Considering Putting Winter Tires On
 

I have a Blue 03 ES-GT with seasonal tires on (factory tires) and was thinking of putting on some Winter Tires. I live in Winnipeg so if you know our winters then they can get a little nasty. I was wondering if Winter Tires make a significant amount of a difference and which tires would be the best. Thanks.

yes, there is a difference than all season...but i cant reccomend which winter tires for you, we dont have very nasty winters here...

Blizzacks are good tyres for the winter. I don't have snow here, but my brother in law in Ohio does. We both own P5's and the OEM tyres suck in snow or mud. I have advised my nephew (04 Mazda 3) on his moving to Vermont not to rely on his OEM "Mud and Snow" tyres...

Right now I'm rollin' on my 16" stockies w/all seasons on them...

Bling Bling! ;)

the_jaf, head to Canadian tire, get 4 plain black rims, and good winter tires. It makes a huge difference in our winters, and you can change them whenever you want.

I have 15"x6" steel wheels with 195/55/15 Michelin Artic Alpins that will go on my P5 in about a month. It's the way to go for winters here in Ohio (better traction, protect the alloys from corrosion and potholes).

Rashley, where'd you get your steelies?
I think I'm going to do the same this winter. Last winter sucked with those Dunlops and there's a lot less tread this year!

I bought them as a set from Tire Rack. They even included the proper lug nuts for the steel wheels.

Nokian Hakkapeliita 1 ( now known as Nordman 1 ). Read the reviews. Ontario winter = snow tires from end of November to end of March at least.

The Nokians are great. I went with the Michelin Artic Alpin because they were cheap. They are far better than the stock all-season in the snow and ice. Buying a set of winter tires was probably the best automotive purchase I've ever made. You get to have superb traction in the winter. But even better, you can get high performance tires for the rest of the year.

Snow tires are wonderful. I got 15" steelies with Pirelli 210 Snowsports last year. What a phenomenal difference over stock tires! Not too expensive either and definitely last for many winters. Plus as someone said earlier, it helps to save your alloys from extra corrosion and wear, not to mention the safety aspect of snow tires over the crappy stockers.

What about Kumho
 

Has anyone had the Kumho KW-11 winter tires? How do the compair to Michelin Artic Alpin or the Pirelli 210 Snowsports. I know that they probably aren't as good, but want to make sure they aren't total crap either.

KW-11...great tires....I went with Walmart's Wintermark HT...they looked really good as well...I guess I will wait and see...they get installed tomorrow...

See my posting at:

http://www.protegeclub.com/showthread.php?t=35945

Update....

I had the Walmart Wintermark HT installed....we had a snow icey day on Monday....all I can say is WOW..what a difference from the stock tires. I did some accelation / hard breaking in a vacant parking lot and I am amazed at how well these tires perform....for such a great price I feel like I got my money's worth. I highly recomend these tires. I one happy customer.