Winter Tires... soooooo worth the money!! :-)
 

I had a 2009 MS3 for about 6 months. It snowed, I was pissed at how bad it handled in the snow, traded it in for a used 2008 WRX, drove that for awhile, and now I am a proud owner of a 2013 MS3.

I'm right back where I started... I decided I liked the MS3 so much that I would deal with its shitty snow ability. However, I started reading up on how beneficial snow tires were. Here was one of the articles I read:

Tire Test: All-Season vs. Snow vs. Summer

I wasn't aware of how much of a difference they made... obviously, I knew that snow tires would do a much better job, but I really thought that the poor snow handling was the MS3's fault, not the tires.

I purchased a set of Michelin's X-Ice Xi3 tires, installed them, and took a spin in the snow this morning. HOLLY F*&KING SH*T!!! I can't believe the difference these tires make in the snow. It makes my MS3 sooooooo much better in the snow. My wife was pissed that I dropped $1,162 on a new wheel set, but once she took a drive with me, remembering how bad it was with summer tires, she immediately forgave me for making the purchase/investment. I had gotten stuck every time I went out in the snow in my previous MazdaSpeed 3, and she had happened to be with me every time... she was blown away at how I could dead stop on a hill with 3 inches of snow and then proceed to climb the hill from a dead stop. I'm not going to lie, I was grinning ear to ear. :wiggle:

My advice for anyone out there complaining about snow in their MazdaSpeed 3: Get a set of snow wheels. I wish I would have looked into this in the past and saved myself some money from trading in my last MS3, but I guess we live and we learn.

Good luck! :09:

So you traded in the car because summer tires that came with it didn't perform well in snow? Holy shit.....

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Idk if I should groan for trading in or thank for coming back???

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Lol.

Blizzaks.

Enough said.

And don't get wide tires for snow tires.

Some things I thought were just common sense :S

What lol. No offensive but part of this has to be driver issue. Unless you where running summers on your other ms3 in the snow.

I run conti dws in the snow and have never ever gotten stuck. I did pull into a snowy driveway with my nt-05s on once and got stuck in like an inch of snow. But those are summers with hardly any tread.

If you have a decent set of all seasons you should be able to get around in the snow fine. Are winter tires better in the snow. Yes but you shouldn't be getting stuck with a decent set of all seasons unless where talking about 3+ feet of snow then nothings gonna help u lol

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I have Goodyear ultra grip wrt on order. Should be arriving tomorrow. In Philadelphia we get a lot of ice and they are supposed to do really well on ice.

205/60/16



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I've got some of these on the counter to go out to a customer. Those things come with literally 3/4" deep tread.

Sticky this shit, I had no idea winter tires were better in winter weather. this is good material here.

Similar story, I almost sold my speed last year when it rolled around to summer because the all seasons I had just weren't handling on the ragged edge like I expected. I mean, I got the car in december so it wasn't noticeable until about may. I put new tires on and grip got A LOT better. I think they were summer tires or something, i guess you're supposed to run them in the summer. Glad I stuck it out though.

This thread is stupid.

first, it does not really snow in Baltimore. today especially was not weather that warrants snow tires.

second your a pussy, i drove through snowpocalypse on the factory dunlops so you must be doing something wrong.

There is a certain trick to driving in the snow without having snow tires. It's called, "not flooring the throttle".
I was born and raised in Michigan and I've never once used snow tires. I once drove a 95 Eclipse GSX all winter long on street summers.
I think the point of this thread is "Don't get rid of an awesome car because it handles poorly in the snow."

Winter tires should be used during the winter? Weird...

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thanks captain obvious...

lol had to

Wow... this forum is really friendly... geez...

The point of this post was just to reassure anyone in doubt of the MS3 in the the snow and that is is perfectly capable with the correct tires. I had searched before about the car in the snow and read a number of threads about people who were frustrated with the car in the snow and thought by lending my experience that they'd be better prepared and/or likely to hold on to this great car. I was unaware of how much better the snow tires would be, plain and simple.

Second, I'd like to address the dip-shits that had some sort of smart-ass reply. :AR15firing: For the record, I had gotten rid of the first speed 3 when it sucked in the snow (with summer tires) because I was misinformed about how much of a difference summer and winter tires made... they really are night and day differences. I had always had all seasons on my other vehicles (Continental DWS), which, by the way were all AWD. So yea, maybe I wasn't used to the FWD and lost faith. I didn't think that the poor snow performance was due to the FWD, I thought that it was due to the FWD combined with the 280 lbs of torque. Bottom line, I needed a vehicle able to get around in the snow and couldn't sacrifice not being able to. I didn't think snow tires would help as much as they do.

Correction in original post for the Baltimore stickler: I went out Monday and today (Tuesday). Yes, today wasn't really that great of a challenge for the snow. However, Monday definitely was when it came to very slick conditions.

For the non-haters out there that found this helpful, I wish you luck and can say with certainty that winter tires aren't just a little better, they're A LOT better and worth the money. :biggrin2:

I find it funny (and somewhat sad :boggled:) how some feel the need to criticize and knock on others when they could have simply ignored the post. It's pathetic. :pat:

I hope you have a flame suit...

Sent from my moustache.

Lol why would you ever trade a car in based on snow performance on summer tires. Common sense evades you sir

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Had Bridgestones on my RX8 when I bought it back in 2006, and in the snow I might as well have been driving on skis. I actually couldn't get enough traction to get the car over a SPEED BUMP. OP ain't lying though. Bought some winter wheels with Blizzaks and the car was a completely different animal, rear wheel drive and all.

Haven't really had a chance to drive my new 2013 (on Dunlops) in inclement weather yet...probably not gonna be good.

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OMG you're serious. You're actually posting a thread on a car forum, that in fact winter tires are much better in the snow, like night and day, than not just all-seasons, but summer tires. WOW.

Ok here's a free tip. Everyone in the world (except you) knows that summer tires, or summer only as they're often referred to, are in fact for summer only as they freeze up hard as hockey pucks below 7c or about 44F. Throw in some snow and you have a car that handles so poorly you need to sell it.

You have embarrassed yourself and helped no one. It's a miracle you didn't crash your car running summers in near freezing temps. And its not a miracle that you can stop dead in snow on an incline and then resume forward motion..with proper of tires of course.

Thanks for the laughs, welcome to MSF and by all means keep posting. :)

Monday was only slick if you are a pussy. You are an idiot for getting rid of a car based on snow performance when you live in a town that gets snow twice a year.

And the ms3 only makes 280 lb ft of torque if you are stupid enough to floor it in the snow

I was about to purchase some summer tires to get me through this winter, but you've changed my mind! Now I'm going to buy a WRX.

LOL... I did worse I bought a beater forester

The first time I drove in the snow with stock dunflops a 5 mph turn ended with my car fucking a mailbox. The next day I got myself some steelies and the Michelin xice3's as well.... Every time it snows It amazes everyone how they just cut right through. I especially love when people with the "only SUVs or awd cars can drive in snow" attitude get proven dead wrong


Tap

I live in Vermont so I've always had good snow tires on my cars. The only other two cars I've owned have been Subarus and I was a little unsure how my new MS3 would handle in the snow. I bought an extra set of rims and General Arctimax Arctic snow tires and put them on just before we got any snow and I am quite impressed with how this little bugger handles the snow. I wasn't sure it was going to be as fun as my WRX in the snow but it almost is.

But yeah, I've heard people say that all season tires are just as good as winter tires and I just laugh at them. I had this girl I work with say she read an article stating that all season tires are just as good. LOL. It really pisses me off how people keep shitty tires on their cars in the winter months and drive like retards all winter.

Summer tires suck ass in the snow no matter what car you drive. Last year, I was a little late getting my winter rims and tires on the car and had to drive to work after we had gotten snow on my summer tires and it was fucking horrible, even with AWD. My winter tires were pretty worn to hell and they were still 10 times better than the summer tires. They are called summer tires for a reason.

Snow tires turn this car from a death trap into a snowmobile! The only all seasons that would even come close would be the Conti DWS - yes they are that good in the snow. My current 245 Bridgestone 970s A/S are barely passable on the snow. If it keeps snowing here I'll be getting some DWS (in a skinnier size).

Hands down, one of the funniest posts I've ever read on this forum.

Nokian makes some damn good all season tires. I don't have any experience with the DWS but the Nokia all season tires are the real deal.

*Nokian*

I know this thread is dumb.

But I don't see how you guys are making these statements of how well you drive in the snow with summer tires no matter what region you live in.

Anyways its a death trap. I remember last year I stopped to help push a MS3 that was stuck with dunflops on a perfectly flat road lol

I know it barely snowed on Monday and I was on my way home to throw my winterss on and almost got stuck and ran off the road a few times (turning the wheel any direction results in understeer).
I live in the boonies with lot sharp turns before steep hills and they don't salt or plow the roads untill all the main roads are done.

Why am I even typing this response :smashfreakB:

LOL, got me there. Freudian slip.

Ugh - threads like this always bring out some interesting folks.

I'm a true believer in snow tires. I live in a snowy climate and I like the ability to still go anywhere I would like regardless of the weather conditions.

This response is those who "I drive all winter on summer tires, you ain't shit if you buy winter tires"

Regardless of how good a driver you are, or think you are. Better tires enhance every performance category of your vehicle. This applies in racing, as well as to winter tires. You're on the mazdaspeed forum so I assume you like accelerating, braking, and handling. So, you paid extra for a car that is "better" at these things, and you're going to suffer through months where you have to pussy foot around like a prius because you don't want to get off your wallet and get snow tires?

"I don't need snow tires" - fact is snow tires are better in winter. They grip better. period. That means that accelerate better, stop better, and handle better. I guess I would retort to type of automotive performance is truly "needed".

I get it - it only snows twice a year in (where you live) than yea, save the money and just make sure the tires you have are in good condition and drive carefully - or stay the hell off the roads during that random snow storm that "never" happens.

I'm sure I could (meaning I have the ability) drive on bald summer tires though the winter - but why would I? because I'm too cheap to spend the money on new tires despite driving a performance car? Come on.

Driving on the wrong tires for the weather is the same as driving on bald-ass tires. It puts yourself and the people around you in an unnecessary risk: Both risk from you crashing, or risk from you driving well below the speed limit because you need to increase your following and stopping distances so much to compensate for your lack of grip because that is what good drivers do.

/rant

Well said. I'll add that while it costs more up front to buy a set of winter tires, the cost is offset quite a bit since you won't be wearing one set out as fast if you swap tires for the winter months. I go a step further and get extra rims so I can swap them myself and don't have to pay 80 bucks to have them switched over twice a year. After a few years, it pays for itself and then I have control over when I want to swap my shit rather than waiting until the last minute to try to get an appointment at a garage after the first snow storm or putting them on a month early to avoid it.

I'm hoping they are good. They are being installed as we speak.

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The Nokian all season's probably are great in the snow but I'm not sure how'd they work in the summer. They have a bunch of siping but a much lower speed rating than their summer tires.

practice what you preach:

My new snows are still banded ready to go on the cheap kazera winter wheels. The girlfriends new snows are mounted and ready to be balanced. (i can mount my own tires, but no static balancer can do as good of a job as a spin balancer.)

I put Conti DWS on mine for the winter mainly for the cold weather...When it snow's I drive the Denali Duramax and turn that knob on the dash to 4 wheel drive!!

sorry for the groan but winters are massively better than any all season. All seasons are okay at everything, great at nothing.


and soooo many people think the car handles poorly in the winter, morans.

If you read the whole post I stated winters are better than all season. I simply said that is you have a decent set of all seasons you should be able to get around in the snow fine. I did not say that all seasons are better than winters.



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FINE CRY BABY, groan removed

;)

Really? I've had static balanced wheels up to 140mph, no problems.

Dam, I have summer performance tires and have driven through 2 winters here in MD. I just thought I was stepping my driving skills up by not crashing or sliding into a ditch or other cars. It helps make the 25 mile hike to work fun. Lol