Im contemplating getting a set of REAL snow tires for my Mazda Protege..... instead of using all season tires al year long
I understand Blizzak is the snow tire of choice.
How many out there actually have a dedicated set of snow tires and has it been worth the hassle?
I prefer Arctic Alin or Nokian WR. The latter definitely perform better on dry pavement than Blizzaks or Alpins.
Most definitely. A set of "winter" steel wheels for snow tires is way more convenient than having tires remounted twice a year. It's also tons cheaper.
have four Blizzaks on steel wheels on the wife's Windstar, our son has the same for his Mazda MX-6. until you drive them, you won't believe the difference... you could almost forget that the roads are snowy...
(the Miata is garaged for the winter) Pete Breemhaar Georgetown, Ontario
Got an additional set of wheels with Blizzaks mounted on them. Takes about 15 minutes total (including washing up!) to swap wheels when the "snow season" starts. Major improvement in handling in snow with the snow tires - they're not that good on dry roads though. My Miata is a daily driver so it's important to me to have the snow tires on in the lovely winter weather.
And snow tires certainly do make you appreciate putting the good tires back on in the spring!
Iva & Belle.) '90B Classic Red.) #3 winkin' Miata
That's the main reason I switched from Blizzaks to Arctic Alpins and then to Nokian WRs. Much, much better dry road handling than Blizzaks and almost as good in the snow.
It's been 4-5 years since I've tried Blizzaks, so they may have improved dry-road handling in the meantime as well.
What's snow?
glen >
The white stuff on the ground when you drive up into the mountains from Flagstaff.
What's mountains?
Leon in Tallahassee
Those pointy bits that will be left sticking up out of the oceans after global warming has caused Atlanta and Montgomery to be come seaboard cities.
They are not a hassle at all. Just get a set of steel wheels and bolt them on yourself. Takes a 1/2 hour of your time and will be much cheaper and easier than having the tires mounted and unmounted every season. I would not drive in the winter in a Miata without them.
You disagree with Iva, who says it takes 15 minutes, including washing up. But even half an hour seems somewhat short to me if you do not have a car lift. It is finding and later storing the socket, wrench, torque wrench, jack. Jacking the car up twice or more, jacking it down twice or more. Unscrewing
16 nuts. Screwing in and torqueing 16 nuts. That is a lot of nuts. Getting a rubber hammer to try to get the wheels off. Getting one kind of wheels out of storage, storing the other kind. Maybe finding and applying band-aids, cleaning the wounds first. Searching for and applying a breaker bar to get the nuts off that some shop tightened. Maybe finding and applying touch-up paint where the wrench slipped.Gee, the more I think about it, the more it seems a full weekend job. And that is assuming nothing serious goes wrong like you discovering that you forgot to untighten the nuts with the wheels on the ground, and trying to apply the brute- force correction method with the car perched atop a jack.
As far as Iva is concerned, I strongly suspect her method must be: "Dear, can you please put the snow tires on my Miata." [Disappears to start washing up.]
Leon
:LOL: I really enjoy Leon's perfectly composed works of fiction :-)
Iva is right. It takes about 1/2 hour, even in a blinding snowstorm with ice under the car. If it's done March and December, the wheels don't have enough time become so attached to the hub as to need a mallet.
The car needs jacking only twice. Use a 2x4 with a longtitudinal groove, fit it over the side weld strip and jack in the middle with a hydraulic floor jack. You can do both wheels on one side, no problem.
Likewise with the nuts. They don't get a chance to need a breaker-bar unless you're doing it WAY wrong or using an air hammer. A slipping wrench requiring application of touch-up paint hasn't happened to me in 4 years and 8 wheel changes.
A Miata in winter needs 4 GOOD snow tires. And then the fun starts...
Nora (imagine a Canadian flag here) =======================and The Rollerskate (imagine a '99 silver Miata here, GONE)
I am glad to see that you can post again, I guess.
Unfortunately, Iva claimed it takes
(15 minutes) - (washing up) = (less than 15 minutes)
You do not mean "even", but "only" I assume. In a blinding snow storm, you might be crazy enough to actually lift up a corner of the car with your left hand, swapping the wheel with your right, out of sheer panic.
Something not right with your brute-force technique or with the shops you use.
Leon, I have only one thing to say ;-p~~~~~~~~~
Jack her up like Nora says, air gun those nuts off, slip off the summer shoes, slip on the winter shoes, air gun those nuts back on. Repeat for second side. Check with torque wrench. Adjust as necessary. Wash hands.
Husband walks in and says, as I'm drying my hands, "Do you want me to swap the tires for you?"
;-p~~~~~~
Iva & Belle.) '90B Classic Red.) #3 winkin' Miata
(snip)
Well actually, I never use an air gun cuz it's too rough and impersonal. But it's still a 15-20min job.
Yup Leo, I can post again. "Read it and weep" *SE-GRIN*
Nora (imagine a Canadian flag here) =======================and The Rollerskate (imagine a '99 silver Miata here, GONE)
Hubby bought new toys and I get to use them. ;) Besides it's easier to get the lugnuts off with the air gun than to try to manhandle (womanhandle?) them off.
Iva & Belle.) '90B Classic Red.) #3 winkin' Miata
Ya'know even being an inexperienced Miata guy, I'd still loosen the nuts before cheicking them. Otherwise I'd just check that they where on tight enough - not loose enough... Am I wrong? Someone experienced plece chip in...
You are absolutely right. Overtorqued nuts can be a nuisance on the side of the road. Who knows whether the air gun was set to the right torque and kept its setting?
Or whether it was torqued enough to cause plastic deformation? Potentially causing a *fatal* accident?
And the nuts should be loosened before the car is jacked up too. Anything else is unsafe.
Then it probably takes about 30 minutes to get out the air tools, and prepare them for use, and later store them again.
It is obvious that Iva, while watching hubby, must have counted time from the moment he took the first wheel off to when he put the last wheel on.
Just setting the record straight, Leon
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