Summer Only tires??

[rbart4506]

Hey guys...

I\'m new at this whole winter tire/summer tire thing. Ever since I\'ve been driving, over 15 years now, I\'ve always ridden on all-season tires and never really thought about winters. This year, however, I decided to bite the bullet and get some winters. I had heard of all the benefits and I thought it was time to check it out for myself. Now I\'m starting to think about spring and what to do at that time. I\'ve got the GS model with the Toyo Proxes tires on 15\" alloys that I\'d like to replace. The Toyo tires are ok in the dry, but I really notice a lack of performance in the wet. This was actually one of the main reasons why I got the winters. If the all-seasons are sliding around in rain, how would they be in the snow?? At any rate I want to replace those tires, but I\'m not sure if I should get a dedicated summer tire or just run all-seasons in the good weather. I\'m partial to Michelin tires since I\'ve had a lot of luck with their X-Ones all-seasons and now X-Ice winters. Part of the consideration for me will be cost. I\'m not looking for all out performance here since I\'ve got the GS and really just a regular guy. Whatever I get has to be a tire that has good wet and drive handling characteristics with a good tread wear.

I know this is pretty vague, but I\'m really just at the start of my search.

Thanks,
Rich

[majic]

i would go with a dedicated summer tire

1) especailly that you already have winters
2) all-seasons as MBN says are really NO-seasons
3) you\'ll be more happy with the zoom zoom abilities

as for michelin, they are usually overpriced for what you get. I am new to this game as well BUT i\'m probably going to run the badyears down (on dry they are 4/5, on wet 2.5/5 IMO) but i cannot just shell out another grand just because. Safety is important, and i feel in dry conditions they will be fine. As for rain, i\'ll limit my driving or if i really get pissed get some new rubbers :D

look at some inexpensive summer tires (UHP) les sthan $100USD on tirerack

Sumitomo HTR Z II - $75
Kumho ECSTA Supra 712 - $93
Yokohama AVS ES100 - $100

my friend has had 712s on his EL for a few years (switching to winters each season) and he loves them. my other buddy with teg GSR has the ES100s and that car handles GREAT!


EDIT: those prices were for 17s!!! i forgot you can get MUCH cheaper 15s but i dunno if they come in your size. check out www.tirerack.com and www.1010tires.com for more info.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Rich,

If you check this thread (http://torontomazda3.com/forum/read.php?TID=264), you\'ll see some info that i posted in response to wtom regarding lower cost summer tires. the prices may be a few months out of date, but the info and website links are still valid ;)

cheers

[rbart4506]

Well I made my decision and I\'m going with all-seasons instead of summer only. I know some people won\'t agree with it, but I had my reasons. First off I\'ve only got the GS sedan, with the 2.0L and 15\" alloys. It really didn\'t make sense to me to go and get a set of high performance tires for this car because I would never push the rubber to it\'s limit. My prime concern was improving the wet weather traction and that\'s where I think an all-season would prove better. Not to mention the all-season gives me a bit more freedom when it comes to switching to the winters, I won\'t be as concerned if I get caught in the first or last snow falls. This is our only car so we don\'t have the option of parking it if the weather is bad.

I went to the JD tire in Milton, I\'ve bought my last 4-5 sets of tires from them and I have a good rapport with them. We settled on the Michelin HydroEdge tires in a 205-60-R15. We went up a size to increase the tire contact width and the overall diameter is pretty well the same. These tires will definitely be in good shape when we return our \'3\' (it\'s leased) and the plan is to get another one so the tires will be able to be re-used...That is unless they drop the 15\" alloys or we decide to go the 16\" route...Either way it doesn\'t matter because I\'m buying the Michelins because I\'ve had really good luck with their tires so I\'ll go with what I know even if costs a bit more.

BTW the Michelin Ice-X have been an awesome winter tire...They honestly perform better then the OEM Toyo Proxes. I\'m not just talking snow and rain, but in the dry. The Ice-X also are just as smooth and almost as quiet as the Proxes on the highway.

Thanks for the advice...

Rich