Tires make more difference than anything. I too bought at used Mazda 3, and thought: "Oooh, this is dodgy in the rain . . ."
Then I got better tires (summers and winters) and realized: "Ohhh, I just had terrible tires."
It's not as great in ice, but I think Michelin x-ice and Blizzak tires are better for that.
Further to the Xice3 awesomeness. I drove through 50 km of super-twisty tight mountain road this weekend and came across a BMW 5-series on wide tires that would sprint off on the straights then I'd catch him in the twisties then he'd take off on the straights (rinse and repeat)... Anyway, mixed dry/damp pavement at about 10 \u00b0C and the Xice3s had grip to spare in corners.
Have you looked into the Continental ExtremeContact DWS? Discount Tire Direct's eBay account has a sale right now $100 off of $400 with free shipping.
I have the Michelin PA4's for my R, they are great all around in the winter especially in the dry, X Ice3 were better on ice and packed snow though.
I had my Conti DWS tires installed today. I’ve had them on two previous cars and they’re my pretty phenomenal across a broad range of conditions.
I ran the Xice3 in some pretty severe snow this past winter. One day in particular was a big snowstorm... I took every gnarly/hilly minor road I could find... and got home with no drama and some quality hooning. Those tires are magic.
The wr g3 has great grip in the snow and ice
I was on coilovers for quite a long time and wanted to let everyone know that they cars will eat through rear tires rather quickly once lowered. After the coils were installed I had a proper alignment done ASAP, and noticed that in under 9,000 miles of 97% highway driving my Michelin Pilot Super Sports were just about bald from the inner tread block outward.
Reviews for that tire at TireRack aren't exactly stellar. Great tire in the rain, in fact VERY high traction in wet conditions. Almost to the point that it's a technological marvel. But...it gives up so much in the dry that it feels like a sloppy truck truck tire with 10psi. It corners terribly in the dry, the steering response is horrible and wanders all over the road.
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