The stock Toyos are absolute trash in the snow!

[Robotazky]

twintrbo,

I'm just a tire snob and can call out crap tires after one drive. I drove 85 miles from the dealer and 10 miles to the tire shop. I sold the Toyos for $100 with the little stubbies still on the tread. Switching to quality 215s made a huge difference and I knew that it would so I dropped the cash even though it really, really ticked me off to have to on a brand new car. I'm still very glad that I did though. The Michelins I bought have 26,000 on them now and still look and sound new.

 

[minimo3]

Once underway, the 5, with snows, is actually a lot of fun on unplowed roads, very controllable and willing to carry speed and take corners. The issue I see is going from a stop or near stop on slippery surfaces. I believe it is due to Mazda using the same springs from the Mazda3. This affects the rear of our cars more as most, if not all, of the additional weight is in the back due to the increase use of glass. The soft springs cause weight to transfer to the rear when starting from a stop, unweighting the front wheels, and causing a lack of traction. Tires can only hope so much, we are battling weight transfer. I would love to get some stiffer springs that maintained the stock ride height. That would be the ideal solution, in my opinion. I will most likely be selling my Mazda5 before next winter, too bad, it is a lot of fun to drive in most situations.

You're absolutely correct, its definitely the weight transfer. I run winter tires but they can only help so much. For folks who want to experiment try this: In the early morning when the road is a little moist from the dew (or even if the road is dry), stop your car. Then give it moderate to aggressive throttle, you'll feel the the weight of the car shift to the rear and the front tires will spin like crazy (I've seen it redline to 6000+rpm), after a few seconds the weight settles to a more neutral stance, the tires bite and off you go with lots of squealing. I noticed it the day I bought my M5 especially in back to back test with a Mazda3 and Mazda6. Neither of the other cars exhibited this symptom. My other car is a RWD BMW and with the same set of winter tires on both cars (Dunlop Winter sports), the BMW is much better handler in the snow.

 

[mpvue]

I test drove my M5 in the rain, never drove one before and didn't slip the tires a bit, nor did we have any trouble in our hilly neighborhood.
all cars transfer weight under takeoff; it's just a matter of learning how to drive it properly and anticipate it.

 

[hurschel]

twintrbo,

I'm just a tire snob and can call out crap tires after one drive. I drove 85 miles from the dealer and 10 miles to the tire shop. I sold the Toyos for $100 with the little stubbies still on the tread. Switching to quality 215s made a huge difference and I knew that it would so I dropped the cash even though it really, really ticked me off to have to on a brand new car. I'm still very glad that I did though. The Michelins I bought have 26,000 on them now and still look and sound new.

You may have mentioned it somewhere else and I missed it, but what Michelins did you get, I'm looking at the Primacy MXV4s or the MXMs look good also. Be glad when the Toyos are gone.

 

[minimo3]

I test drove my M5 in the rain, never drove one before and didn't slip the tires a bit, nor did we have any trouble in our hilly neighborhood.
all cars transfer weight under takeoff; it's just a matter of learning how to drive it properly and anticipate it.

Do you have a later model? This was more of a problem with the earlier models that do not come with traction control. I think they added TCS in 2009 or 2010 which would minimize wheel spin. Yes I have to adapt my driving specially for the car, I either stop a little way back from the line so I can get a rolling start, or I give it gas, then let up to allow the chassis to settle, then gas it again to let the tires catch. Once it gets going its great.

 

[markuszoom5]

I live in upstate NY and did not have much trouble with the stock toyos on my 2010. Maybe because they were still new. On dry road or wet is not even any issue because the only time we feel like we are slipping here is in deep snow. Rain slippage is nothing to me, used to it when you drive on ice and snow. It's just a matter of preemptive anticipation of things and non-use of cell phone etc while driving.

 

[mpvue]

Do you have a later model? This was more of a problem with the earlier models that do not come with traction control. I think they added TCS in 2009 or 2010 which would minimize wheel spin. Yes I have to adapt my driving specially for the car, I either stop a little way back from the line so I can get a rolling start, or I give it gas, then let up to allow the chassis to settle, then gas it again to let the tires catch. Once it gets going its great.

no traction control in my '09. raining real good today, no issues, I drive it normally, very secure. my wife doesn't have any issues with it either.