This 2007 Mazda 3 with low profile tires is no good in snow/ice.
Any fixes?
All you can do is locate a cheap set of wheels that fits your car with winter tires mounted to them.
Tester
I agree. Your vehicle most likely has either horrible all seasons, or summer tires on it right now.
If you go to http://www.tirerack.com you’ll be able to find some new rims and tires for your vehicle, they even mount and balance them for you before they ship them out, if you’d like.
I fully agree with Tester and bscar. If you have a choice of tire sizes, narrower is better when it comes to snow. Your Mazda literature may tell tell you what sizes of wheels/tires were options fo your model and year.
I bought winter tires on steel rims from tirerack.com when I realized how poorly my new 99 Honda did on snow with its OEM all-season tires. If you like the car enough to keep it, this is one of the very best investments you can make.
Easiest is getting four winter tires on steel rims. Another choice that work decently on ice/snow and it your car are Continental Extreme Contact tires and priced well. They work okay on dry, beyond well in the wet. I have low profile tires and use Nokian WR G2’s (winter ice/snow rated all-seasons) but they are pricey.
In addition, as tires wear they will gradually lose their ability to make traction in snow. This is true for winter tires, all terrain tires, and all season tires. The only difference would be the starting point.
So this might simply be that your tires are getting worn out and replacing them may get you enough traction for your driving conditions. However, winter tires are much better in snow than all season tires and depending on your driving conditions, it might be better to have winter tires - all 4, please.
If you live in pothole land, those low profile tyres/rims are subject to damage due to the low profile. The new, non-low profile tyres and wheels will be less likely to be damaged. Modern WINTER tyres are really very good.
I concur. I have ultra high performance all-seasons(Bridgestone RE960’s) on my Subaru WRX. They now are at around 5/32" in tread depth. The winter capability although never really great but adequate is seriously down with them. I slide around quite a bit but at least very predictable :). I plan on replacing next winter since I only used 30k of the 40k(warranty life and likely tire life) of the tire.
Yup! You need winter tires.
The low-profile construction of your present tires is not the problem. The problem is that the tread of the tires (either so-called “all-season” or high performance tires) is unsuited to winter roads.
If you buy a set of 4 winter tires, you will be AMAZED at the difference.
I do have a question about the winter tires myself. looking at TR, the only tire available in 14" for my civic is a “studdable snow” tire. What good are the studs, and do they really do anything for the tire?
Pinned to accept optional TSMI #12 silver-colored metallic winter studs.
is what it says in the description
Having 215x45x17 tires myself, I can testify to the difficulty finding winter tires in low profile sizes.
However, I tried some Cooper all season tires last year that had excellent winter traction. Terrible wear, but excellent traction.
This year I have on some Hancook all season tires that are very good in poor winter conditions. I’m in NH, which as you may know has been hammered with bad weather already. And they seem to be wearing much better and they ride much better. Much quieter and extremely smooth on the highway, even at high speeds.
One added point. If you do decide to go to smaller rims with higher aspect ratio tires, be sure the new rim will clear the brake calipers.
Which Hancook all-season model do you own? I have the same exact size on both my Subaru’s.
I know this is Eastern US. Anyone have ideas for Snowbird, Salt Lake City, UT.
Recently switched from Honda based cars, which I must say with 4 studded snows my 1982 Honda Accord could rival my brother’s 1989 Toyota 4-Runner on our local public streets. I since drove an 1986 Acura Integra w/just 2 front snows. After 20+ yrs w/my beloved Integra I decided to try the Mazda 3. Worst flat snow driving ever never mind the hills. Any true blue Mazda fans? I have the basic 4 door hatchback, sufficiently fast during and easy to drive in the “best weather”, but this winter sucks. My early college neighbor bought my Integra, I have considered renting her for winter.
Do you have four winter tires. You know they transformed your old car, why not use them on the new? Michelin X-Ice2 is my recommendation.