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Hi. Similar boat here. MHEV GS-L. 1. Curious as to any trade offs beyond looks? 2. Why do you need any programming?

The tpms sensors are not oem units, but a prime aftermarket brand. They need to be programmed for the vehicle they are installed in. From what I learned in CX-5 discussions, the vehicle can "learn" the new sensors and not require an instrumented "learn" at each tire swap. The 2012 Odyssey the CX-90 replaced was like that, and I ended up having the tpms light on all summer as I kept the winter sensors active. Hoping the car is smart enough to store its 8 sensors with no outside help!

 

[Blueprint]

Hi. Similar boat here. MHEV GS-L. 1. Curious as to any trade offs beyond looks? 2. Why do you need any programming?

As for tires, quality winter tires in 265/55R19 cost an arm and a leg (Costco is at $425 per tire before discounts) and there are precious few choices. 255/60R18 is a lot more common. Ditto for wheels, more selection and lower prices.

 

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In Quebec, snow tires are mandatory by law, they have to be on the car by December 1st - in any case, we need them anyway with all the snow and ice we get! Getting a head start ensures no supply issue and less worries. PMC Tire was the only outfit to guarantee the fitment, hence I went with them and the price was good ($2k + tax for the whole thing, mounted and balanced, tpms installed and programmed, shipped to my door). I will report here on how they fit once they arrive - there's a delay since they're waiting for the tpms programming because of how new the vehicle is. Going with the dealer, they talking $400 tires and $400 wheels, but had no idea yet on what fits...

 

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As a car reviewer, I get to test all sorts of winter tires on all sorts of cars every season. The Toyos on a Ridgeline were very impressive, and while I'm a Blizzak guy, the older DM-V2 made a Subaru Ascent skittish in the snow. The Yokos are cheap, but even places that sell them warn me of uneven wear. Do look out for the load index - the CX-90 PHEV requires at least 109. Most tires in the size I bought are 112's, but you'll see plenty of 108's that should not be mounted on the 5200 lbs Mazda. My Toyos are 112, while others were stiffer 114's.

 

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Guys, I will do a proper thread later on, but having received my mounted and balanced 18" winter kit this week, I just completed front and rear test-fits and it works !!

 

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So here are specs of what I purchased. Total cost was $2,028 CDN + tax, mounted and balanced, TPMS programmed and installed and shipped to my door by PMC Tire.

Wheels (winter certified) :
DTD - BLIZZARD - Silver - Silver - 18" x 7.5", 42 Offset, 5x114.3 (Bolt Pattern), 67.1mm HUB
BL851467S

Tires:
Toyo Tires - Observe GSi-6 - 255/60R18 XL 112H BSW
174740_toyo_tires

TPMS (not tried yet):
Max Sensor - SELECT PRO Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) - Rubber Valve
MXSR002

 

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Pictures of the test-fit in the front of my Canadian GS-L PHEV:

 

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Pictures of the test-fit at the rear:

 

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Do note that these are directional tires and that I mounted one "wrong" just for the test fit in the back. We're in the middle of a 100 degree heat wave this week, waaayyy too early to install these tires right now!

PMC Tires includes a deep socket for the wheel nuts free of charge when you purchase wheels from them, and indeed the DTD's are pretty deep. For the test I properly seated the wheel with the wheel lock (deeper) and made sure that it turns. So 18" will work, but don't even think of trying anything smaller.

Also, the way the suspension arms limbo into the wheel up front tells me that a proper offset is critical here. If you buy different specs, make sure the fitment is guaranteed.

Since ordering my winter kit, Mazda has added an accessory 18" wheel for the PHEV so the minus one fitment is now factory endorsed!

Hoping my research will serve the CX-90 community as I could not find any of this out there!

 

[Blueprint]

lb

Not trying to worry you in any ways but looking at the load rating of your wheels of just over 1500lb, you're way below the minimum of 900kg (1984lb) load rating that Mazda are stating. I had PMC change my initial order of 19ich Fast Wheels to go with the RWC wheels to make sure I respect that minimum rating. Seem like the 900kg is way overkill from Mazda though....

Mmmm... Did not see that rating, although the tires' was discussed thoroughly with PMC. The GS-L PHEV tips the scale at around 5,200 lbs, so 1,300 lbs per corner with no passenger / cargo load. Too late now I guess but thanks for the heads-up!

 

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French is fine for me (I am a French-Canadian after all!), for the others - it appears that Mazda does not recommend the use of steel wheels on the CX-90.

Do you know the source of that image? Is it from Fastco?

I will reach out to PMC as I'm a bit worried now - they should have caught that.

 

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FYI I sent an inquiry to PMC Tire with the above screen grab.

@LewisP, your initial order was a Fast wheel, but not the Mazda-approved one?

 

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Here's a view of the front wheel assembly from the back. A CX-90 PHEV was up on a lift for training purposes while I stopped by.

Well I had to change my order before it was shipped from PMC and thankfully the order was not fulfilled so I was able to change it. I had 19inch Fast Wheels Impression wheels at first but ended up with the only suitable 19inch wheels from PMC which were RWC MHK369 (925kg load rating). I would suggest you reach out to either Mazda Canada or your dealership to check with them if the safety notice is still valid. Again I've seen numerous owners going with different wheels than the recommended M016 wheels from Mazda (Mazda M016 Alloy Wheel (Metallic Black) — 18", 19", 21") and I'm sure they would be fine. Obviously if anything was to happen with the wheels, damaging the vehicle, I'm sure Mazda would point to lower rated wheels and not honor the warranty if that safety notice is real. Therefore I suggest you check with Mazda and have them confirm the information. I'm no expert here and I'm only going by what forum members have told me. I just didn't want to take any chance and went overkill.

As an automotive journalist, I have a more direct link to Mazda and just submitted them the screen grab and asked for an update on the safety specs. Also asked about using my PMC-supplied wheels.

 

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Do you mind keeping us posted as I would love to have this information confirmed myself by the official source. I still have time to change my wheel order as the RWC wheels were back ordered until end of September. Thanks and sorry if I got you worried unnecessarily.

Will do, and no worries - I'm an engineer, losing sleep over details like this is in my genes!

 

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News from PMC. One of the owners called me. He checked the matter first with a Fastco engineer as they are an oem supplier. Fastco indicates in their response that typically the industry went for GVWR divided by 4, while oem's will spec GAWR. In the CX-90 PHEV's case, the GVWR is 6854 lbs and the highest GAWR is at the rear with 4090 lbs. That's 2045 lbs/wheel in the back and nobody, not even the accessory wheels made by Fastco will reach that. Since I will never tow, GAWR is probably overkill but GVWR is not with a 7-passenger. PMC feels the DTD wheel is safe at 1518 lbs. However, GVWR/4 = 1714 lbs. So PMC will replace a cracked wheel or will replace everything if I'm not at peace. The DTD wheel is at the limit with 782 lbs of cargo, passengers and fuel on board, not including cornering loads - I will probably swap, but I'm waiting for Mazda's input. The Fast "Switch" was what I wanted initially ... and it's rated at nearly 1800 lbs. Bonus: same grey as the oem alloys. Stay tuned!

 

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And here is Mazda's tech dpt answer:
"The wheels this customer has installed are rated at only 75% of the required load requirements of the CX-90.

There is a risk the wheels would not stand up to impact load in the event of a collision, putting the occupants and other commuters at risk.

The only wheel options Mazda Canada can recommend are the factory supplied wheels and the Fastco M016 which was made available to order to our retailers in Q2 2023."

The Fast M016 is rated at 1984 lbs no matter the diameter and is indicated as "sold out" on Mazda's website. I inquired back to them about using GVWR/4 as I scrolled through all options and while there are a few in the 1797-1819 lbs range, nothing goes further.

 

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Seems like Mazda is being very keen on the 900kg minimum load rating. For those that are looking at budget winter wheels, so far only the Braelin BR08 and the RWC MHK369 in 19inch will meet the minimum load rating requirement. Both are between 275 to 320 CAD per wheels which is still cheaper than the M016 from Mazda.

@LewisP, the RWC MHK369 has a 1819 lbs rating in 18 inch diameter, so it won’t work.

 

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@LewisP, the RWC MHK369 has a 1819 lbs rating in 18 inch diameter, so it won’t work.

… and the BR08 does not exist in 18 inch 😕. Waiting on news from Mazda and PMC, but it looks like the only 18 inch options are the oem wheels and the Fast M016, while moving up to 19 inch opens up the two options @LewisP brought up. I really wanted silver, grey or gunmetal wheels though. I will price out the 19 inch options to see if the aftermarket wheel prices balance out the extra cost of the tires.

 

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Did some math. Going with PMC pricing, keeping the oem 19 inch size with the RWC MHK369 wheels and same pick of Toyo winter tires totals 2150 CDN. The BR08 is a gorgeous wheel but it adds up to 2400 CDN. Keeping my 18 inch « minus one » fitment with Toyos and the Mazda-supplied M016 is 2407 CDN, not counting mounting and balancing which would be extra here. Tires are 50-100 more from 18 to 19 but it is what it is to meet factory specs 😕