Mazda5 Tires: Issues & Replacement Recommendations

[coolmazda5]

Perhaps its time we start a sticky'd thread for Tire recommendations with real feedback on how said tires Sound, grip, last, etc on the 5

Done and merged some older threads around. Hope is not too messy

 

[opus]

I will be getting my new set of 215/50/17's put on on Monday, its also going to an actual alignment shop, not the horrid dealer, to be checked to see if something is wrong or can be fixed to stop the cupping issues. I rotate every 5,000 with oil change and still had the issues, hopefully its just the Toyos.

I took mine to the local tire/allignment shop when I started getting the whoop/whoop noise at the end of a 2,400 mile roundtrip roadtrip. They said the stock passenger side rear Toyo that has about 15,000 miles on it is totally "chopped". I use Blizzaks in the winter (November-March). These tires have been rotated 3 times in those 15,000 miles. The shop told me that the 5 comes with a non-adjustable rear camber because the control arm is not adjustable. They want to put aftermarket control arms that are adjustable to the tune of $600.00. The Right Rear camber reading is -2.3, which is at the absolute outer limit of spec. I'm going to go see the dealer tomorrow and see what they have to say. I'll let you know.

 

[ChadSpeed]

I took mine to the local tire/allignment shop when I started getting the whoop/whoop noise at the end of a 2,400 mile roundtrip roadtrip. They said the stock passenger side rear Toyo that has about 15,000 miles on it is totally "chopped". I use Blizzaks in the winter (November-March). These tires have been rotated 3 times in those 15,000 miles. The shop told me that the 5 comes with a non-adjustable rear camber because the control arm is not adjustable. They want to put aftermarket control arms that are adjustable to the tune of $600.00. The Right Rear camber reading is -2.3, which is at the absolute outer limit of spec. I'm going to go see the dealer tomorrow and see what they have to say. I'll let you know.

Please let me know. I got a rain day today so I'm going to get the tires mounted, balanced, and take it to the alignment shop. I will probably get the same response from them that you got. As sucky as my dealers service department is I'm 100% sure they will not do anything for me in regards to using the warranty to replace the control arms, so I will be calling Mazda first, and see if I can get anywhere.

 

[ansatzjp]

My-2-year-20K-mile-old Mazda5 started to shake when the speed reaches 45 miles. The local dealer rotated tires and rebalanced them, but I still felt that the steering wheel was trembling, now in-between 50 and 60 miles. The dealer rebalanced it once again, but recommended to get new front tires, as they found it the front Toyo tires have knots in the tread.

After reading through this thread, I learned that one can have 215/50/17 instead of the original 205/50/17. Is this "modification" going to void the warranty of the vehicle, if something goes wrong?

I am looking to purchase Hankook HRII H405 from ebay, by the way.

http://tinyurl.com/6ycxgn

 

[ChadSpeed]

I got my 215's installed today along with an alignment. The piss poor dealer did an alignment with the suspension recall about 15,000 miles ago, but still the front end was out of toe, odd. The rear camber on the passenger side is at 2.1 negative cambers, just a shade away from being out of tolerance. The tolerance for the rear is huge compared to the front, in both toe and camber. The new tires have a 560 treadwear, and A for traction and temp. They are some off brand made by goodyear, but have some other name, they were cheap so if they get ruined like the Toyos I won't be as pissed.

 

[opus]

Mine was right at 2.3 negative camber which is exactly the outside number for spec. The dealer has now had my car for two days with a call into "Mazda Engineering Tech" but no return phone call. I think they are trying a waiting game with me and seeing if I will blink, which won't happen. (protest)

 

[ChadSpeed]

Mine was right at 2.3 negative camber which is exactly the outside number for spec. The dealer has now had my car for two days with a call into "Mazda Engineering Tech" but no return phone call. I think they are trying a waiting game with me and seeing if I will blink, which won't happen. (protest)

good to hear, hope we can finally get Mazda to resolve this problem.

 

[rweatherford]

Damn that's a bunch of negative camber for a "mini-mini-van". Sounds like a good auto-x setup.

 

[dfskinner]

Someone doesn't know how to mount tires..... Wonder how many weights there are on the inside of the wheel. I'm pretty sure you are supposed to line up the yellow (or red) dot with the valve stem. Motorcycle tires are that way.

I don't understand..... the tire shop at sam's club mounted the tires..... should I go back and complain? I didn't realize what the green dot was either. I'll check the inside of the tire to see what kind of weights they added.....

Thanks for the info....

 

[ansatzjp]

Purchased from Tirerack

After speaking to my Korean friends who are all familiar with Kumho and Hankook tires, I finally decided to purchase Kumho DX 215/50/17 from Tirerack. Four tires plus delivery to a local Goodyear shop is $ 380, and I will be required to pay around $ 60 for installation. =)

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes.jsp?make=Kumho&model=Ecsta+DX+Aroma

 

[rweatherford]

I don't understand..... the tire shop at sam's club mounted the tires..... should I go back and complain? I didn't realize what the green dot was either. I'll check the inside of the tire to see what kind of weights they added.....

Thanks for the info....

I would not bother. They will look at you like you are from another planet. Most techs are not trained and just slap tires on and balance them. I'd have to look up the info to even see if I know for sure what "I" am talking about.

I'll see what I can find.


Here you go. Some info. I guess I wasn't crazy.

http://www.yokohamatire.com/pdf/tsb-MatchMounting-12803.pdf

Tire Rack says it isn't necessary.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=17

 

[dfskinner]

I would not bother. They will look at you like you are from another planet. Most techs are not trained and just slap tires on and balance them. I'd have to look up the info to even see if I know for sure what "I" am talking about.[/url]

You were right, first off they did look at me like I was from another planet..... but after a few mins the manager told me he wanted to look at the tires on my car...... he called the manager of Sam's over and they discussed the matter and gave me a $100.00 gift card for my trouble..... I guess to help move me out of the tire department where about 10 people were waiting to purchase tires..... the tire manager told me he would make it up to me when I purchased my next set of tires..... I told him that was my 3rd set of tires in the last 3 years (3 different vehicles) from Sam's...... I guess the Infinity will be next, he gave me his card with 10% off written on the back with his signature........

Thanks for the links, I printed the first link and carried it with me to the club, I think that' s what made them think they had to do something.....

 

[rweatherford]

(cabpatch)(thumb) HAHA! That's great.....

 

[08M5GTGSP]

Here's what I found:

205/50 215/50 215/45
Sidewall 4.0 4.2 3.8
Radius 12.5 12.7 12.3
Diameter 25.1 25.5 24.6
Circumfrence 78.8 80.0 77.3
Revs/Mile 804 792 819
Speedo at 60mph 60 60.9 58.9

So, the 215/45 is a tad smaller than stock, and I'd rather be a tad larger than smaller.

I'm happy with the size, I get fewer revs per mile, I'm down 100 rpm at 75mph, and I have a little more sidewall which means a softer ride.

Matt

So, even though the aspect ratio and diameter are the same as stock, the fact that it's a wider tire gives more cushioning effect? Very interesting. I'll probably do this when I need to get new tires.

 

[07MZ5SA]

So, even though the aspect ratio and diameter are the same as stock, the fact that it's a wider tire gives more cushioning effect? Very interesting.

Width X Aspect Ratio = Sidewall Height

The taller the sidewall the more cushion/flexing.

 

[Partsguy]

General Altimax HP...which size

I was looking at prices on Tirerack and I'm wondering if I can go to a 215/55/16 or a 215/60/16. My 2006 Mazda came with 16" rims.

I plan on ordering them and having them installed at a shop just across the border in Buffalo. The General's were rated #1 in their ranking:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=GTAS

I read the threads about the speedo being off a few % but I really don't mind as a Cop once told me:

'10K over the speed limit is fine, 11K over the speed limit and your a$$ is mine'.

Thanks in advance for your help!!!(dance)

 

[07MZ5SA]

Some post mentioned 206/60-16 will clear.

If my calculation is correct, it should help with speedo error.

 

[rscottg]

tire wear - buying a used 2006 GS

Im pretty sure Im going to buy a used Mazda 5 GS in the near future. I just have to take it for a test drive next week.

The 5 will usually be driven by my wife, and Im sure she wont be very aggressive with it. Im just looking at reasonable tire wear, etc.

My last Mazda was a Protg and it was easy on tires. Mind you it weighed less, and switched and rotated tires every winter to Nokian Qs so not to be killed by the stock tires. The profile of the tire didnt lend itself to aggressive driving.

Ive been reading a lot of posts all over the net about tire wear problems. Im wondering how concerned I should be? Ive heard that the stock Toyos are terrible in both wear and traction. The 5 Im looking had its tires replaced last fall with Nokian (would assume WRs) tires. I have a Nokian dealer close to my house, so it will be easy to have the tires rotated regularly or do it myself.

 

[jeebusm3]

Im pretty sure Im going to buy a used Mazda 5 GS in the near future. I just have to take it for a test drive next week.

The 5 will usually be driven by my wife, and Im sure she wont be very aggressive with it. Im just looking at reasonable tire wear, etc.

My last Mazda was a Protg and it was easy on tires. Mind you it weighed less, and switched and rotated tires every winter to Nokian Qs so not to be killed by the stock tires. The profile of the tire didnt lend itself to aggressive driving.

Ive been reading a lot of posts all over the net about tire wear problems. Im wondering how concerned I should be? Ive heard that the stock Toyos are terrible in both wear and traction. The 5 Im looking had its tires replaced last fall with Nokian (would assume WRs) tires. I have a Nokian dealer close to my house, so it will be easy to have the tires rotated regularly or do it myself.

Our 2008 has 7k miles on it and the tires look fine. I know that's not a whole boatload of miles, but some people seem to notice wear by this point.

I drive pretty briskly and in the dry the tires seem alright so far. Nothing amazing, but not dangerous by any means. In the wet they are pretty poor. We don't get snow or cold here in San Diego so I cannot comment.

 

[rscottg]

I'm sure if I keep up with the rotation and check tire pressure it should be fine.

My current Nokian WR tires have almost 108,000km (67,000 miles) on them, and I'm sure the same type will last while on the 5.

I wish our weather was like San Diego. That's a place with nice weather.

The cars here take a bit of beating with our extremes in temp. When its really cold, the tires feel like square blocks, and everything squeaks and groans. When it warms up, you feel like you have a new car.