Poll: winter tires

[majic]

I see that there is a lot of variety and everyone seems to like a different tire. i know that if you want tire X you will get tire X but i was wondering if you can maybe vote here and give your top 3 winter tires (in order of preference). This may make it easier to decide on a group buy and maybe ppl can pinch in their feedback on a certain tire model (ie. superior in slush, o in snow, excellent price). I just want to get a generic conscensus on what\\\'s best/most popular or better yet best bang for the buck!

so if you can, please vote (i\\\'ve included the most popular tires on tirerack/1010tires) if you need/want more choices let me know and i\\\'ll add them.

EDIT: I\'m not sure if my OR grouping is correct - i would assume they are similar enough and if not they are the next gen - if i\'m wrong please correct me

EDIT2: btw.. i got some info on tires from tirerack (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=W&VT=C)

[majic]

here are a few more links i found to help in narrowing down the search for winter tires:

mazdaIII.com - 1 (http://www.msprotege.com/vbb225/showthread.php?t=81615&highlight=winter)
mazdaIII.com - 2 (http://www.msprotege.com/vbb225/showthread.php?t=81190&highlight=winter)
mazdaIII.com - 3 (http://www.msprotege.com/vbb225/showthread.php?t=74121&page=2&pp=15&highlight=wint er)
mazdaIII.com - 4 (http://www.msprotege.com/vbb225/showthread.php?t=71846&highlight=winter)
mazdaIII.com - 5 (http://www.msprotege.com/vbb225/showthread.php?t=43380&highlight=winter)
mazdaIII.com - 6 (http://www.msprotege.com/vbb225/showthread.php?t=51192&highlight=winter)

EDIT: a few more

M3F -1 (http://mazda3forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2358&highlight=winter)
M3F -2 (http://mazda3forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=3301&highlight=winter
)
M3F -3 (http://mazda3forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2330&highlight=winter
)

[Dr Butcher]

I\'m going to look for the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2, luckily I\'m looking for 195/65R15\'s though so they won\'t be too hard on the wallet.

Hmm, if I can save $30 a tire on the KW17\'s over the Pilot Alpin\'s I may have to look a little more closely at them as well.

Decisions, decisions!

[Xenon]

I voted for the Bridgestones....

But chances are... I\'m going to go with some econo brand... like Motomaster... I\'m not going to be driving my car hard anyways... plus winter tires, when there is no snow, wear very quickly.

Last few winters have been kinda brown.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

I\'ve tried Nokian Hakka 1 and NRW and they are AMAZING in the snow and ice!

there is no stopping the Hakka 1 ....in fact, if the 3GT could have a 15\" rim, i\'d be using the 205/65/15 hakka1 that i used on my maxima (which are 3 winters old and still look and perform like new).

this year i\'ll be giving the KW17 a try since the price is right.

[billyfo]

I vote for Nokian also, if you have, I have a set exactly the same size tires but not the rims (the set is for BMW and I don\'t know if my mom will need it)

I heard many ppl said BS and Preilli are good, too.

[Xenon]

Just out of curiosity....


There are about 5 tire stores rought around my house... I was going ot pay them all a visit...

How many people would be interested in a Group Buy for Snow Tires IF it was located in the Ford Drive/QEW area (Oakville)... I know it\'s not the most practical for westside people....

But when I go to talk about group buys, I don\'t want to say 20 people are coming, and then only 3 people use the group buy. It will look bad on our part.

Post a reply here IF YOU WOULD SERIOUSLY CONSIDER taking advantage of a winter tire GB in the Ford Drive/QEW area.

[majic]

yeah good idea.. i\'d be interested..

i\'m also looking at a few places in oakville a TAD west from xenon\'s up to 3rd line as well as one in \'ssauga (hurontario and burnhamthorpe)

[idreamofmazda]

Hey Xenon,

A guy I work with used a set of very cheap Wal-Mart tires on his Corolla, for 3-years, drove them all year round, even during the summer. People laughed at him, but the tires had very little wear, low road-noise, and he does a lot of driving, so maybe the cheap tires are made of harder material? Perhaps would be better suited for TO, if we don’t get a lot of snow, and spend most of the time on dry (or salt-stained) payment?

[PlatMS6]

i want in on this for sure

nokian or kumho .....in that order of interest....the nokian is supreme, howver the kumho is cheap but also up there in performance...

i also want steelies to go on this 15\' would be good for winter so 195/65/15

im in the ford/qew area ....or anywhere else in sauga....when do you guys want this to happen tho...cuz by mid nov i have to have em

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Originally posted by 2004mz3


i want in on this for sure

nokian or kumho .....in that order of interest....the nokian is supreme, howver the kumho is cheap but also up there in performance...

i also want steelies to go on this 15\' would be good for winter so 195/65/15

im in the ford/qew area ....or anywhere else in sauga....when do you guys want this to happen tho...cuz by mid nov i have to have em



do you have a 3 GT or a GS,GX?

if you have the GT, the minimum rim size will be 16\" in order to clear the brake caliper.

cheers

[PlatMS6]

i have a gs, so teh 15\" are base...i heard other ppl on diff forums say they wanna get a 16 on their gs cuz of better selection....im not in that category

15 195/65/15 on steelies



so do u guys kno which tire ure picking yet?

nokian (on the higher range) an kumho\'s for best for the $.....is what id do, but if u guys find some good deals id be interested

[Xenon]

I have a firend who works at the head office of Canadian Tire... I\'m going to see if he can do us anything.

[david3]

Originally posted by 2004mz3
15 195/65/15 on steelies


I would be interested in this size also.

[majic]

ok.. so i\'ve done some more research on the tires..

from the reviews on e-pinions, 1010tires and tirerack, i discovered 2 really good tires: Michelin Alpin (the PA2 are probably better - younger brother of the originals) and the Blizzaks (pretty much any model)

http://www.epinions.com/content_12820123268
http://www.epinions.com/content_104812547716
http://www.epinions.com/content_87845867140

the problem with the blizzaks is that they wear out MUCH quicker due to the top 55% of the tire\'s compound being softer. they provide excellent stability indeep snow. on the other hand tha alpins are much more durable and are good in low to moderate snow/slush/ice but not heavy snow.

I didn\'t look into the nokians TOO much b/c they are pretty hard to find around here.

i was told that for the same price as the kumhos go (KW19 and KW17s) we can get a better quality tire. having said that, i\'ve gone to MTC tire in oakville (www.mtctire.com) and spoke with Howard - very nice guy. I mentioned that i was from the TM3 club and i asked for a group buy. he said that he will do wholesale for people who are in the club. this means a discount off the MSRP/list price of:

25% on michelins, uniroyal, goodrich
45% on goodyear, bridgestone
40% on yokohama and kumho

for example michelin alpin PA2 would cost ~ 160bux down from 220

he said if people have questions to e-mail him (with ALL the details) as he can do the deals on one-to-one basis hcoxA TmtctireDO Tcom

i\'m having a hard time narrowing it down tho (the alpins are pretty expensive but then again with the discount they are okay) so i\'m down to these tires.. any input, especailly past experience, would be appreciated (* - what i\'m leaning towards)

*Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 $160
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 $180
Goodyear Eagle Ultra Grip GW3 $180
*Michellin Pilot Alpin PA2 $180
Toyo Garit HT $150
Toyo Snowprox S950 $155
Yokohama AVS Winter V901 $195

prices taken from 1010tires.com for 205/55/16R

[thesober]

I am a firm believer of winter tires. I have had blizzaks ws-50, on a rear wheel drive bmw. It was like night and day. These tires scream when you break on black ice (the stuff im most afraid of). I never drove too hard and the tread wear wasnt as bad as I read about. Expensive tire though.

I also had kumho kw11 on my mx3, used that for one season, lots of driving up to blue mountain. The tires were good, I wouldnt say too good but much better than all seasons. Made alot of road noise, especially when the roads were wet.

[bluntman]

Right now I\'m looking at a set, two sets actually, of 17\" Kumho KW17, installed and balanced for $170 each.

[PlatMS6]

would u guys wanna buy from tiretrends even tho they have to be shipped?

10/tire????? even if i could score a better deal, it would just be the tires(again shipping)....and then we could mount em here?

[PlatMS6]

Ok guys i\'ve talked to Bob from tiretrends, great guy to deal with btw

he has non OEM Mazda wheels, they are actually high offset Toyota rims, and they have machined the hub bore to 67.1, which is the exact size for Mazda, they have been tested
and do work perfectly. You just need to be careful with the 2.3L version as
they supposedly will only fit 16 inch and not 15 inch. These wheels will be
$54.95 each rim for the 15 inch, and $59.95 for the 16 inch. If we need a 17
inch wheel, we will need to go with an aftermarket aluminum rim. He has the ADR Formula 5 in machined with black inlay, or the ADR Intense silver, on for $125.00 per rim at a club deal. The steel rims would have to be ordered in and would take about one week to get, so they would need some notice on them...

For the tires, if we use the 195/65R15 Kumho KW19, the club price will be
$82.00 each.

If we use a 205/55R16 Kumho KW19, they will cost $112.00 per tire.

A 205/50R17 in the Kumho KW17 will cost $168.00 each.

Shipping on tires alone will be around $10.50 per tire (based on shipping a
set of four). Shipping rims alone will work out to about $12.00 per rim
(based on a set of four). A mounted wheel package will cost about $70.00
shipping (again a complete set of four).

For tax, you only need pay GST as they are shipping from Alberta, so the PST
savings virtually balance out the shipping costs.

With a complete package, they will mount and balance everything for free prior
to shipping, and with the mag wheels, the new lugnuts and hubrings will be
included with the rims (because you cannot use the OEM hardware with
these)...

if there is interest the members will order an individual basis from Bob as opposed to a
group. This makes payment and shipping much more simple for them. Also, the
members can just have everything shipped to their homes, which is better.

so if there is interest just contact me and i will get u in touch with him directly.

[billyfo]

if you have to machine the rims to fit our cars, I would worry about the reliability of the rims

[majic]

Originally posted by 2004mz3

Shipping on tires alone will be around $10.50 per tire (based on shipping a
set of four). Shipping rims alone will work out to about $12.00 per rim
(based on a set of four). A mounted wheel package will cost about $70.00
shipping (again a complete set of four).

10.50x4=$42
12x4=48

so i\'m assuming that 70 is a deal on shipping if you get both right? (as opposed to 90 bux)


Originally posted by 2004mz3
For tax, you only need pay GST as they are shipping from Alberta, so the PST
savings virtually balance out the shipping costs.


for 16\" 448+240+70 ~ 760

760 + 53 PST ~ 810 (you save 60 bux on GST but pay 70 for shipping so u break even :D )

[majic]

Finally found my tire.. after countless hours of research i have come to a conclusion. what i was looking for is longevity, excelent wet/dry/slush and ok/good on snow and ice. originally i was going to go with the dunlop M3s but they are 250 bux more. so i found a nice compromise in the hankook W300 iceabears.

http://www.canadiandriver.com/discuss/messages/2479/20020.html

A great option popular with our customers has been the Hankook W300 Ice Bear. This is our second season with this tire and great feedback including my own experience. Wonderful winter performance and great stability, wet traction, quietness and wear. Of course they are also very well priced. We have a number of alloys as well, just depends on what style appeals to you.

and this guy perfectly describes my research and driving conditions..
http://www.canadiandriver.com/discuss/messages/2479/20969.html

and out new affiliate carries those too.. wahoo :D