Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
Also, getting a GT and nearly all review sites seem to mention they are rougher and nosier tires than the 18s, so thus my interest in what Ceric said. Some sort of advantage of having 20s over 18s?
So, there you have it. The only upsides for the 20" wheels are
- better cornering (shorter side-wall)
- look
Other than those, 20" wheels are heavier (even combining with tires), which is bad for a lot of criteria (stopping distance, acceleration, MPG, etc.) Add the difficulty to obtain tire chains (actually you could, but they are usually more expensive than the 18" one). Besides, the seller does not guarante that there will be no rubbing between chains and wheels (due to short side walls).
Just my two cents.
If we bought the same Blizzaks for the 20" rims, the package would have cost the same and we would not have the benefit of an extra set of rims. The tire companies make a substantially higher margin off tires for larger rim sizes. Now the 20" wheels are in the basement until summer and the winters will get only half the use (they are sharp looking too).
Alloy wheels can differ greatly in prices. If you want the OE 18", the best prices would probably be from your local craigslist due to shipping cost.
I purchased 4 new 18" rims, plus TPMS, plus 18" DMZ-3 Blizzaks shipped to my house for $1400 from TireRack.
The Sport Edition Rims on TireRack are shiny and good enough for winter.
We don't rely on TPMS up here. Yesterday when I walked to work, it was negative 6 degrees f. Today it warmed up to 40. The very first week we bought the Mazda, when we still had the 20" rims and summer tires on, the TPMS light came on and turned off about 4 times due to the fluctuation in the temps. A below zero night and sunny 20 degree day will do it most times.
I did an experiment with my daughter on tire pressure vs MPG.
At 60f when we tested it, the TPMS does not light up until somewhere between 20 to 25psi (i.e. OK at 25psi, light up at 20psi). Tires are warm up after low-speed driving.
Basically, you were saying that -6f caused one of the tire to go below 25psi. The absolute zero is -273f. Temp fluctuation from -6 to 40f is less than 20% compared to 273f. The PSI change should be less than 6psi is it was 30psi.
In short, I suspect one of your tires has low pressure (i.e. < 30psi).
You might want to check for it.
Actually, absolute zero is about -459.7° Fahrenheit which is about -273° Celsius.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Anyway, in that case, the % is more like 10% instead of 20%. That means a drop from 40f down to -6f will only cause 3psi difference.... If I am correct this time.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
I'll reiterate that this only seems to happen when we have extreme temp fluctuations and is not an every day occurence. The dealer as well as a local garage said that TPMS often give false alarms in the colder winter climates.
I can't say whether that is sufficient to trip the TPMS but those systems are supposed to be designed to deal properly with changes in ambient temperature. It could be that the threshold for triggering the lights is overly sensitive or the TPMS itself is defective. It would be interesting to know whether others have experienced this problem in other geographic locations.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
The first back in February, I was pulling from a stop sign turning right onto a icey road, the backend swung all the way to the left and the wheels locked, I slid 30ft into a parked car. No, I wasn't going too fast but at the time I thought that I musta messed up some how and the feelings of danger I feel when driving the car,is the result of going from a Chrysler 300 to a crossover.
This winter, I have always felt that the car slips and slides a lot. Its random based on uncleared snow on the roads, icey conditions etc.
This morning I was driving over a bridge going 80km per hour, roads had a little snow on them but nothing in the wheel tracks, all of the sudden out of the blue it felt like I had no traction, there wasn't major slippage but the car felt very unstable. Luckily I kept the steering wheel perfectly straight and the road was smooth so I slowed down, pulled into the inside lane to feel more stable. Every other car around was driving the same speed, it was only me having problems.
So tonight, I was leaving the office traveling at about 30km, on a road that was packed uncleared snow/ice and bumpy with a slight decline, first the back end swung slightly to the left (20 degree) and after about 20ft I corrected it by not panicking and not hitting the brake, then, the car hit another bump and swung violently to the right (90 degrees), i was sliding down the street praying not to hit parked trucks, after about 40ft I was able to correct the 9 and get it straight only to run head on into a cement marker pylon. there was nothing I could do.
I truly believe that the stock 20in tires with the shape, weight and center of gravity of this truck is a problem on icey roads. I wish i could return the car but that is unreasonable. I am 48 years old and have driven from 30years with no accidents but after driving this car in the snow and ice I have had 2 in less than a year.
I guess i will have to get it fixed, as I am in Canada I am unsure of "The Tire Rack" in this subject. Does anyone have any idea of what or where to buy 18in tires etc in Calgary or somewhere cloe at least?
thanks for listening, lucky to be alive but totally unhappy with the winter performance of the vehicle.
Paul
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Last snow storm I couldn't even go up the hill to park my car in my garage. The worst was that I had to go all the way down and when I reached the street (flat) I got stuck in the snow. It wasn't a big pile, just crappy tires. Also I don't know if the AWD is working properly, because I can see that snow was only accumulated in the front driver tire and not the others. Anybody knows if this is normal? The transfer case was replaced a month ago and I don't know if I should take it back to the dealearship
.
Going back to the tires, I just got bought mine 20inch from Integra Tires and they have to ship them from Ontario. I called several places last weekend and they were the only ones that have them. All the others were sold out, without any shipment coming anytime soon. I think that you have to use Tirerack.com, anyways seems to be the best deal around (less than $1000 for hte Blizzak DM shipped to Calgary)
Good luck!
The OE Bridgestone is one of the worst all-season tires.
The same one can be found on Highlander.
Get Yokohama Parada Spec-X.
You will love it.
So not wanting to wait until that happens, I already purchased a set of 18" wheels and winter tires to use for the winter months.
Other SUVs may come stock with tires more effective in snow, but any vehicle will benefit from snow tires in winter conditions.
2024 Audi Q8 e-tron - 2024 Corvette - 2024 BMW X5 - 2023 Tesla Model Y
Just get alternate tires that have equivalent diameter so the odometer is accurate. For my 20" tires, the equivalent in 18" tires that I got for Blizzaks was 235/65 R18.
Lots of websites online that will show you alternate sizes that keep the same diameter to assure the odometer and speedomerters are correct.
And if you have the NAV, there is a Tire change calibration that will automatically adjust the slight difference in tire diameter.
I have a 2007 CX9 Grand Tour
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?skipOver=true&width=245%2F&r- - - - atio=50&diameter=20&x=11&y=9
Pay attention to prices vs scores (red numbers).
You will see why many are recommending Yoko Parada Spec-X (score=8.4)
I just had it installed a few days ago. Much better tires than OE lousy tires (and for $200?! Bridgestone must be smoking something funny... score is 4.8!!!)
RS-A (H-rated) is at least cheaper with score of 5.5. That is at least a good trade-off from Yoko Spec-X. If you take your CX9 to snowy areas, I would highly recommend the Yoko Spec-X (see reviews from users with millions of miles on them). If you only drive it on dry and wet, RS-A may be good enough for you. Again, it depends on where you drive it.
I read on another forum that the 255/50-20 size would be an acceptable alternative.
They are 1.3 % larger (?) in diameter, according to an online tire calculator.
Does this all sound right, before I have them ordered?
Thanks!
Hope this helps!
However, some tire places will refuse to install non-factory size of tires for you.
I bought from tirerack.com and have them ship to a local "authorized installer" (listed on tirerack.com). The local shop usually does not care.
Do yourself a big favor. Get rid of that lousy tires ASAP and send Mazda a complaint email about it. I did.
The OE tires do suck, wore out rather quickly, and they got loud quickly. In fact, I'm beginning to believe that most performance all-seasons just suck. I have a Mazdaspeed 3, and the all-season tires I bought a year ago are basically at 3/32", and that's only 16k miles. I can barely get out of my snowy driveway, never mind trying to get up steep hills, or trying to brake down those hills. So I threw in the towel and bought a winter tire package, and I'm going with dedicated summer tires in warmer months. I wonder if I should do the same with the CX-9...
Only Nevada had the tires in stock. They're supposed to arrive in a week. Question: many of you have said that the tires are out of stock; so, is the Nevada option a crock? Also, are the Yoko tires better in the snow than using 18" rims with snow tires? Are they at least comparable in terms of traction? I'm not as concerned about road noise and feeling bumps. I'm just interested in making smooth turns on dry pavement and feeling secure in the snow/ice.
Also, is it better to downshift or brake on snow/ice.
2) Yokos are not likely better than snow tires. snow tires are the best for traction. the problem is that you would typically not use snow tires year round thus you will have to seasonally change between snow and summer or all-seasons. that can be a pain if you don't need the utility of snow tires so some people (like myself) just want an all-season that can handle a little bit of snow and ice. although, ice traction will always be a problem for all-season tires, Yokos included.
just my opinion.
I've dealt with them exclusively for tires for that past 10 years and have never had an issue with them. If they say they are in stock in NV, I would believe them.
Felt very secured on all situations. Of course, I did not take it off roads other than paved roadways or around ski resort.
Based on the customers' review on tirerack.com, the Yoko Spec-X is better in all aspects than the lousy OE Bridgestone Dueler. H/L.
Very heavy storms a few days back in Bay Area. Love my Yoko as well.
Perform seamlessly w/o slippage or hydroplanning.
Also, I've already got a little dent in the cheap, sort of plastic runner underneath the front bumper. The recent snows along the East Coast have taken their toll on the car! Have you heard of people getting dents in that runner popped back out or does the whole thing have to be replaced.
There is a section describing how to reset it.
If no luck, the one who installed your new tires might have damaged the sensors while doing the mounting.
BTW, the icon shows a cross-section of a tire with a "!" mark in it, not a boiling pot. :P
Don't want pure Snow's.