If you live in most of the US or Canada, then if you haven't started to think about your RX8 and snow, you will have to do so soon! Not trying to wreck what is left of the snowless days, however, I have done some research to find (what I think, so far) is the best snow tire deal out there.

It is also important to note that most of our vehicles have the Pressure Sensors built into the wheel stems so <I>be careful</I> not to lose or break these when putting your snows on!

The Mazda User Manual says you MUST replace all 4 original tires with the same snow tires. This is GOOD advice! Two snow tires will create a lack of stability, you <I>need</I> four snow tires. Make sure you store your original tires in a safe and non-extreme temperature location for use again next year. In fact, you will want to put the original tires back on as soon as you feel comfortable that there will be no more snow. On regular road surfaces your snow tires will wear very quickly.

My local Mazda dealership has quoted me $248.00 each for the Mazda recommended Blizzack snow tires PLUS excise tax, sales tax (here in Massachusetts), mounting and balancing. We're taliking about $1150.00 when all done.

After a little bit of research online I find that Dunlop SP Winter M3 tires (225/45VR18) with high ratings are only $154.00 each from http://www.tirerack.com. Shipping to MA with 2nd Day Fed-X Saver is 47.00. No taxes. The total deal for me is $647.00. My local tire shop has no problem having me bring these tires in for mounting and balancing at $20.00 per wheel.

Just thinking out-loud about the coming Winter and the tires that I will surely need to buy. If somebody has other information to share I would certainly like to hear it. Thanks all. Great Forum.

 

Do they use salt on the roads in your area?

You might want to consider 17" tires and rims or even 16" tires and rims.

$20 a wheel to balance and mount? YIKES!

I know here it's $10 a wheel cdn, so like $7 USD!

At $20USD a wheel to balance and mount you would be MUCH better off getting another set of wheels as well, they will pay for themselves over the life of the car.

Also 17" tire would be cheaper than 18", and it's better to have a thinner (less wide) tire in the winter.

 

Interesting points made.

So you would suggest actually removing the existing 18" wheels and replacing with 17" wheels and tires... Any suggestions where to buy? Have you checked this possibility out? Certainly you are going to need snow tires in your neck of the woods!

 

Wasy, I am organizing a group buy in the Canada forum, it's sticky on top, feel free to take a gander, there is a lot of usefull information on both tires and rims.

Last or second last page is a post from "Talon Tire" this is the tire shop that I have been dealing with and he has provided some technical details on the matter.

You would be better off going with 17's for sure. You may be able to go with 16's, Mazda claims the original 16" alloys on the base model WILL fit over the larger brakes on the other models, but nobody has actually tried it.

Maybe you can get your dealer to attempt this? In Canada the 16" is not provided by Mazda, so we are trying to source a good fit.

With a "thinner" tire you get better bite into the snow, the wider the tire the more you will float on it. I asked if they use salt in your area because here they do and it ruins your rims, it causes pitting over time

This is why we are looking for steel rims or some inexpensive alloys to keep the car looking hot all winter

I'm not sure how it is in your state, but RARELY will I be driving on snow. As soon as the snow starts to fall the plows are out. It seems as though things are a little different in the US and you drive on snow more often?

 

Just to help your understanding, this area of Central Massachusetts gets about 150" of snow every year and we had record snow fall last season. Not to mention ice and extremely cold weather from time to time. I have always put 4 snows on my earlier RX7's and Miatas. These were stable snow gobblers when they had to be. You can also be sure that we have lots of salt and sand on our roadways during storms.

I will check around for 16" wheels and snow tires. Seems also like a great way to avoid running interference with the pressure sensors and will extend the life of the original tires.

Thanks for taking the time! I will look for your other posts and info about your idea to replace the wheels.

 

You guys might want to think about moving somewhere with a nicer Climate.... No salt, no snow, no problem.

 

I followed the group buy thread for awhile, but it got very long. I hope we can get the summary, once someone tries the 16s. I know it starts earlier for you. Based on what I read, I looked on tirerack and found:

Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 $202
Pirelli Winter 240 SnowSport? $190
Michelin Pilot Alpin $170

Now you mention Dunlop too. Any difference in how they drive? (oh, now I'm gonna start a flame-fest - everyone has their opinions ;-) Maybe a poll would be good. It cost me $20 a wheel to install too, but if wheels cost $400 that's a long ROI. Are (steel) wheels cheaper that $400?

Wasy, I hear you, I saw the Pats/Raiders playoff game last year, and you guys got nearly twice as much as us, but when you say "extremely cold" and 150", I know those guys up north are shaking their head and looking at their Hawaiian shirts. I went to college in Iowa, and last winter here, was normal for Iowa. I think the more snow, the better they are at removing it. Remember when it snowed in VA/DC last year? Hopeless.

English, it was either the summer home or the RX8. You know which won.

 

Steelies would be like $40 each, you have to also think about wear and tear on the tire bead being stretched over the rim on each install and dismount as well as the wear and tear on your nice rims in the winter.

 

Whoa! only $40? US? That's only 2 years before they're paid off. I'm reading the other thread in another tab (I love mozilla), and I'm looking on tirerack, and I see no steelies. only alloys. Should I buy Canadian at Tiretrends? :-)

 

Is there any problem with Mazda and changing the rims? What about issues with the pressure sensor? Can you change the rims and tires without having a spare tire? Does anyone know Mazda's position on this? I am hearing from a mechanic source at Mazda that there may actually be a fine if you replace the sensors without having a spare? Is this all BS or what?!?

 

For what it's worth, I purchased a 2nd set of wheels for my M3 (actually bought nicer M3 wheels and used my old ones for the winter) and went with Blizzaks. They were awesome last winter.

My M3 was HORRIBLE at the first sign of snow with the performance tires (as expected). Went to tirerack.com and ordered the Blizzaks immediately. I was previously driving an Eclipse GSX all-wheel drive so was spoiled.

While the M3 + Blizzaks don't compare to my old GSX, the car was very drivable.

Can't recommend the Blizzaks enough.

 

A fine? Hmmm maybe there is something about US law that states you need a spare or sensors? Is that possibly the reason you have this feature?

We don't have the feature in Canada.

Steelies are usually around $70Cdn so about $40usd.

Alloys will be more of course. I'll keep you posted, we are currently still specing out more options!

 

Check this engineer's synopsis of the NHTSA's ruling on tire sensors: http://www.sensorsmag.com/articles/0703/29/main.shtml I read it and the federal rule, and it looks AT LEAST until like UNTIL NOV 1, 2003, we CAN use just plain old replacement wheels without buying 4 more sensors. After that there is a phase in so I'm not sure.

The link to the actual rule is here: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...nal/Index.html

I guess they are trying to save the lives of Ford SUV owners from the lousy tires Ford put on them, plus those that think tires are inflated for life (whos life I'm not clear on).

 

If we get plain old replacement wheels aren't we going to have to put up with the pressure idiot light being permanently on???


Is there any place to actually buy these damn sensors????

 

Mazda sells the sensors for about $100 each, I believe. I haven't checked Trussville's price yet.

 

I finally read the Group Buy thread https://www.rx8club.com/canada-forum-35/winter-tire-group-buy-8888/
So, let me summarize. 16" are a pretty close fit (to the brakes) but some may work, and it's easier to get steel. 17" fit better, but they only have alloys, so they are more expensive and we (who live where there's salt) need to hose them down often. Alloys/17" are also more expensive, like $120 compared to $40 for steel (I'm using all USD here). Then there's the pressure sensor. We'd have to buy that from Mazda/Trussville at $100 x 4. Can we install that, or do we need to take it to the shop? I was looking at tirerack, and if they put the tires on, we'll still need to deal with the sensor. We're up to like $1600 now. One last newbie question, what about the torque on the lug nuts? Do I need a torque wrench? Can I just use the tire wrench that came with the car?

Edit: I did not see the pressure sensors on Trussville's site.

 

Wasn't there also a lug nut pattern issue? Will any standard wheels fit the lug pattern?

 

The pattern is fine, the specs are 5x114.3 with a 50mm offset (so 48-55 would be ok). The centre bore is 67.1

Alloys are a problem, nobody makes a 17" steel that is hubcentric (all vehicles come with hubcentric wheels). This is the issue!

So there is a 17" steel that will fit, but it may cause vibration and wear on your bearings.

The 16" steel that was tested had an offset of 48 and just BARELY didn't fit. The shop is trying to locate a 16" steel that has a 55 offset, he knows that it is made, he is just trying to find a sample to test before ordering them for sale.