Mazda Protege5 Tires

I've driven on these tires for almost a year now including one winter on my 2003 Mazda Protege 5. In the past I've always driven an exclusive snow tire in the winter and never considered an all season for snowy Western Canada. The salesman showed me all the data and test results on the Optimo 4s and I decided to give them a try to avoid the annual change over costs. In my opinion these are a beautiful dry and wet weather tire. Low road noise. Very nice handling and braking and so far seem to wear pretty good. However, I wish the above rating included "Snow and Ice Grip" in its evaluation. This is where I feel the tire comes up short. In my opinion..not even close to the traction of a Snow and Ice tire. In the snowy, slippery conditions of Canada they are simply, in my opinion an "All Season" tire. Our winter season is approaching in a month or so and I'm seriously considering taking these back to the dealer and asking what he will do for me. I do not want to run these for another winter, especially as my wife drives this as her primary vehicle year round. I've driven a lot in dicey, Canadian winters and these tires certainly do not live up to the advertised efficiency in wintery conditions.

These tires have been great on my car.