I plan to drive my RX8 through winter but I want winter tires. What would be the best tire/wheel size for optimum traction? Ottawa winters are mostly moderate snow falls with average of 4 heavy snow falls (more then 6 in.) There is more slush and ice then snow.

 

They better be larger than 16's... I saw a car yesterday and 16" wheels will not fit on it with the larger brakes. I'm not sure on the regular brakes though...

-JiM

 

I'm planning on buying 17x7 wheels and mounting Blizzak WS-50 P225/50R17 to get me through the winters here in New Hampshire. At this point I'm curious to know if we will be able to buy tire pressure sensors from Mazda? If not I hope there is be an easy way to disable the low pressure warning light.

 

I was assured by a contact at Mazda North American Operations that the 16" wheels will fit over the larger brakes in the Sport package (any factory 18" wheel car). I'm still sceptical, though, so for now I'm still anticipating having to get 17" wheels. It would be great if someone in the US could actually try a 16" wheel over the larger brakes to confirm!!!

For size - it really is beneficial to go slightly narrower for snow tires. In 17s, a 215/55-17 is very close to the OEM diameter, and there are two or three tires available - the Blizzak WS-50 and MZ-03, and the Pirelli Winter 210. I'm not a fan of Blizzaks at all, as I believe (supported by tests such as conducted by Consumer Reports Nov 2002 issue) that there are other tires out there that offer equivalent ice traction along with better snow traction and much better dry road characteristics. I would far sooner run the Pirelli W210 in the 215/55-17 size than a Blizzak WS-50 in the 215/55 or 225/50 size.

Check www.tiretrends.com or www.talontire.com for great online prices on tires and wheels in Canada. I've used Tire Trends in the past and have been very happy with their service and prices.

Regards,
Gordon

 

I'm thinking of getting the Khumo's KW15 205/50/17, they are v rated ($166 CDN Tiretrends.com btw they are CDN ). I still have to source some steel wheels to go with those.

When the RE40 will need replacements, I'm thinking about Khumo 712 Ecsta Supra (225/45/18 w) are very well rated by users specially for the price ($188 CDN).

 

The width is good for winter, but the 50 profile means that the overall diameter is 1" shorter than OEM - you'll be reducing the ground clearance by 1/2 inch, something I'd try to avoid in winter!

If you haven't seen it, check out Miata.net's Tire Size Calculator , it's a great tool for calculating diameter differences etc. It shows that the 205/50 will be rotating 3.5% faster than the OEM 225/45-18. It's actually a really strange size to be matching for winter tires - there are not a lot of 17" options.

For summer tires, the Ecsta 712 is getting a bit of a poor rep over on the Miata forums - it seems that the Kumho street tire to get is going to be the new Ecsta MX - it's available in 235/40-18, which would be very close to oem diameter.

Regards,
Gordon

 

So any recommendations for winter tires (other then Blizzak)? As you said there are not a lot of choices unless we could go down to 16's.

As for the MX, my concern is the 40 aspect. According to those who had the priviledge of driving one, say that the ride with 45's is already very firm, wouldn't a 40 make the ride worse over bumpy roads? If you ever had the pleasure of driving up the 417 to Montreal, you would understand why I'm thinking twice about 40's

Thanks for the link btw.

 

I'm very curious about this too. I mean for sure I would want to put Winter tires on some steel rims for the winter. There's got to be a way to disable the sensors so the light is not gona be on all Winter long.

Anyone got a clue ?

 

I just looked this up in the owners manual - there is no way described to turn off the TPMS. This is disappointing, since I also own an Audi allroad with a TPMS, and that does have a function to turn it off. My winter wheels for that car don't have sensors, since when I bought the car Audi wanted about $250 per sensor!!! , which is as much as the winter wheels themselves!

The manual does specify, though, that you can buy additional sensors from Mazda - we need to find out how much they cost. I haven't looked into the Audi sensors lately, but I'd guess that a realistic price should be under $50 per sensor...

Regards,
Gordon

 

I've got in mind the Pirelli Winter210 in 215/55-17 (gives a diameter just fractionally larger than OEM), and yesterday found a listing for the Toyo Garit HT in the same 215/55-17. I ran those for 3 months on an Audi A4, and was very impressed with them, so those are my current leading candidates in 17" winter tires.

For 16", there's a few more choices, but one that has received rave reviews is the Goodyear Ultra Grip GW3 (NOT the plain Ultra Grip or GW2, it's the GW3 that did really well in Euro winter tire tests last year).

Regards,
Gordon

 

Thanks Gordon,

BTW which would be best for slush and ice? We don't get as much snow lately (compared to the 70's :D Which is a good thing since it looks like the 8 has very low clearance. However snow may be the least of my clearance worries, I'm moving in October and as I pulled into the new place parking garage, my Teg hit bottom I may have to park outside

 

I have aftermarket wheels on my eclipse gt that i plan on putting on the RX in the winter..The bolt pattern should fit. I have voxx fa wheels 17x8 w/245-45-17 bfgoodrich g-force kdws. They handle great and they are good in the snow. Good tire for all year performance. Unfortunatly, they do not make them in 18'' size yet so you would have to buy 17'' wheels.

 

But those are 2 sizes wider than the stock size! Think of the difference between a snowshow and a skate - the snowshoe floats on top of the surface of the snow, a skate cuts through the snow to get to the surface below. Snow tires work the same way - you ideally want to go narrower than the summer tires, not wider, to be able to better cut through the loose snow and slush surfaces which will provide no grip.

Have you ever watched any of the World Rally Championship races where they run on snow? The AWD rally cars run on about 165 width tires - they look ridiculously skinny - but you can be certain that they wouldn't use them if they didn't provide better grip than wider tires. That's why I'm looking for 215 width winter tires - 205 would be even better.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Ive driven on snow with these tires already and they work great. gforce kdws D-dry W-wet S-snow. Also if you look up blizzak snow tires you'll see the same size in the ws-50. And they have alot wider than that, and a thinner tire isnt going to look so good on the 8. BLIZZAK will give you traction and the aggressive look..research before you buy too small..good luck..

 

I have to agree with Gord96BRG in that you will see more traction in snowy conditions if you are using a narrower tire. Think of it this way, the narrow tire has a smaller contact patch but it is still supporting the same amount of weight as your summer tires. This increases the amount of pressure on the contact patch and helps the tire to dig into the snow versus floating on top of it (i.e. wider tire).

 

this is exactly it.

 

Hi, I'm not familar with Tire selections, can someone tells why we shouldn't get tires in 185, 195 area ? From what some of you are saying seems to me that with this narrow tire, we are going to get much better traction.

Is it because we would lose too much in handling and performance ability with these slim tires ? Please verify.

 

The problem is simply that no tire manufacturer makes 16" or 17" winter tires (RX-8 requires at least a 16" wheel to clear the brake calipers, brobably needs 17") with a 195 width with a sidewall tall enough to give the same overall diameter as the OEM 18" tires.

Regards,
Gordon

 

It's a good thing the rally drivers aren't so concerned about "the aggressive look", and just care about aggressive winter performance! :P

For me - winter tires are about keeping my car out of the ditches and to avoid sliding into cars and other foreign objects when conditions get truly crappy. I'm not at all concerned about them looking too skinny - they only would look too skinny to people who don't know what matters in winter tires, so I don't care whether I impress those people or not.

You hear many, many horror stories of people who won't drive a Mustang, Camaro, RX-7, etc (powerful, relatively light, RWD car) in winter because it won't stay on the road. It's usually because they don't have proper tires on it. A 245 width tire is not going to give nearly as good traction on snow or ice as a 205 width tire of the same brand on the same car. That's a fact of winter driving (again, look to what the rally cars use to see the ultimate winter setups).

Regards,
Gordon

 

...tungsten tread studs also help, especially when there's an inch of ice on the road to dig into

 

Hi. This is my first post here - thanks to all for the great info and everything I'm learning! I am thinking about getting an RX-8, but I would have to drive it in winter so I'm trying to figure out what I'll do to make it get around in the snow/ice.

I'm not real familiar with tire sizes either. I've seen the 215/55-17 size recommended for a winter tire for the RX-8. I'm wondering if the 205/55-17 would be a possibility on this car.

The reason I ask is I was considering getting some of those emergency tire chains to go on the tires for the really bad situations. One size goes up to 205 and the larger size is for 215 and above.... Also, has anyone had any experience with these "emergency chains"?

Thanks very much!

 

I have to chime in here,

For me, in Long Island, NY where it snows from time to time. To be ready for this I need to find a solution that will also perform well on dry pavement and not wear out too quickly either. What kind of rims to get, (Good looking but not too expensive either). Seems to me that the winetr set might be on my car (RX8 6MT GT) for about 4 months/Year.


I want traction but do not want to spend ridiculous money either.

All these specs, sizes, options, rim choices. I am confused!!!!

I am getting an education here, thank you very much but at the end of the day< I would want to go to a tire dealer who knows what is the right combination to get for my RX8 for the driving conditions here in L.I.

Help!!!!!


Claude H.

 

Blizzaks would not be a good choice for you - they won't meet either of those criteria! I'm very happy with Michelin Pilot Alpin on our Audi, for both those reasons. I'm not sure there's a Pilot Alpin size to fit, though. Right now my leading candidates are the Toyo Garit HT or Pirelli W210 Snowsport - they both are performance winter tires. I had a set of Garit HT for 3 months of winter 2 years ago, and was very impressed with them.

For rims - right now, I'm leaning towards the Konig Holes wheel in 16 or 17. Not expensive, but Konig has shown that they build tough wheels that are reasonably light (I run a set of 15" Konig Heliums on my Miata right now).

loco4rx8 - the 205/55-17 size gives an overall diameter that is slightly shorter than the OEM tires (which thus gives a very minor reduction in ground clearance). Otherwise, if that size is available then it's a good candidate as well.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Thanks much for the info,

That helps greatly.

Now all's I need is delivery of a car in time to put winter wheels on it.

Claude H.

 

Did you buy the rims mail order or locally? If mail order, then I would be interested in where.