How many Brits? Fancy a cuppa?

Since tyres are compulsary here and you get a much better deal when you buy a car with wheels and tyres than when you buy seperate yourself, I didnt get much choice of what make I could buy. Mine came with Yokohama W.Drive which apart from the slightly higher road noise than summer tyres, have so far been good. Its quite common for winter tyres to be louder, you just have to put up with it. The size is the same 225/65/17 ( I think thats the same as summer?), they are on allloys, thick 5 spoke jobs, look ok. You certainly dont worry about how your wheels look in winter, there are all sorts of sports cars going about looking like a Hillman Hunter!

It actually quite common to have one size smaller, so typically 16" for a CX5 but maybe due to the size, height, weight, of a CX5 they kept it the same.
When comparing winter tyres, there is not a great deal of difference between the top brands. They all perform fairly well in snow, but there main purpose is better grip in cold and wet weather so if you are reading reviews (and you live in the Uk) then priorities wet weather performance.. If I had a choice (and what I have on my Mazda 2 and other previous cars) I usually go for Conti TS 850. I think they usually come near the top on most reviews.
Dont think twice about getting tyres, just do it, can cost quite a bit to purchase but as long as you plan to keep the car a few years (and going by the rough winters recently in the UK) then it is a very worthwhile investment. Remember, they grip much better when temperatures drop, they disperse water much better when the roads flood, and when the snow comes, you never really get stuck anywhere.

Cold weather and short trips are about the worst thing for mpg, but like I said, cant complain much at all with the results.
 
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Thanks Dr

There is a long thread on winter tyres on the caravan forum I post on, caravan talk.
The Conti TS 850 does well in the reviews as you say, I was half expecting a skinner tyre to be mentioned say 215, along with steel wheels, so your feedback is useful.

I do have a full set of spare 19" wheels with Toyo summer tyres, bought really because they were at a good price and I wanted a full sized spare.

So I was thinking about perhaps having the tyres removed for winters.

I agree in the UK wet stopping is the priority, I'll see what's available to fit, but I probably only do 1000 miles over winter.
 
Winter is here, a bit of snow today and the winter wheels are on, I forgot how noisy the tyres are once up to speed on a smooth road ie all roads here :)

I am keen to see what how this cars AWD behaves, many roads are left untreated here so I will have some fun rallying around and testing it out, my Impreza Turbo was impressive, light, plenty grip, very neutral to slide and drift, my Golf R32 was ok but was very understeery, I can imagine the CX5 will be similar but lets see.

MPG has plummeted latetly, but I am having some more fun with the engine, I was getting bored watching the on board computer! So now averaging 40 mpg which is still impressive for a car of this size and a heavier right foot. I dont do much more than 7000 miles a year so Im not worried about saving pennies of fuel.

All in all, enjoying the car, the cold brings out a few rattles but I will defeat them all this year!

Indeed the cold has brought back the rattling dashboard on mine - I have reported it to Mazda but still await a proper response - nothing after the initial acknowledgement of my email.

I have just finished a couple of weeks of heavy mileage (for me that is, about 1000 miles/week) and I reset the computer beforehand and it is showing 49.8 mpg. Not bad for the type of driving I am doing but the fantasy figure of 62 mpg is not even in the ballpark.
 
Official figures can never be achieved in the real world. Have a look at the 'honest John' web site for more detail. I am averaging about 44 mph over a range of city driving and long motorway trips, which I am very happy with.
 
Has anyone in the UK had experience of how the cx5 awd performs in snow on standard tyres? Have many people invested in a set of winters?
 
AWD helps to get you going but thats about it. You are better with 2WD and winter tyres than AWD and summer tyres.
 
AWD helps to get you going but thats about it. You are better with 2WD and winter tyres than AWD and summer tyres.
TO see the difference there are many videos, including this

Many new drivers to AWD (and 4x4) think they are infallible and drive too fast. The major problems are braking on ice/snow and cornering too quickly - you often see pictures of these type of cars which have slipped off on a corner. Besides little traction, AWD are often heavier and this worsens the stopping distance. Having said all that, I like AWD as you are more secure in say, very wet conditions and 'gentle' off-road, for most of the year. Also, storage of the winter tyres may be a problem for some. Both my CX5 and previous Tiguan have kept me going in very bad snow when 'normal' 2 wheel drive cars had no chance.
 
There are some positive posts on this forum with I believe the standard tyres, also a video on utube.

Auto blid did a tyre test were a good quality all season tyre matched the winter tyres in performance, so that would be a good compromise.

I had Dunlop sp20 all seasons on both my xtrails, over 9 years I never got stuck, both cars had 4wd.

Has anyone in the UK had experience of how the cx5 awd performs in snow on standard tyres? Have many people invested in a set of winters?

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mazda+cx-5+in+snow&sm=3
 
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Thanks for the replies. Reason I'm asking is because I'm wondering whether to fit winter tyres to my fwd car, or pay twice as much and fit winters to the wife's cx5.....
 
Strange constant understeer in deep snow with the front wheels spinning, is it really such a small amount of power that is sent to the rear? Maybe incase people lose control at the hint of the back drifting. I can see this car being very effective in the snow but zero fun!
 
Has anyone had the second (25K) service yet? I've been quoted an all inclusive price of 342 at the local Mazda dealer, which seems a lot.
 
Thanks Dr

There is a long thread on winter tyres on the caravan forum I post on, caravan talk.
The Conti TS 850 does well in the reviews as you say, I was half expecting a skinner tyre to be mentioned say 215, along with steel wheels, so your feedback is useful.

I do have a full set of spare 19" wheels with Toyo summer tyres, bought really because they were at a good price and I wanted a full sized spare.

So I was thinking about perhaps having the tyres removed for winters.

I agree in the UK wet stopping is the priority, I'll see what's available to fit, but I probably only do 1000 miles over winter.

Either Autocar or Autoexpress had a winter tyre test last month. I recall than Nokian (I think they're called) came top by some margin.
 
Official figures can never be achieved in the real world. Have a look at the 'honest John' web site for more detail. I am averaging about 44 mph over a range of city driving and long motorway trips, which I am very happy with.

I reckon the manufacturer's 'urban' mpg is a useful indication of real world mpg. Despite driving my CX-5 like a baby, it never gets anywhere near the official combined mpg. I may have done only 1,000 miles but do not believe the mpg will increase much.

My M3 on the other hand get's to the official combined mpg when driven normally. When I'm using 8.4K rpm and having fun, the mpg is somewhat less but the point of the car is too use the performance ;)
 
Just checked the review, the Nokian won, but for a UK driver, I would pick the Conti as the wet results are better, for myself, I would pick the best snow performer, possibly the Nokian, Ive never even heard of them making a good winter tyre until now!
 
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I had Nokian winter tyres on my previous Jaguar XF and they were a complete revelation. Rear while drive, high power output and not a moment of drama. It was as if the snow wasn't even there and the grip in the wet was first class. Amazed that you haven't heard of Nokian, they are a Finnish brand and if anybody knows about snow........

In fact I have more or less decided to take the plunge and invest in a set of winter tyres for my 2WD, am waiting for a couple of quotes to come in from tyre fitters. They should really be referred to as cold weather tyres, I.e. for temps below 7C. We may not have much snow down South but I am completely sold on the concept having experienced the benefits previously......and of course, as long as the winter tyres are on the car the summers aren't wearing. It's just a case of running two sets of tyres concurrently rather than consecutively. The only added expense is having the tyres swapped twice a year and if they help avoid even a single smash that cost is more than covered by the insurance excess that would otherwise be payable.
 
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