Usually we get less snow. Temps may be colder on the thermometer, but damn, that humidity you guys have!! I freeze may a$$ off when I'm out east.

The WR is ideal in Calgary with snow in every month and warm temps and dry roads in the middle of winter too. I have no regrets

Good to hear from you Alex.

 

I chose the Kuhmo Ecsta 711's in 205/50/16. I love them in the dry, decent in the wet, not very good in the snow. I'm in northern virginia and I figured I just wouldn't drive in the snow. Besides, when it snows here, the main roads are usually cleared very quickly. If not, i'll just stay home from work. They were about $40 each...which was a major selling point. I can run them hard in the dry and if I have to replace them, it won't break the bank. I'd recommend them to anyone who isn't looking to drive in the snow.

 

Well, I just replaced my Dunny's today, they lasted 40K, and I was glad to see them go.

I ordered four Kumho Ecsta ASX's and I love them to death. Aggressive tread, 420 tread-wear rating, higher speed and temp ratings than the Dunlops and got 'em from tiretrends.com for $112 each. Was able to find them in P195/50R16's, so the fit was a non-issue.

The biggest thing I noticed right off the bat is the ride comfort. Excellent is all I can say.

 

i second the Kumho's i have a buddy with a 01' Jetta VR6 and he said they are by far the best tire he has ever purchased. They are good performers and they have the rolled edge look versus the more rectangular looking ones, like that of the Yoko Paradas or tires of this shape.

 

Has anyone ever used Cooper tires by any chance? My friend has a set he's willing to sell me for $200 and I wasn't sure how good of a tire Cooper makes. They're 195/45/17 Cooper Zeon ZXS ... however I'm not sure on the 195 part ...

Oh and before anyone tells me they won't fit, I have 17" rims to put them on ...

 

I replaced my "Dun-slops" last year (absolute junk). Since I run a separate winter tire and rim for the snow and wanted a better warm weather/rain tire, I went with Pirelli P-Zero Neros, P205/45-16. They are fantastic and reasonably priced. Overall diameter difference is negligable and there is no problems whatsover with wheel well clearance. I had the tire dealership make sure of that by fitting the tire before I committed to buying them to be sure.

 

isnt it bad to run 205s on a 195 rim, the tire wear is going to be really messed up.

 

Not at all. If you go to a tire manufacturer's website, they will show as part of each tire size specification an 'optimum' rim width, and a 'safe range' of rim widths. The 195/50/16 on a 6.5" rim, as our cars come equipped, is the optimum width for most tires in that size. A 205/50/16 typically recommends a 7" rim width as 'optimum', but will be safe on a range of widths as specified by the manufacturer. Generally, a wider rim will offer more support to the sidewall, hence crisper handling, and obviously, the wider the tire, the more traction (compared to a narrower version of the same tire) on dry pavement.

Maybe some of the autocrossers will offer some better wisdom on tire and rim characteristics.

Dale.

 

My P5 came with Hankooks and I'm not impressed. The ride is rough, they're bad in the rain and they SUCK in the snow! I had to buy snows for the winter.

However, since I'm a cheap SOB, I'll ride them out, but I certainly wouldn't recommend them to anyone, regardless of the bargin.

I have had good experiences with BFG and Pirelli tires in the past.

Good luck

 

Just repleced my original Dunlops two days ago.

At first I wanted to get Khumo Ecsta ASX, but everywhere I checked they were sold out. So it was down to a choice between two Toyo tires, the Proxes TPT or the Proxes 4. Both are the same price but the TPT has an 80,000 km tread-life warranty, the 4 is more of a performance tire but with no tread-life warranty.

In the end I decided on the Proxes 4. So far they are great in dry conditions. I'll let you know how they perform in the wet when it rains here.

 

to minimize wear , I always inflate to the recommended Max, esspecially on the front, i also have my car lowered a touch. so in the end it works out great for handling and braking... tires lasted for ever

 

I know this is an old thread, but for the Toyo Proxie 4 owners, please checkout my question here.

THanks.

https://www.mazda3club.com/showthrea...ht=toyo+proxes

 

If you only rotated the tires once in 30000 miles, I would expect the fronts to be totally worn out. Front drive cars need their tires rortated about every 5000 miles if you want the wear to be the same on the fronts and the back, even rotating at every 10k will result in the fronts being more worn than the back (noticeably so) when you rotate.

If you are getting 30k on these tires having been on the front the whole time, I'd say you're doing OK

 

This is the third time I rotated the tires since I purchased the tires.

Do you recommend any other tires, or should I get these again? Im hoping to find some that handle like the Toyos (they are 5x better than the stock Dunlops), but I would like something that would last at least 3 yrs.

 

Gotcha. I couldn't tell from your last post whether you were rotating regularly. Is your wear even on the Toyos? I would say if you are rotating on a regular basis, 30k seems low (but not ridiculously so), but then again, they are classified as performance tires. What is the wear rating on them? 300? 400?

Dale.