I make a trip to the middle of BC to a family cabin which includes a couple hundred miles of logging roads that are notorious for causing flat tires. This will be my first trip in with my 2013 AWD CX-9 and my first trip with my young son. Because of my son I am more concerned about getting stranded with flat OEM Bridgestones and a worthless doughnut spare 150 miles from civilization. After a TON of research I ended up purchasing Toyo 255/55/18 Open Country AT II Tires (plus a 5th wheel and tire for a spare). http://toyotires.com/tire/pattern/open-country-at-ii-on-off-road-all-terrain-tires These are rugged tires and I have no doubt that they will serve me well for the intended "off-road" purposes. They run surprisingly quiet, and comfortable, and the gas mileage didn't suffer at all (which I still don't believe). What did suffer, and I'm not surprised about, is the handling. I definitely lost a bit of the crispness and it lumbers along more now and is a bit less fun to drive. I think they look GREAT on the car. They change the look of the car for sure - they toughen it up a bit. These tires will give me so much more confidence on my annual excursions north as well as shorter runs to trailheads etc.
All that being said, here is my question and concern. If I choose to keep these tires on as my everyday tires (mostly tarmac commuting), I am wondering if there could be any unexpected consequences to the CX-9 as this is a very different tire than Mazda intended for this vehicle. My biggest concern is in regards to the AWD system. It is a part-time system that kicks in when it anticipates slippage. I'm sure that system is calibrated based on the OEM tire specs, and not knowing exactly how that works, I'm wondering if very different tires might cause it problems or premature wear or failure of the system. How about the transfer case, or differentials, or brakes or anything else?
I have a 30-day money back trial on these tires from Les Schwab. So far I am happy with them, but I just want to make sure I am not going to cause any unforeseen problems if I run them all the time. Thoughts?
Thanks,
Jim
All that being said, here is my question and concern. If I choose to keep these tires on as my everyday tires (mostly tarmac commuting), I am wondering if there could be any unexpected consequences to the CX-9 as this is a very different tire than Mazda intended for this vehicle. My biggest concern is in regards to the AWD system. It is a part-time system that kicks in when it anticipates slippage. I'm sure that system is calibrated based on the OEM tire specs, and not knowing exactly how that works, I'm wondering if very different tires might cause it problems or premature wear or failure of the system. How about the transfer case, or differentials, or brakes or anything else?
I have a 30-day money back trial on these tires from Les Schwab. So far I am happy with them, but I just want to make sure I am not going to cause any unforeseen problems if I run them all the time. Thoughts?
Thanks,
Jim
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