It's time for that whole snow tire dilemma again, and I was hoping someone in Canada could tell me what is my option for snow tires this year? Should I go to 195/50/15 on steelies? I just don't know!!! All I know is that this is gonna cost me an arm and a leg

 

See your Mazada dealer. They usually have steelies with tires for around $460 (that's what it was last year).

 

I got 4 brand new 195-55-15 Nokian Hakka1 on steelies, the whole thing for 700CDN + tax about a month ago.

 

i wish.....$460... my dealsership wants $850 from me.... rip-off!

 

Don't go to dealerships. They don't have winter tires anyway, they buy from a neighboring specialty tire store, and then resell to you, taking their cut for the convenience.

If you want Nokians, go to nokiantires.com, and find local distributors where you live. These are always specialty non-chain tire shops. Comparison-shop several and you'l l get a deal.

You can use a similar method for other brands.

 

$460 for a set of rims and tires is a REALLY good price. $850 sounds like about typical retail - Mazda charges about $70-80 per steel rim (for the 'genuwine mazda' parts, complete with the guaranteed right wheel offset), and a good brand name snow tire in a 195-50-15 size will run anywhere from about $115-150 per tire. Plus tire tax, mounting, balancing, etc. etc. etc.

Shop around the tires that your Mazda dealer has as well as others.

 

the only true 'winter' tire i could find that fit the stock rims was at fountain tire - about $230/tire.

i didn't have too bad of a time last year though on the dunlops, except that they're completly bald at 40,000km.

i am replacing them today with a 195/50/16 Toyo (Kramer Mazda has them for $220) from OK Tire for $165

i'll just stay home on the really bad days

 

www.tirerack.com has a 15" package for the P5/ES with Michelin and steelies for around $450 plus shipping. other tire options are available for slightly more $.

i splurged and went for the Pirelli 210 Winter Snow Sport in 195/50R16 size on the stock 16" rim but these were a bit pricey, like $125/tire from 1010tire.com. i was hoping not to give up dry weather handling while still getting a decent snow tire. we'll see how it goes.

in the end, I don't think you could go wrong with any snow tire since it will be a huge improvement in the wet/snow over the stock summer rubber, but dry handling/braking will be reduced. good luck!

 

A good online source for tires for Canadians is http://www.tiretrends.ca. They are based in the Vancouver area, so if you live around here, you can also save yourself the shipping charges and get your tires faster by going down to their warehouse in Port Moody.