Mazda 3 in the snow, do we need snow tires?

[disneymarie]

I thought the style and weight looked good for winter when ds got his car. It was the size about of my Kia Optima that was great in snow, reasonable snow...
But, on a recent insurance claim for the same car, 2006 or 2008, the boy showed me a photo where he could not get out of his driveway.
I was told the low profile tires and lack of road contact or something.

To put snow tires on or not....we are getting 6-10" already in the season.

 

[cornflake]

Snow tires should help regardless of the car.

 

[Christine]

The Mazda 3, for the most part, is marketed as a very sporty sedan. Because of this, can you confirm if they put "sport" tires on the car.

The reason I ask is that in 2002 I bought a Toyota Camry SE (sport edition). I have driven in the snow TONS of times and never had a problem. We had a very minor snow early in the morning and I was commuting into work. I was less than 2 miles from my home and I could not get up a hill that I traveled all the time and then I started sliding down in and into the shoulder of the road. I FREAKED out. I managed to turn myself around and drive on a flat road to the nearest parking lot. My friend who has a jeep had to rescue me.

Later in the day I contacted the Toyota dealer about the tires and I was told that all of the Toyota Camry SE's come with "sport" tires that are wide and have a flat tread. They are almost suicide in the snow. Every other Camry comes with all weather tires. I went right out and bought all-weather tires and never had another problem.

I have looked/driven Mazda 3's so I am very familiar with the car. It really should handle any different than a Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra, etc. So I'm wondering if it is the tires.

 

[bballmom56]

We get plenty of snow where we are too, plus we have a monster hill with 2 90 degree turns in the driveway. We use all weather tires on all our vehicles and they normally do fine (once we get the driveway plowed). D has a Mazda 6 with all weather tires and she hasn't had a problem.

 

[mrodgers]

Driving in snow is all about the tires. Front wheel drive, 4 wheel drive, matters not. A car with snow tires will do every bit as good as 4WD in the snow, and often better if the tires aren't real good on the 4WD.

My old Honda I had for a short time had snow tires on it. Went better than my wife's Ford Escape "AWD" and just as good as any of my Toyota trucks with the good off-road tires I always had on them.

 

[Christine]

Just remember that if you elect to get snow tires, your gas mileage will decrease and riding can be rough. You would also want to change them in better weather so be prepared to pay that expense.

In this area, our snowfall is sporadic so snow tires don't make sense because of the long commutes in snow tires would be pretty if it's not snowing. All weather tires are a much better fit. But if you live in the snow belt, snow tires are a good thing. When I lived in Northern Japan and we had 200 inches of snowfall per year, they were wonderful.

 

[Shutterbug]

I have a Mazda 3 also. What year is your car and does it have the stock tires or some type of summer tire?
Back in 2004-2006, the stock all season tires that came with the mazda 3 were notorious for being awful in the snow. It was really the one bad thing out of an otherwise great car.

I have two sets of tires for my car. Extreme performance for the summer and snow tires for the winter. I can tell you the snow tires make a big difference.

 

[Shutterbug]

Just remember that if you elect to get snow tires, your gas mileage will decrease and riding can be rough.

Um, I do not experience any of that with my snow tires at all
Ride quality is the same. There may be a bit more tire noise but other than that, ride quality doesnt suffer because of the tires. My gas mileage was also the same whether I was on the snows or other tires.

I use the Dunlop SP Wintersport 3D on my car.

 

[golfgal]

The real question, will your son NEED to be out driving in a heavy snow many days of the year? All season tires are just fine for most people. Keep in mind that the snow on the roads doesn't stay there very long and unless he needs to drive on unplowed roads, up steep hills, etc. he won't need snow tires.

 

[Christine]

Um, I do not experience any of that with my snow tires at all
Ride quality is the same. There may be a bit more tire noise but other than that, ride quality doesnt suffer because of the tires. My gas mileage was also the same whether I was on the snows or other tires.

I use the Dunlop SP Wintersport 3D on my car.

I had a very different experience but I'm sure all tires are different. I can't even remember what brand I had.

 

[2BigKIdz]

I have a 2007 mazda 3, the stock tires- goodyear sport variety and the first replacements I got, Kumho sport also, they were horrendous in the snow. They really wouldn't go at all just slid every where. I have a new set of Kumho all weathers on now but haven't had any snow to try them out yet. I am hopeful that they will do okay.

 

[Squirlz]

Driving in snow is all about the tires. Front wheel drive, 4 wheel drive, matters not. A car with snow tires will do every bit as good as 4WD in the snow, and often better if the tires aren't real good on the 4WD.

My old Honda I had for a short time had snow tires on it. Went better than my wife's Ford Escape "AWD" and just as good as any of my Toyota trucks with the good off-road tires I always had on them.

Absolutely! I put snows on my MINI every winter and I drive around all the SUVs and cute-utes on all-seasons who think you have to have AWD if it snows. If only people knew better.

 

[bluesaturn]

Absolutely! I put snows on my MINI every winter and I drive around all the SUVs and cute-utes on all-seasons who think you have to have AWD if it snows. If only people knew better.

Do you know where I could verify if this is true (that snow tires matter more than 4WD)? I was actually considering buying a cheap 4WD vehicle to survive the winter, as I just moved to an area that gets a lot of snow. But if that's not necessary I'll just put snow tires on my sedan. Not that I am doubting you, but I'd like to know where to start to research it further.

 

[RC Fan]

Do you know where I could verify if this is true (that snow tires matter more than 4WD)?

I am sure there have been some tests done--I saw one on TV several years ago. This is a contentious argument that goes on every year. You will never convince me that the type of drivetrain is irrevelant. I personally like AWD, and Subarus in particular.

 

[Christine]

Do you know where I could verify if this is true (that snow tires matter more than 4WD)? I was actually considering buying a cheap 4WD vehicle to survive the winter, as I just moved to an area that gets a lot of snow. But if that's not necessary I'll just put snow tires on my sedan. Not that I am doubting you, but I'd like to know where to start to research it further.

When I lived in an area that had heavy snow (northern Maine and northern Japan) we always used snow tires. These were on sedans and tiny little compact cars and we never had a problem. Well, I had a problem once, as was everyone else, when we were driving home in a true blizzard. We all got stuck going over an huge mound of snow that had blown across the roadway. Maybe a tall, 4WD would have made it over that.

 

[golfgal]

Do you know where I could verify if this is true (that snow tires matter more than 4WD)? I was actually considering buying a cheap 4WD vehicle to survive the winter, as I just moved to an area that gets a lot of snow. But if that's not necessary I'll just put snow tires on my sedan. Not that I am doubting you, but I'd like to know where to start to research it further.

The big difference between good tires and 4WD is that the tires will give you traction when there is snow on the road. If you need to drive through big snow drifts, say 3' drifts, 4WD will be better. Living in an area that gets a lot of snow, I can think of ONE TIME EVER, where 4 WD would have been nice to have and that is after sliding off the road, that would not have happened in the first place if I had better tires on my car . It's not worth the drop in gas mileage for that one time/year you MIGHT need 4WD. I don't have any links to "prove" this, just 40+years of living in snow country.

The other issue with 4WD is too many people think they are impervious to the road conditions because they have an SUV. If you look at photos after any major snowfall, what do you see in the ditch, SUV's.

 

[Christine]

I am sure there have been some tests done--I saw one on TV several years ago. This is a contentious argument that goes on every year. You will never convince me that the type of drivetrain is irrevelant. I personally like AWD, and Subarus in particular.

You are probably correct but I think the driver has to take into account the overall type of driving they are doing and weigh that against the expense of a 4WD/AWD vehicle versus not having it.

In the DC area, we don't get a lot of deep snow (well, except for that one year), so good tires are really all you need. Even in a "deep snow" area, good tires and good driving skills are probably all you need. That doesn't mean that it's the "best" way to get through the snow but it might be good enough and fit your budget.

The year that the DC area had all the snow, I would have like to have AWD. I drive a Toyota Highlander but it is front wheel drive. When I purchased the vehicle I wanted AWD but the expense to upgrade to that model was more than I wanted to pay for that one time per year I would need it. That said, the vehicle does have a high clearance but, IMO, doesn't do any better than my old Camrys did. My husband drives an AWD Honda Element (low clearance vehicle). The day we had a lot of snow, I could not really get up my street in my Highlander and no one else could who did not have AWD. I hopped in my husband's car and it just chewed through that snow and I got right out. It was sure nice to have. But he gets pretty bad gas mileage and his ride is sort of rough (and it wasn't a cheap vehicle for what it is). So, it was sure nice to have that day but not sure it would be worth it in my area.

 

[Shutterbug]

The other issue with 4WD is too many people think they are impervious to the road conditions because they have an SUV. If you look at photos after any major snowfall, what do you see in the ditch, SUV's.

I have seen that too. Trucks stating they have 4WD off in the ditch. Problem was they were driving on next to bald all season tires in snow. 4WD will not help unless you have good tires to take advantage of that.
Last year during a heavy snowfall, I was passing many vehicles that were having problems.

 

[golfgal]

I have seen that too. Trucks stating they have 4WD off in the ditch. Problem was they were driving on next to bald all season tires in snow. 4WD will not help unless you have good tires to take advantage of that.
Last year during a heavy snowfall, I was passing many vehicles that were having problems.

We had a little Saturn SL2 up until this past summer. That car had traction control and with the traction control we could get through pretty much everything. We had a Chevy Blazer with 4WD and while that could plow through the bottom of our driveway after the plow came through for an average snowfall (4"-6" type snow), it wasn't any better in general driving in snowy conditions. Our van has neither traction control or 4WD but it has good tires and it is just fine in snowy conditions. One day last year I was driving home from work. We had gotten about 10" by the time I left work and the roads were covered in snow. It was slippery but I got through just fine--you just can't come to a complete stop in a big pile of snow, but most people know that around here.

 

[Squirlz]

Do you know where I could verify if this is true (that snow tires matter more than 4WD)? I was actually considering buying a cheap 4WD vehicle to survive the winter, as I just moved to an area that gets a lot of snow. But if that's not necessary I'll just put snow tires on my sedan. Not that I am doubting you, but I'd like to know where to start to research it further.

Well the tire contact patch is the only thing touching the ground. If the tread and rubber compound are right for the conditions you have an advantage regardless of whether the wheel has power to it or not. It's just using the right tool for the job.

Of course you do have to know how to drive properly. You can't just put your foot down and spin the wheels.