Wheel/Tire FAQ - update

[majic]

i found this while browsing around:

snow tire FAQ (http://www.snowtire.info/). it\'s pretty comprehensive and it has fairly updated tires and some tests

tirerack (http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/index.jsp) also has some good info about winter tires so go check those places out

EDIT1: maybe mods could sticky this? but let\'s not have a dicussion here on what tire you got or which one is better. this has been covered a few times in various topics, let\'s keep it to just \"winter tire tech\"


EDIT2: i just stumbled upon this (http://www.chris-longhurst.com/carbibles/tyre_bible.html) link. it is the most comprehensive 1 stop shop about wheels/tires so NOBODY should be asking any more questions including Tire Size Calculator on page 2.


and yes i read it.. so should you.. :)



Moderator edit: Thanks to Hyperion for finding this - check this out if you want to see what new tire and wheel specification changes will look like. http://www.fitmywheels.com/

[majic]

from one of the links



How many snow tires should I buy?

As many as you have wheels on your car. For most people, this is four. If you put only two snow tire on your car, one end of the car will have better traction than the other. This applies both on dry and snow covered roads. In the snow, the snow tires will have better traction. In the dry, the regular tires will have better traction.

The difference in traction means that when you brake, turn, or accelerate, the two ends of the car will want to behave differently. If the back end has worse traction, you will spin. If the front end has worse traction, you will keep going straight, even while trying to brake. Neither is really a nice thing to have happen in a panic situation.

But, I used to put two snow tires on the back of my....

Okay. It really is your choice. You will find that if you invest in high performance snow and pavement tires, the miss-match is a lot worse then you ever got with the $20 special bias-plies. Many tire manufacturers and retailers are now unwilling to sell just two snow tires because they do not want to be liable for the consequences.

If you do decide to only go with two snow tires, put them on the back of the car, regardless if it is FWD, RWD, 4WD or AWD. It is a lot easier to deal with the car understeering (wanting to go straight) than it is with the car wanting to oversteer (spin).

Another thing to watch out for is mixing different brands of snow tires. I know of one person who ran two different brands of snow tires on his car, and depending on which end of the car he put which brand made the car either very easy to drive or completely undrivable.

If you do nothing else, always match tires on the same axle. They should be the same brand, type, pressure, and have the same wear. (I am talking no gross differences in wear, and ignoring tire pressure changes for racing, etc.) A tire with little tread will not do as well in the snow as one with most of its tread.

[FLIPDADY]

Stuck!

[TheProfessor]

Good info :)

[majic]

added a link in the first post - in red :D

[majic]

added a home made tire size calculator and a PSI calculator .. the file is attached excel workbook.. enjoy :)

ps. for the pressure i think i chose upto 2% as an \'acceptable\' drop from your current PSI.. u\'ll see what i mean.

pps. CRAP.. i can\'t attach xls.. ok i renamed it to .txt but do NOT use word/notepad/etc to open it. just rename it when you\'re saving the file. if you cannot see the extensions (.txt .doc .xls etc) go to where you saved it, click on Tools > Folder Options > View > and uncheck \'hide extensions for known file types\' .. then rename it by rt. clicking and picking rename or pressing F2 once the file is highlighted. when asked if you REALLLY want to rename the read-only file, click ok. :)

EDIT: ok i was unable to attach the file due to some SQL error so i hosted it here (http://www.quickdump.com/files/1964949002.html) until i find a better place.. no renaming is needed :)

[torpedo20]

Thanks, MaGoogle!
That sure did save me some time :)

[FLIPDADY]

Snow tire info (http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/topics/winter/wtirlise.htm)

Moved as per maj\'s request.:p

[timmycruise]

I have a 2012 Mazda3 Sport GS-SKY and would like to confirm if I can use a 15x6.5 5-114 et42 wheel on the car for the winter. Older posts lead me to believe I can, but a service adviser locally said that the SKY models got bigger brakes... Tire Rack says they will fit the i Grand Touring or i touring, but I don't know that this would directly correspond to our models??

It there someone who has put a 15x6.5 on their GS-SKY?

Thanks