Winter in Vancouver, Canada
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How much snow do you get there? Does it stay on the roads very long or melt off quickly?
If you are going to be driving a lot on snow-covered roads, then you'll be better off with a snow tire. If you drive in the snow a few times a year, then an all-season will be fine. Although the stock all-season is not particularly good in snow and you should be careful.
If you are going to be driving a lot on snow-covered roads, then you'll be better off with a snow tire. If you drive in the snow a few times a year, then an all-season will be fine. Although the stock all-season is not particularly good in snow and you should be careful.
If you just stay in the city, dont - there's just no need.FR3D said:
I go skiing so I like to have a winter set.
In the city we usually get a dusting once or twice, but nothing that stays. If you head up to the hills, if a different matter.Bombadil said:
thx for the comments guys
so how does the stock tire perform on wet surface? since we get so much rain here every winter
btw...I'm one of those people who stay in the Van/Richmond/Burnaby area only, so I won't really see any snow at all
so how does the stock tire perform on wet surface? since we get so much rain here every winter
btw...I'm one of those people who stay in the Van/Richmond/Burnaby area only, so I won't really see any snow at all
According to collective opinion of over 1400 owners of Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires that have responded to the survey at Tirerack, the wet traction rating is 6.1 on a 0-10 scale. This puts it 17th in its group of 20 tires in the "High Performance All-Season" catagory.
In the catagory of "Hydro Resistance" it also scores a 6.1, ranking it 16th out of 20.
In both catagories, 10 of the 20 tires scored between 7.0 to 8.7.
Not particularly good scores for the RS-A, but not horrible either. If you are an aggressive driver, then you would be better off upgrading. But the tire should at least be safe if you don't push it too hard.
It is rare when a manufacturer puts on a truly good tire as standard equipment.
In the catagory of "Hydro Resistance" it also scores a 6.1, ranking it 16th out of 20.
In both catagories, 10 of the 20 tires scored between 7.0 to 8.7.
Not particularly good scores for the RS-A, but not horrible either. If you are an aggressive driver, then you would be better off upgrading. But the tire should at least be safe if you don't push it too hard.
It is rare when a manufacturer puts on a truly good tire as standard equipment.
The RS-A will work in snow, but they aren't a good performer in snow. Of that there is no question. This is well documented on multiple tire survey sites and in road testing performed on the tire.
I noted above that their overall score on rain was a 6.1 out of 10, based on survey result of over 1400 owners of the tire. In the snow that rating falls to 5.1, which is definitely worse than average for an all-season and is the worst performance characteristic of this tire. However it is better than some of the other "all-season" stock tires on new cars.
My last Toyota came with Firestone FR-680's as stock. They are truly terrible. Much worse than the RS-A. And back in the mid-90's, I bought a new Caravan that came with Goodyear Invicta GL's, another truly terrible tire.
Good tires cost too much to install as standard equipment except on upscale performance cars, where buyers expect good rubber.
As far as sub-$20K cars go, the RS-A is one of the better stock tires you will find. I definitely would not buy it as a replacement, and if you ever used a good tire on a Mz3 and switched back, I expect you'd immediately notice the difference.
Since Goodyear does sell these tires for a hefty price, there is a chance that you could sell them as new off the car, or maybe even work out a trade-in credit at a local tire dealer who sells Goodyear, if you want to upgrade right away.
A new set of RS-A's in 205/50-17 will cost you close to $600. So Mazda should be credited as having tried to equip the car with a much better tire than what is normally found in this price class.
I noted above that their overall score on rain was a 6.1 out of 10, based on survey result of over 1400 owners of the tire. In the snow that rating falls to 5.1, which is definitely worse than average for an all-season and is the worst performance characteristic of this tire. However it is better than some of the other "all-season" stock tires on new cars.
My last Toyota came with Firestone FR-680's as stock. They are truly terrible. Much worse than the RS-A. And back in the mid-90's, I bought a new Caravan that came with Goodyear Invicta GL's, another truly terrible tire.
Good tires cost too much to install as standard equipment except on upscale performance cars, where buyers expect good rubber.
As far as sub-$20K cars go, the RS-A is one of the better stock tires you will find. I definitely would not buy it as a replacement, and if you ever used a good tire on a Mz3 and switched back, I expect you'd immediately notice the difference.
Since Goodyear does sell these tires for a hefty price, there is a chance that you could sell them as new off the car, or maybe even work out a trade-in credit at a local tire dealer who sells Goodyear, if you want to upgrade right away.
A new set of RS-A's in 205/50-17 will cost you close to $600. So Mazda should be credited as having tried to equip the car with a much better tire than what is normally found in this price class.
Our yearly snowfall
Had to try it in the snow today. Tires worked fine - not great as expected, but as good as many all-seasons I've had in the past. If it snows a lot, get snow tires. Otherwise, slow down and enjoy the beauty of the snow.Absinthe said:
God DAMN the tires sucked in that snow/ice the other day. Holy Shit. First car I've had that I've been scared to drive in the ice. I gotta get some Falken's on those wheels soon. I'm against snow tires in vancouver cause we only get 1 week of snow per year but I need some decent all-seasons.
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