I've read somewhere that driving in winter on the 17s is difficult. Does anyone have any experience yet?
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.dinu01 said:2 feet?
Wow!
Can you get some pics?
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.landrumdh said: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.
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?M3-GT said: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.landrumdh said: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.
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.dinu01 said:Wow! That was a lot of snow Dan!!!
Thanx for the info, M3-GT...you learn something new everyday...M3-GT said: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.
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.MazdaHaveIt said:Thanx for the info, M3-GT...you learn something new everyday...M3-GT said: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.
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?
Should be plenty of summer tires, I'd think. The offset is the only real concern.cowtown said: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.