Winter Tires in City

[Sammy]

Hey Guys,

I\'ve heard a lot of talk in this forum about which winter tires to get. But my question is do I really need winter tires on a Mazda 3 sport GT in the city. I drive mainly on maintained roads in the GTA (no small side streets). I read an article somewhere that indicated that with winter tires you loose performance on dry pavement. What are your expreiences with the mazda 3 in the winter on dry pavement? Is it worth the hastle of buying new tires, changing them and storing the other set for just a few months? I\'ve always used all seasons on my 94 camry and had no problems. If you guys think that winters are a must with the mazda 3, I will probably get the kumho kw17 from espec depending on his special, is that the way to go for my type of driving? thanks,
Sammy

[majic]

yeah.. the KW17s as well as the hankook W300s are a pretty safe bet for those conditions.. also.. all seasons mean - mediocre in winter mediocre in summer mediocre in wet.. just search up a few of the threads on tires and u\'ll see.. i mean it\'s not a MUST but it would be recommended to use a separate set of winters

you will lose some performance but then again.. winter isn\'t about performance driving.. it\'s about being able to handle the car.. the softer the compound (lower speed rating) the faster it will wear out.. if you can get an H or a V rated tire (as the kumhos and hankooks are) then go for those..

one day you\'ll get stuck is a blizzard or will have to go to work/skule before they plow the streets and you\'ll be soooo glad you got some nice winter shoes for the 3..

if you can justify the price (ie. have the money to spend) and don\'t mind mounting and dismounting 2ce a year, by all means go get them.. my 2 cents

[Sammy]

Thanks for your input Majic - I should have used the word \"handling\" instead of \"performance\". I heard that you actually loose \"handling\" and breaking power with winter tires on dry pavement. Right now, I am leaning towards winters, but if I hear of any \"good - ok\" expereiences with the all seasons, I\'ll probably stick with them.

Majic - on a side note, is that an engineering ring set as your avatar? what type of engineer are you?

[bluntman]

Originally posted by Sammy

Majic - on a side note, is that an engineering ring set as your avatar? what type of engineer are you?

Domestic :D

[majic]

Originally posted by bluntman



Originally posted by Sammy

Majic - on a side note, is that an engineering ring set as your avatar? what type of engineer are you?

Domestic :D

i don\'t get it?? :sarc

[majic]

Originally posted by Sammy


Thanks for your input Majic - I should have used the word \"handling\" instead of \"performance\". I heard that you actually loose \"handling\" and breaking power with winter tires on dry pavement. Right now, I am leaning towards winters, but if I hear of any \"good - ok\" expereiences with the all seasons, I\'ll probably stick with them.

Majic - on a side note, is that an engineering ring set as your avatar? what type of engineer are you?

u are welcome.. :D the handling/braking will suffer if u compare it to the summer performance tires.. BUT i THINK it would be very similar if not better (winter tires WORK better in lower temps, where all seasons are ok in all temps) than that of all seasons\' - anyone else? correct me if i\'m wrong..

and yeah.. i am COMP0T4..

[idreamofmazda]

I am still waiting for snow to try out my winter tires. If you are going to keep your car for a long time, than it is worth it to get winter tires, and you will need new summer tires sooner or later. It’s best to have an extra set of wheels, rather than switching over twice a year, which will pay for itself after 2 years. I think it is cheaper in the long run to go this way, and factor in that you will be able to get away with almost bald tires in the summer, where most people would have bought new ones already, you will squeeze more miles out of your tires.

[bluntman]

Majic is right, winter tires have to be much softer than summer tires because their operating temperatures are much lower than summer tires. I guess that\'s why most of them are H and Q (speed) rated. It also means that winter tires will wear out much faster than summer or all-season tires (softer compound = less tread life on dry pavement = better snow/winter handling/traction).

[majic]

Originally posted by bluntman


Majic is right,

i like being right :D :p

PROPS ;)