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[therealstasman]

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[nope-mx3]

215/50-15 should work I guess.<BR>225/45-15 also <P>I think my mx3 handles extremely good with <BR>215/40-17.<BR>I just lack a complete mazdaspeed lowering kit, but it`s on the planning for the spring <P>nope-mx3

[ProtegeSTS]

You have to describe what you want from the tires.<P>how long do they have to last?<BR>is wet traction is imporant?<BR>will they ever see snow?<P><BR>etc etc etc

[therealstasman]

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[ProtegeSTS]

The problem is, I dont know ANYTHING about all season tires. Being in Florida, it doesn't concern me.<P>From what I've gathered on the Probetalk forum, they seem to like the Dunlop SP5000 for an all season tire. Im not sure of the cost though.<P>I ran what you'd call a "summer" tire on the protege. From your description, its NOT what you want, at all.

[therealstasman]

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[ProtegeSTS]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stas:<BR><STRONG>what exactly is the difference between a summer tire and an all season tire? the weather here is hot for the most part of the year, and it just gets cold for about four months, and snow is rare. i don't know if that would affect the summer tire?<P>also, are you familiar with kuhmo ecstas? i am leaning towards them just of the price, because compared to some other brands they are pretty cheap. but i didn't hear that much about them.<P>in addition, when changing sizes from the recommended factory size which is 205/55/15, i read that people say you have to keep the right diameter, so going to 50 is not a good thing. also would you know what's the widest tire you can put on an mx-3. somebody had 225, but on an aftermarket rims, i don't know if that would play a difference.<P>[ December 07, 2002: Message edited by: Stas ]</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>"Summer" tires are usually much stickier, and arent designed with wet traction/snow in mind. They usually SUCK in snow, and arent amazing in heavy rain.<P>As far as changing to a smaller diameter....the tradeoffs are you'll put mileage on the car quicker, and your speedometer will be off by a few percent. The benefits are usually less sidewall (better response), and better acceleration due to less weight AND mechanical gearing advantage.<P>Summer tires usually arent meant for long treadlife either. An example would be the Falken Azenis. Even with JUST street driving, you'd be lucky to get more than 15,000 miles out of a set.

[therealstasman]

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[ProtegeSTS]

The Protege's A/C NEVER worked well, and neither did my car before that.<P>the MR2 finally has a good working A/C, and I love it.

[Steeb]

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