Targaryen420
Member
- :
- 2002 Mazda Protege5
Im Wondering, now that winter is here, what brand of tire should i buy?
Thanks for the help.
Thanks for the help.
What tires winter tire should i buy?
- Thread starter Targaryen420
- Start date
- :
- 2003 Mazda Protege5
Ive heard Bridgstone Blizzaks are the best bang for your buck. I run Michelin X-Ice's and mine are okay and I live in northern North Dakota so haha.
Targaryen420
Member
- :
- 2002 Mazda Protege5
Any Pictures of your current winter tires?
ive had blizzak ws60 since 2010 and they work great in winter/ice/snow. not so great for moderate winter rain though. tehy really dont work very well in the wet at all. Just put some hankook ipikes on the wifes esgt. the price was right so hopefully they work well.
Can't go wrong with Nokian. expensive, but last forever. I'm on my 6th winter with mine and they still have 7/32 left. Highly recommended. MInd you, I only put about 10,000KM a winter on them.
Targaryen420
Member
- :
- 2002 Mazda Protege5
What am i looking for when buying a tire? What tire is good for noise and what tire would be better for comfort, and how wet the street is?
- :
- 2008.5 MS3
Targaryen420
Member
- :
- 2002 Mazda Protege5
Can i go wrong with buying just two front winter tires? Those are the ones that are needed the most, correct?
Actually, you want the better tires on the back in winter.
- :
- 2003 Mazda Protege5
For forward traction, yes. But then you will end up like me, where I have good tires on the front, but tires that should be replaced on the rear, and if i turn a bit too sharp the back end just swings out. So youd want good tires on all four corners.
2 is better than none.
And I know tire stores and manufacturer's advertise putting the better two tires on the rear (on a FWD car) because "you don't have any control over the rear while you do have control of the front", but I completely disagree, and it's not an accurate statement anyway (because you can control the rear). I don't know why anyone would want to dumb down the steering abilities of your best chance of make a turn (ie the front end of your car) by taking away it's traction. When I turn the wheel I need the front end to go in that direction. Period. If it's not, I don't give 2 s**** what the rear end is doing.
The most likely place to break traction on a car is where the power is (in our case, the front). Why increase the probability of breaking traction by putting the crappier tires where the power is?
And one of the biggest issues in snow and ice is stopping - especially in traffic behind morons that like to stomp their brake pedal at the first glimmer of brake lights 400 yards ahead of them. 2 snow tires in the rear will hardly do anything for that situation.
Combine that with wanting to get going from a stop instead of feathering the throttle for .5 miles, and the front end is where they should go.
And I know tire stores and manufacturer's advertise putting the better two tires on the rear (on a FWD car) because "you don't have any control over the rear while you do have control of the front", but I completely disagree, and it's not an accurate statement anyway (because you can control the rear). I don't know why anyone would want to dumb down the steering abilities of your best chance of make a turn (ie the front end of your car) by taking away it's traction. When I turn the wheel I need the front end to go in that direction. Period. If it's not, I don't give 2 s**** what the rear end is doing.
The most likely place to break traction on a car is where the power is (in our case, the front). Why increase the probability of breaking traction by putting the crappier tires where the power is?
And one of the biggest issues in snow and ice is stopping - especially in traffic behind morons that like to stomp their brake pedal at the first glimmer of brake lights 400 yards ahead of them. 2 snow tires in the rear will hardly do anything for that situation.
Combine that with wanting to get going from a stop instead of feathering the throttle for .5 miles, and the front end is where they should go.
Last edited:
Just put on 4 winter tires and forget about it.
However, before, I have tried having only 2; both just on the front and just on the rear.
In my actual experience (I have a big, empty mall parking lot beside my apartment building), with only 2 winter tires, having them in front is better. Sure, you can oversteer in corners (fish tail), but control is quickly "recovered" by the front wheels "pulling" the car straight. When you understeer, you can also recover by the pulling the car with the front wheels. Another understeer recovery technique is you can pull the hand/parking brake to lock the rear wheels while at an angle; You'll induce a spin but before spinning uncontrollably, you again need to "pull" the car straight.
This is the main advantage of having a FWD car over a RWD. When a FWD's rear lose control, the front wheels can actually pull it back straight; If you have traction on the front wheels that is.
Having them on the rear only, it felt like having no winter tires at all. No advantage in braking (front tires do most of the braking). I won't even talk about over or understeering; You won't over or understeer because you're stuck and won't have a chance to do any steering at all! When your rear tires lose traction at an angle, you won't be able to pull/recover because your front tires don't have traction either!
As for brand / model of tires: I had more traction with old / already cracking Michelin Alpin Pilots than my current brand-new Hankook iPike RC01 or my other car's Nexen's. Psychologically though, I have more confidence (of not having flat tires in the middle of a snowfall) with my brand new Hankooks than my old/used Michelins.
However, before, I have tried having only 2; both just on the front and just on the rear.
In my actual experience (I have a big, empty mall parking lot beside my apartment building), with only 2 winter tires, having them in front is better. Sure, you can oversteer in corners (fish tail), but control is quickly "recovered" by the front wheels "pulling" the car straight. When you understeer, you can also recover by the pulling the car with the front wheels. Another understeer recovery technique is you can pull the hand/parking brake to lock the rear wheels while at an angle; You'll induce a spin but before spinning uncontrollably, you again need to "pull" the car straight.
This is the main advantage of having a FWD car over a RWD. When a FWD's rear lose control, the front wheels can actually pull it back straight; If you have traction on the front wheels that is.
Having them on the rear only, it felt like having no winter tires at all. No advantage in braking (front tires do most of the braking). I won't even talk about over or understeering; You won't over or understeer because you're stuck and won't have a chance to do any steering at all! When your rear tires lose traction at an angle, you won't be able to pull/recover because your front tires don't have traction either!
As for brand / model of tires: I had more traction with old / already cracking Michelin Alpin Pilots than my current brand-new Hankook iPike RC01 or my other car's Nexen's. Psychologically though, I have more confidence (of not having flat tires in the middle of a snowfall) with my brand new Hankooks than my old/used Michelins.
Last edited:
