kckev99
11-18-2013, 10:55 AM
I decided to get these tires as I have had a great experience with past Toyo winter tires before. Being from Quebec I've gone through my fair share of Winter tires and harsh road conditions.
A Bit about my last set of tires for my Mazda 3 GX:
My last set of tires were a bit disappointing Falken Espia EPZ. To be fair they weren't terrible but I would rank them middle of the pack. Not so good on Cold dry conditions as handling was sloppy at high speeds. Tires manged well in deep snow but I didn't feel confident at higher speeds compared to others I tried. Icy conditions were fair at best. Driving around Northern Quebec at -25C on icy roads with sand (salt does not work past -20C) proved to be a lot of work for the ABS, hence icy conditions were not so good for these tires.
Edit: Despite my luke warm review of the Falken Espia EPZ my opinion of these tires is that they are still far superior than any All Season tire in our colder climates. I chose these tires mostly based on budget as I was able to acquire these a very reasonable price. So it goes to show even the cheap winter tires are far safer than most if not all of the All Season Tires on the market for Winter conditions.
Old Review:
http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?49075-Falken-Espia-EPZ-tire-initial-review&highlight=espia
Current Set:
I wanted an improvement on all aspects of Winter driving and I was recommended Toyo GSi5. I didn't hesitate to jump on these as I had previously tried Toyo G0-2, GO-2 Plus and Garrit H/T. All of which had their faults and strengths, but mostly strengths. The
Conditions:
Road Surface: City Roads
Surface Condition: Wet but very little standing water
Temp: Warm 12C
Roads were fairly damp but very little standing water. My initial impression was that these tires feel heavy. The rubber felt very soft thus causing a sluggish effect when turning. Definite drag and lots of surface friction on asphalt. On certain dry smooth surfaces like concrete it sounded like tires were stuck to the concrete. I can hear this suction cup effect as the tires rolled. I don't know what this will do to my gas milleage. However I guess this is encouraging as I suspect these tires will fair well on ice.
Conditions:
Road Surface: Highway
Surface Condition: Wet but No standing water
Temp: Warm 12C
Entering the on ramp was a bit a scary as I had stomped on the accelerator to bring it up to speed on the ramp and was surprised feel some over-steer. This is not something I would ever expect on a front wheel drive car under acceleration. Highway noise is generally acceptable. It's fairly quiet for a winter tire. The suction cup noise fades and becomes more of a quiet hum. Handling was not stable similar to my old of Falken Espia where responsiveness would be delayed when make sudden lateral movements. However I did notice one thing different, over bumps the GSi5 would either absorb the bounce or transfer shock directly to the suspension, I'm not sure which. Where as my old Falkens, my car would feel like it's still bouncing and I would get a floaty feeling. So i believe the side walls GSi5 are stiff enough to transfer shocks to the suspension. Where as my old Falkens would have a softer side wall where by shocks would just oscillate through the tire wall structure and not transfer enough of it to the suspension to dissipate the shock. Anyways this is just purely speculation and my subjective opinion
Summary: These tires suck in warm conditions as but I have a feeling these tires may have decent qualities to handle the colder harsh conditions better than my former set of tires. But so far I'm not yet impressed. I will have to give it more of a chance as the weather gets colder. I'm going to Montreal next week, I don't expect any snow but I am looking forward to seeing how these handle in cooler temps.
A Bit about my last set of tires for my Mazda 3 GX:
My last set of tires were a bit disappointing Falken Espia EPZ. To be fair they weren't terrible but I would rank them middle of the pack. Not so good on Cold dry conditions as handling was sloppy at high speeds. Tires manged well in deep snow but I didn't feel confident at higher speeds compared to others I tried. Icy conditions were fair at best. Driving around Northern Quebec at -25C on icy roads with sand (salt does not work past -20C) proved to be a lot of work for the ABS, hence icy conditions were not so good for these tires.
Edit: Despite my luke warm review of the Falken Espia EPZ my opinion of these tires is that they are still far superior than any All Season tire in our colder climates. I chose these tires mostly based on budget as I was able to acquire these a very reasonable price. So it goes to show even the cheap winter tires are far safer than most if not all of the All Season Tires on the market for Winter conditions.
Old Review:
http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?49075-Falken-Espia-EPZ-tire-initial-review&highlight=espia
Current Set:
I wanted an improvement on all aspects of Winter driving and I was recommended Toyo GSi5. I didn't hesitate to jump on these as I had previously tried Toyo G0-2, GO-2 Plus and Garrit H/T. All of which had their faults and strengths, but mostly strengths. The
Conditions:
Road Surface: City Roads
Surface Condition: Wet but very little standing water
Temp: Warm 12C
Roads were fairly damp but very little standing water. My initial impression was that these tires feel heavy. The rubber felt very soft thus causing a sluggish effect when turning. Definite drag and lots of surface friction on asphalt. On certain dry smooth surfaces like concrete it sounded like tires were stuck to the concrete. I can hear this suction cup effect as the tires rolled. I don't know what this will do to my gas milleage. However I guess this is encouraging as I suspect these tires will fair well on ice.
Conditions:
Road Surface: Highway
Surface Condition: Wet but No standing water
Temp: Warm 12C
Entering the on ramp was a bit a scary as I had stomped on the accelerator to bring it up to speed on the ramp and was surprised feel some over-steer. This is not something I would ever expect on a front wheel drive car under acceleration. Highway noise is generally acceptable. It's fairly quiet for a winter tire. The suction cup noise fades and becomes more of a quiet hum. Handling was not stable similar to my old of Falken Espia where responsiveness would be delayed when make sudden lateral movements. However I did notice one thing different, over bumps the GSi5 would either absorb the bounce or transfer shock directly to the suspension, I'm not sure which. Where as my old Falkens, my car would feel like it's still bouncing and I would get a floaty feeling. So i believe the side walls GSi5 are stiff enough to transfer shocks to the suspension. Where as my old Falkens would have a softer side wall where by shocks would just oscillate through the tire wall structure and not transfer enough of it to the suspension to dissipate the shock. Anyways this is just purely speculation and my subjective opinion
Summary: These tires suck in warm conditions as but I have a feeling these tires may have decent qualities to handle the colder harsh conditions better than my former set of tires. But so far I'm not yet impressed. I will have to give it more of a chance as the weather gets colder. I'm going to Montreal next week, I don't expect any snow but I am looking forward to seeing how these handle in cooler temps.