Absolutely!

Absolutely. If you're driving the Goodyear 17 low profiles, forget it. I couldn't stop them skidding no matter what. They're crap. Look into Bridgestone Turenzas, they will kick arse. Unfortunately, you'll have to pay the full $205/CDN per tire, but they might save your life.

 

Better yet, save your rims and get 4 steelies w/snow tires on 16" wheels.

A bent rim is expensive to fix/replace and your summer 17" tires will be worthless in Calgary.

Yes, it's another $1000 or so more to account for, but if you want the GT you gotta play with the big boys when it comes time to maintain it too...

 

Well we got 2 feet of snow here yesterday, dug out today... the Michelin Energy's that Mazda used on the 17" MZ6 rims seemed to do just fine. Nothin special, but not terrible.

 

2 feet?

Wow!

Can you get some pics?

 

2 feet?

Wow!

Can you get some pics?

Not quite 2 feet, but yeah about 20-22" I took some pics today as I cleaned off my car... prolly doesn't look quite like two feet cause the wind blew everything everywhere, but it'll give ya an idea. I'll get them developed tomorrow.

 

Great!

Post the link please.

So far so good here. Hope it stays the same - we're moving Dec. 20

 

The 17s that come with the 3 are all seasons, not a summer only tire; I didn't have any problem with them on snowy side streets when I took one for a test drive.

Of course some 16 inchers with snow tires would be better, but I'd think the stock tires should work fine if you can't afford another set of tires.

 

If you are planning to drive with the Eagle RS-A in the snow be VERY careful. They have a bad reputation for winter conditions.

I guess they would be ok for a heavy car with a traction control, but with a light car, 160HP and no traction control it's a big no-go.

I will have mine delivered with rims and 205-55-16 Pirelli WinterSnowsport210. That's what I have right now on my current car and boy it makes a world of difference especially on starts and braking.

Drive safely :!:

 

The RSA are crap on snow unless you want to commit suicide lol.....They are super slippery under snow conditions. I have Yokohama's 205/50/R17 AVS Winter 901 and they are super nice...and expensive.

 

I test drove the car with the stock 17" and stock tires and yeah... they slipped quite badly on slushy pavement. I can't even imagine driving that in the snow. I think it would be hell. Mazda 2-20 has specials on 16" tires (President Panther) for 180$ plus tax for tire, rims and hubcap to fit the Mazda3 (obviously per wheel). Just in case anybody's interested. I bought them with the car today when I signed the contract. More info about those tires at www.presidentire.com. They are made in Montreal.

 

Low profile tires aren't good for snow / slush regardless.

A set of steelies with snows or good allseasons would be a MUCH better choice.

They could make the difference between having your coffee in your lap and having rearended the guy infront of you when they slam on their brakes.

 

http://trapzero.com/Downloads/Digging Out.ppt


6.4 MB, be warned

 

Low profile tires aren't good for snow / slush regardless.

A set of steelies with snows or good allseasons would be a MUCH better choice.

They could make the difference between having your coffee in your lap and having rearended the guy infront of you when they slam on their brakes.

Almost true. Of course normally you are better off with rims and a higher and narrower tire. But if you got the money there's some great low profiles winter tires. I ain't keeping my 3 more than 4 years so I hate driving with ugly steel rims. But that's just me though.

 

Low profile tires aren't good for snow / slush regardless.

A set of steelies with snows or good allseasons would be a MUCH better choice.

They could make the difference between having your coffee in your lap and having rearended the guy infront of you when they slam on their brakes.

Almost true. Of course normally you are better off with rims and a higher and narrower tire. But if you got the money there's some great low profiles winter tires. I ain't keeping my 3 more than 4 years so I hate driving with ugly steel rims. But that's just me though.

I'm not sure about the narrower part? Why would you want narrower? In snow (or in any situation,r eally) hte more you can get on the pavement, the better, I'd think?

 

In snow, you want less friction from the snow ahead of the tires and more PSI concentrated from the tire to the ground to get better traction. That's why you want narrower and higher tires (to a certain point). If you have the chance to look on tv at some rally cars performing in the snow you'll see what I mean. They use really narrow tires. It's ugly but more efficient.

 

Wow! That was a lot of snow Dan!!!

 

Wow! That was a lot of snow Dan!!!

Yeah it's all melting now though... New England is weird like that, our snowstorms come when there's a cold front sitting on us and a warm front comes up from the south bringing moisture, so it snows a lot but then starts melting immediately. Down in CT I hear it's almost entirely gone - of course, they got half of what we did here.

 

In snow, you want less friction from the snow ahead of the tires and more PSI concentrated from the tire to the ground to get better traction. That's why you want narrower and higher tires (to a certain point). If you have the chance to look on tv at some rally cars performing in the snow you'll see what I mean. They use really narrow tires. It's ugly but more efficient.

Thanx for the info, M3-GT...you learn something new everyday...

I saw those stock 17"s on the 3 and they're gi-normous, to say the least....what does a one inch difference do for you...and for those of you that say 16" is better, what is the difference between that and a 15" per say? Is it just about the looks?

 

Heh, I used to drive all the time with 225/50/15 or /16 on my Mustangs over the years. Yeah it could snowplow well but on that RWD car the extra contact patch on the rear helped.

 

In snow, you want less friction from the snow ahead of the tires and more PSI concentrated from the tire to the ground to get better traction. That's why you want narrower and higher tires (to a certain point). If you have the chance to look on tv at some rally cars performing in the snow you'll see what I mean. They use really narrow tires. It's ugly but more efficient.

Thanx for the info, M3-GT...you learn something new everyday...

I saw those stock 17"s on the 3 and they're gi-normous, to say the least....what does a one inch difference do for you...and for those of you that say 16" is better, what is the difference between that and a 15" per say? Is it just about the looks?

NP. if you reduce rim R size you shouldn't go more than an inch. So 17" - > 16" . And 16" -> 15 . Rims are easier to get in 15"and 16" inches. There's also more snow tires available for those sizes. 205/50/R17 is not a high volume tire size yet so there's less choices out there and the ones that exists are for ultra performance cars and cost a bundle.

The Yokohama AVS Winter 901 is probably the best tire I ever had on 17"...and the one that hurt the most my bank account lol.

 

Man you want to talk about slim tire pickings the 195/55/16 on the Pro5 were scarce. There were few direct swaps for summer tires let alone winters.

From the Tire Rack I did notice 4 or 5 different matching size 17" winters available right now. Summers I didn't look at but I can't imagine it being as bad as the Pro5 was.

 

From the Tire Rack I did notice 4 or 5 different matching size 17" winters available right now. Summers I didn't look at but I can't imagine it being as bad as the Pro5 was.

Should be plenty of summer tires, I'd think. The offset is the only real concern.

 

Manufacturer offset is 52.5 mm, all wheel sizes.

 

Just to point out one thing:

15" rims DON'T FIT on the Sport GT. Only 16" and up. The 300mm front disks and calipers are too big for 15" rims.

By the way the tire size should be 205-55-16 in 16" or 205-50-17 in 17".

Good luck finding a 195 16" tire. I think there is only the Blizzak WS-50 in 195-55-16.

 

Sunridge Mazda where I got my 3 Sport GT from was selling a set of Winters for the 3 and 6s models. 4 x 16" steel wheels, Mazda hubcaps & Hankook winter tires in a 205 for about $960+ Tax installed. Not too bad, I could probably do a bit better but $200 a tire plus $35 per wheel is pretty typical for these tires around here.

Like I said I'll make due unless these RSAs have dramatically changed from when I used to run them, first winter on them should be fine.