[noah76]

well after driving home from work today in the snow . im saying my camaro is soooooooo much better in the the snow. the MZ3 was all over the place driving up this hill to my house. the camaro never did this even in much worst snow. RWD>FWD in snow :wink: for some of us.

but i love my new MZ3 HB oh so much

 

[mnemonicj]

Good All Season tires make all the difference. I don't like the tires, Goodyear RSAs, that come on this car. They are the worst handling in the snow. Make your fist investment in some good All Season tires and you will be pleased.

 

[EnFuego138]

I was faced with the same oddity with my camaro. I was surprised to find that in most situations my 1987 camaro was better in the snow than my 97 Intrepid with ABS. Maybe it's because we're more used to RWD?

 

[Skeezicks]

Your MZ3 comes with wide low profile tires and a torquey engine that likes to spin them wide tires. If you had the 19/65/15 tires you would have little problem. Your Camaro is a heavy car which helps, but both cars with winter tires it wouldn't be a contest in the snow ... been there done that .... where I live most people buy winter rims with narrower winter tires ... course we have about 4 months of snow :shock:

 

[noah76]

so whats a really good set of all-season tires ? cost is really not a factor here. it is for my baby you know.

 

[factrzero]

all-season?

I dunno. Performance I'd go with Kumho 712's. For winter's, Kumho KW11's.

 

[98LX]

Snow, snow, snow, blah, blah, blah... who cares? Get a Subaru.

 

[flipped cracker]

i'm glad i don't have to deal with snow.

 

[factrzero]

You know you love snow. You don't get snow, you want the snow. Please, please take our snow...for PETE SAKE TAKE OUR SNOW!! OH, OH GAAAD it's coming for me...

 

[noah76]

ok here is a ? for you. I have TPMS do i have to go and get them hooked up if i want to get 2 sets of rims for next winter? and ill keep the stock 17's for the spring/summer/fall with with some really good tires on it.
and what size rim and tire would you get for a winter set?

 

[factrzero]

For Weenter get a set of 205/55R/16 steelies. That'll give you plenty of winter tire sizes to choose from. Also, it'll clear your calipers! (Take a look at what Mazda did by looking at the indents in your existing rims and just how perfectly a hole has been cut into each spoke to allow the calipers to fit through, OMG such precision).

With TPMS installed, it might give you false readings in the winter time due to the new rim size, just ignore it during that time period.

For certain keep those 17" rims and put a noice set of tires on 'em for the summer time.

 

[noah76]

so do i have to have it reinstalled on the winter rims? i have no clue about this TPMS first time having it .

 

[dinu01]

Driving on 17" wheels that are wide in the snow is not the way to get traction...

 

[neoriffic]

I've always found that RWD cars are more predictable in the snow...

 

[ohsoribby]

Just drove around in this snow storm .. my mz3 hatch was swerving everywhere ... are these tires that bad? Will new winter tires make that much of a difference?

 

[dinu01]

Will new winter tires make that much of a difference?

You have no idea how amazing 4 winter tires are, especially when you're comparing them to 17" tires that are wide and don't have a thread pattern that can bite into snow.

You want smaller, narrower tires for winter.

 

[ohsoribby]

So would changing just the tires make enough of a difference or should i change both to 16in steel rims and winter tires? It was pretty scary driving around.

 

[Cleeve]

I was faced with the same oddity with my camaro. I was surprised to find that in most situations my 1987 camaro was better in the snow than my 97 Intrepid with ABS. Maybe it's because we're more used to RWD?

ABS doesn't help grip the snow at all.

As far as stopping, in most scenarios ABS will increase stop distances in icy conditions because it won't allow the tires to grab at all.
.

 

[fire76]

I'll agree I like the handling characteristics of rwd better, but fwd does have better traction at the drive wheels due to the weight over them. My big complaint with fwd is that when you slide you're screwed, no steering control. But there are disadvantages to both. Neither will compare to my Wrangler with BFG Mud terrains though. :wink:

 

[dugrant153]

Tires and wheels will make a huge difference.

In snow especially you want not-so-side wheels and snow tires. I was watching WRC on Speed and the reason why you want thinner wheels is because with thinner wheels, your car's weight puts more pressure onto one point, thus your car will "dig" into the snow better.