Mazda tire rant

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orangecat

1,000+ Posts
I like our Mazda minivan very much. My wife used to have an old 626 that was indestructible, that's why we looked at Mazda, BUT,

check this out, I have to replace tires after 25,000 miles on an '08 Mazda5, and these tires that I need to put on are tires that go on sports cars, and they have the price to match!!!

205-50-17s.

After thinking I might bite the bullet and buy 55s from NTB,(they're having a big sale, buy 2 get 2 tires free, IF you buy the alignment and the premium installation), I went back to my local used tire place. they sell new tires also, I'm getting the whole package for about 100$ less than from NTB with the sale.


Anyway, so far this is the only thing that sucks about Mazda.

I'm happy I went to my local guy, but am also thinking I made a good decision about the tire size. Since Mazda recommends the 50s, would buying 55s void the warranty on the van if something happened?


Also, I looked at tirerack, that's where I started noticing the cars that people were driving in their reviews were Acura TLs, Mazda RX-8, etc. Not a minivan in sight.
 
25000 miles?

Most decent tires have a treadwear warranty. If you are wearing down a 50000 mile tire in 25, then take it back.
 
50 and 55 are the aspect ratio of the tire (height to width although I forget which one goes first). There is not too much difference between a 50 and a 55 (a 55 is slightly narrower)

The key thing is the brand of tire. Most manufacturers make many different sizes and you do not need to replace the original tires with the same brand especially since the original tire manufacturer frequently keeps the price high for replacements knowing that many people will just buy the same brand.

I like Toyos for a good combination of price, quality, and value (plus I get them free from my parents' store). My TL originally came with Bridgestones (235/45R17) and they wore out in about 25,000 miles. This was pretty normal because they were high performance (ie sticky) tires and I drove my car pretty hard when I first got it. I replaced the Bridgestones with Toyos because the Bridgestones were over $200 each and the Toyos were $110 each. My first set of Toyos lasted about 40,000 miles. I have not noticed any handling differences.
 
I'm about to go down this road as well. Took my wife's Mazda3 into Roger Beasley for an oil change and the tech said the tires (OEM) would need to be replaced soon. The car only has about 16k on it. Don't remember the brand/specs or know what the tires are rated for, but that seems like it sucks.
 
that seems way to fast

are you rotating the tires from back to front and checking the air pressure?
 
My 350Z came with Bridgestone Potenzas - 235/50-17 rear, 225/50-17 front. They lasted 30K miles. When my Nissan dealer said replacements would be $1200 (ouch! In my life, I've bought cars that didn't cost $1200), I went to NTB. I ended up buying a set of Sumitomos for $650, with a 50K guarantee. The Sumitomos have a much harder rubber compound to get the better wear. Surprisingly, my mileage increased about one mpg on the highway. I can't tell any subjective difference in handling, but I don't drive the car anywhere near its limits. You might consider looking at the Sumitomo tires.

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There is a rating for tire hardness. Tires last a long time if they are hard. A sports car type tire grips well in dry conditions because they are soft, but soft tires wear out sooner than hard tires. You don't need that type tire on a mini-van. Maybe that is what the OP is referring to.
It is not the tire size that is the problem.
Tires do wear unevenly if not rotated, most manufacturers recommend every 7,500 miles or so, and a lot of people never check their tire pressures, although now newer cars have the tire pressure warning light to tell you if a tire is low.
Some new cars do come from the factory needing alignment, but unless the tires wore unevenly, ie lot of tread on the outer 2/3's but nearly bald on the inner inch or so, it wouldn't need alignment. Get a professional unbiased opinion.
 
correct, my gripe is that Mazda decided to put high-performance tires on a minivan. I finally called Mazda just now- the guy politely informed me that the Mazda5 is NOT a mini-van it's a wagon. BS. I told we bought it as a minivan, it's the only tire size on tirerack that's for a minivan, they're(tires) all for sports cars. What I need is a decent traditional tire, which I don't think I can get.

One idea that crossed my mind is to switch wheels, buy some smaller wheels, 16 inch, for example so that would give me room to buy taller tires. I called tirerack to get their opinion, a guy there seemed to think about the tallest I could buy would be 55s, maybe 60s.

If I could get 60s, I think it might be worth it, depending upon how long the van lasts. The other question is of course how long this second set of tires costs. They're going to be 50s, they're being shiipped from Dallas to Princeton right now, I got a good price for 50s, but they're still 50s. Yuck!!!

I could understand this if I was driving a Mazda6 or 3 but a 5 no way!
 
Just find an all-season with a good rating and a high UTQG number (means it will last longer under normal driving)

don't change your tire size

Also, what is your definition of expensive? Tire Rack and DT both have decent selections around $100. Yoko 520's are a decent pick
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I saw some Sumitomo tires for something like $59 in your size. I know Sumitomo makes good truck tires so I would imagine their passenger tires are good.

Michelin, Bridgestone, and Goodyear make very good tires, but they are ver pricey. I used to always drive on Michelin, but it got to where I could not justify the price difference (even getting them "free").
 
I've never really come close to spending 100$ per tire. The last time I bought four new tires it was 2 years ago for my Nissan pickup and they were 70$ a tire.

I am getting tires today for 85$ a tire out the door price, which is awesome, depending upon the tire. And I'm getting a price cut on an alignment. It turns out it's actually 26000 miles.

My sticker shock started at discount tire, I called them first, their cheapest tire in my size started at 114. Discount?
 
okay, I'm an idiot, I should have posted here first. That advice about looking at the UTQG number is advice I didn't get even when talking to the following places:

Discount tire, NTB, and tirerack. yes, nobody mentioned, hey look at the UTQG. So the best tire for this vehicle for the price, IMO, is the Sumitomo HTRZ II, at a rating of 360, for $61. total out the door is around 320-360, for a tire that gets about the same rating as a much more expensive tire.
 
Well, I have my tires, they are on the low end price-wise, which I like, and they have pretty good specs, but then a guy at tirerack said the company determines the spec( at least the 320 number).


Not much information that I could find.(reviews, etc.) The tire is a Lexani tire. The company has been in business for about 14 years. I've got Lexani 9100s, with a 93 XL load rating. Lots of tread, a lot more than I ever remember seeing on the old tires.

Out the door price, $340, they ride smooth of course, I spent $60 on a four wheel alignment, so an even $400.

Now for the really good news, for the first 45,000 miles, the guy told me he will rotate the tires free, every 5000 miles, I just need to save the receipt.

This is really great because I got the oil changed yesterday at a place 1 block from the tire place. Every 5K, just drive the extra block and get the tires rotated.
 
im a mazda tech. its not really a tire issue with these cars so much as it is an alignmnet specification issue. according to mazda your car (either a 5 or a 3, they are the same thing) is set up for ZOOM ZOOM. i kid you not. the rear camber is set to tolerate about -2 degrees. this creates a lot of inside tire wear with normal driving and even more if you carry a load in the 5 or 3. Most of these cars i see are running about -1.5 degrees or so. I have been in circles with the tech hotline many times for the above reasons and mazda japan WILL NOT HELP. that is the way the car is designed. there are a couple fixes out there though. putting a different size tire with diffent wheels is not one of them. like i said its an alignment set up issue. the new tires you have will do the exact same thing.
there is a non adjustable rear camber link made for the mazdaspeed 3. it is used when those car owners lower there vehicles. by lowering a vehicle the camber goes negative. these links push the rear camber positive by about 1 degree. i can get a part number and price for ya'll on Monday if any one would like. it. I'm thinking they are about 300$ plus about 100 to install then an alignment. There is also an after market ford focus adjustable rear camber arm that fits these vehicles that would allow more alignment help. I dont know how much these are. These will in no way affect your warranty on the vehicle.
I have been a mazda tech for over 9 years. i work in austin so if there are any questions let me know on here or PM me.
 
are you saying that even after I had a four wheel alignment done the other day, that my mini-van will be out of alignment?

If so, I am just ruining another set of tires, I should have just bought used tires.

Can't win with tires on cars. Either get low mileage or get really good mileage, like I'm getting now, and pay for it with high priced tires, I guess. Btw, if I was driving the Mazda right now, this first gas tank would be getting 32+ MPG combo city/hwy. My wife is the primary driver and she does like to zoom. She'll probably get about 27 MPG, still very good.

With these new tires, I barely have to touch the gas pedal. It's amazing.

edit: load, virtually none, unless you count a 12 and 13 year old, skinnny kids, one less than a 100 pounds.
 
anybody else care to clarify? It sounds like he is saying the factory has the camber set to wear out the sides of the back tires first. If he's working with a lot of Mazdas and he knows this, first, if he wants to keep his job he'll stick with the specs.

But if my independent alignment guy needed to, I'm guessing he could put the correct specs on the alignment, the problem is knowing for sure what the specs would need to be.

He's not gonna just trust me, just because I read about it here. I googled mazda alighment problem, and got some info about some van alignment problems, but whole bunch more about Mazda3s with alignment problems.
 
He is saying the rear camber cannot be adjusted to the spec which would not wear out the inside edges of the rear tires.
A lot of alignment angles are not adjustable any more from the factory. That is why if the car is out of alignment on that angle, there are aftermarket kits to allow for the adjustment.
If what the guy is saying is true, and it sounds like he knows what he is talking about, then you would need to spend the money to install the parts to allow for the adjustment.
This same sort of part is available for a lot of cars if you hit something and bend a part slightly, where your car is out of alignment. The proper way is to get the frame pulled or lots of expensive parts replaced, but often it can be put into spec by the aftermarket camber kit, or and adjustable suspension link which just replaces one of the factory parts.
Two degrees of negative camber is too much for tire wear. It is only good when you are cornering hard, as the weight of the car on that side pushes the tire sideways and makes it lean more to the outside at the top. If the tire is leaning in to begin with, and it leans toward the outside when cornering, the tire will ideally be straight up and down when cornering. This is good for entering your local hill climb race, or trying to keep up with wannabe Mario Andrettis out on some windy hill country road. But your tires wear out faster. The guy is saying they are using racing specs when most people want going to the HEB specs.
The bottom line is this-did your tires wear more on the inner edges, and still have more tread left on the outer 2/3s or so, or do you know?
 
I looked up the spec for rear camber and it says, with gas gauge on 1/2, one degree, 15 minutes, with a plus or minus one degree tolerance. This means if it is 2 degrees negative it would fall within manufacturer specs. There is nothing provided to adjust rear camber, so if you want it right at one degree or less, you would have to install a part allowing for the angle to be adjusted.
 
hey guys sorry my computer is donw at home and work had me blocked out for a couple weeks.
Accurate is right. the tolerance is pretty far out but still in mazda spec. thats what mazda likes for zoom zoom. i have been fighting mazda my self for some customers but cant get any help from them unless it is out of spec. Like i said most of the cars i see wearing tires out( some as often as 15-18k miles) are running with about -1.75 to -2.0. again mazda considers this normal and ok.
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i haven recieved any pm's but if there are any other question please feel free to pm me or ask away here.
but to sum it up yes you will be going through your new tires as well. i'll get back to here later today with the mazda speed part number i was talkign about.
 
This makes me even more pissed off that the tech tried to blame it on our driving habits and/or not getting our tires rotated (which we do).

So about $400 to correct the problem forever?
 
accurate, I do remember more wear on the inside, and the excessive wear was on the rear tires, but I don't know if the wear occurred on the rear tires or the front tires. I did rotate tires fairly often(for me); about every 10k, so there would be no way to know.

okay, this maybe a stupid question, but since I have free tire rotation every 5k, should I have the front left tire put on the rear right? and the front right put on the rear left?

or I might be better off just forgetting about tire rotation altogether?

I guess I'm just lucky I know where to buy cheap used tires.

They're gonna get to know me pretty good at the used tire place.

Or maybe I should take the van out once a week on the Farm to Market roads out here and take a bunch of corners real fast
 
here's an idea from a guy:

"I know not everyone has the use of a million dollar auto hobby shop at their disposal, but when I change the oil I rotate my tires just to balance out the tread a bit, in the next few weeks I’m going to get the tires 'true rotated' i.e. take the tire off the rim and swap left to right, for now all I can do is move front right to back left, etc.

We all know there is NO camber adjustment on the 5, so if that is your problem, do what I do, rotate every oil change, then once a year tire off the rim rotate.

If it is pulling left or right, YES that needs an alignment."

Eugene and accurate, do you think this "true rotate" will solve the problem?

If this guy's idea works, I'm thinking instead of once a year, maybe once every other oil change do the 'true rotate'.
 
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