least, that's what I do. Unless you get a tire that is an extreme departure from the original size, all you have to worry about is the speedometer reading slow/fast...
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

AFAIK, the 2.3 3 and the MS have the same brakes, the big fronts being the limiting factor. more info here: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91794
Not sure about the 6 wheels, though.

I'm hoping to get a set of steelies. When it comes to winter driving, you want to have a small, narrow contact patch--a higher weight distribution in a smaller area for better traction, and an easier time pushing aside snow...

Twisted said:

Okay, just looked at Tirerack again and now they've added two more options for the MS3's 18" rims. The Michelin X Ice is only $139.00 a tire!

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Hey, thanks for the update! I was going to get the Blizzaks as it was the only option, but this will save me $200. The Michelins seem to have gotten good reviews as well. I also live in WI and let me tell you, last winter was not fun. I just assumed the stock tires were all seasons, and when there was more than 2 inches of snow, I could not even get up my driveway, which is not very steep. I had to shovel two tire track lines, pull into garage, and then finish shoveling. Even if these tires are somewhat crappy on dry pavement, it will make up for it in slush, snow, ice, etc.

Also, anyone price TireRack vs Sears, Firestone, Goodyear, etc. for equivalent (same) tires? Just curious if Tirerack is the way to go. In 16 years of driving, I've only replaced tires twice, so not much experience there. Obviously, we avoid tax with Tirerack, but shipping came out to like $84 for the tires and rims I wanted.