If you live in a snowy or icy place, definitely get snow tires for your Mazda 5. I spend the cash, and am I ever glad I did - the car handles really well in the snow. Its just too bad you have to get 16"+ as they are way more expensive than 15", but required to clear the brakes.

I found that the Mazda Dealer was the cheapest place for tires & rims. Big surprise there, never would have guessed that.

 

I would argue (agree) the same thing w/the 3 series, BC. I love the car and how it handles and drives most of the time, but they are terrible in bad weather on EHP, XHP, or All-Season performance tires. If I lived in an area that got snow/ice on a regular basis, snow/winter tires would not even be an option for me.

 

ON a side note, we will be traveling shortly after xmas and the weather in our area is expected to get VERY bad (we have a ton of snow right now too, but expected to get stormy etc) So I picked up some chains too. Tried them out last night with the snow tires, almost like driving on dry pavement, SOOOooo much traction its crazy. Still have to drive carefully, but what a positive difference they made.

(Extra note: Putting chains on a 5 is a HUGE pain in the ***. There is just sooo little room to reach around and hook them up on the inside. have to turn the wheel all the way to one side, lay on your stomach, and reach around. Ug)