Having trouble choosing Tires :/

[Fspaintingma]

I recently bought a 2016 Mazda 3i Grand Touring 6 spd Manual. It came off a lease with under 30k miles and has been a joy to drive. I actually test drove the same car (s) version w/bigger engine with an Automatic transmission and although powerfull it didn’t seem to be that much faster or quicker then the manual 2.0 version I’m in now. It has 30 or so less HP and Tourque so it’s probably in my head but I really enjoy the smaller engine w/ the manual much more than the Larger Automatic.
Both had great acceleration (I’m coming from a corolla so anything seems better) and I only drove the Auto for 15 mins but bopping around town unit I felt much quicker in the manual. However I did notice a difference once on the highway. The 2.0 still felt good but not as mich passing power for sure. That has zero to do with my question but thought that info may help someone deciding between the two someday? I’m guessing the S Manual would best of both worlds. Hard to find here though. Over 150 Mazda’s on this lot and maybe 4 manuals total!

**My tire question is simple. It came with Yokohama avid tires. Sort of worn down and nothing special. I live in Massachusetts so it snows here a fair amount in the winter. I’m looking at “all season tires” My dilemma is deciding between High performance all season and grand touring all season.

Is there a big difference? Firestone Firehawk AS was recommended to me. Goes w/o saying Tires are expensive, so I’d greatly appreciate any feedback on what worked for you or any info on “all season tires” performance version vs touring versions.


Thanks!

Colin

[JimH46]

Do a little research on Tirerack.com. I think the best balance of summer and winter performance is with a UHP all season tire. However these vary wildly in their snow performance. The best in that area are the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+, the Conti DWS 06 and the BFG G-Force Comp-2 A/S. I have the last on my BMW X1 and spend lots of time in winter in VT. As good as winter tires? No. But pretty decent for all seasons.

[WheelMcCoy]

I've read good things about the Conti DWS, but after a couple of winters, the tread would only qualify as DW (Dry, Wet).

I've also read the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ favors sporty performance over winter grip, but I have no personal experience with it. I've been happy with the Michelin MXV4 for all around performance, but Michelin is phasing them out with the Premier A/S. I just switched to them, and they got me through the 11/15/2018 Nor'easter. So far so good.

Michelin just introduced a very expensive tire named the Cross Climate+. Testing by Consumer Reports and TireRack show that it's a top performing all-season and ranks just one notch below a true winter tire. It's so new though, I would wait a year for more data.

@Fspaintingma - thanks for the comparison of the stick vs auto. I too, prefer a manual mated to the 2.0L.

[concept]

Pirellis are also great All Season tires. I recently bought their P Zero Ultra High Performance tires for my 3 but these are 45 aspect ration 18-inch tires. According to Consumer Reports, Pirelli makes some of the quietest tires and my P Zeros are no exception. They are noticeably quieter and stick to the road better than my OEM tires. In fact, they were rated second overall - just barely behind the Michelin AS Sport tires, which are $45 more per tire.
Continentals would've been my second choice.