Mazda5 Tires: Issues & Replacement Recommendations

[Funktional]

What would changing to 205/45/17 do?

Throw your speedometer off by about 3% meaning when your speedometer says 60mph you're actually only doing 58mph. It will also cause your odometer to accumulate miles slighty faster than it should. On top of both of those points, it will most likely cause a more responsive steering feel with a harsher ride. I would stick with a tire that has the same overall diameter as the stock 205-50/17 tire.

 

[2008black5]

I purchased these tires in the 215 width. They do give a cushy and quiet ride compared to the toyos. Steering response is lower as expected from the reviews at TireRack. You should try them in the snow for fun. I was impressed by them, but they may not hold a candle to your snow tires. IDK.

Hi rweatherford,

I have an '08 and I'm coming up on 30k with my Toyos. I'm looking at getting the Continental ExtremeContact DWS's in 215/50 R17.

Have you seen any issues with the tire center shifting to the inside like Geekspeak described in his post about "Problems with 215s" a few pages back?

Thanks.

 

[fam]

PS if you guys hate math their are plenty of calculators online that would calculate your new speeds as well.

And if youre REALLY lazy like me you can just use your gps (mine tells actual speed as well as speed limits) and figure out where your true speed lies!

 

[vonlein]

Lots of good info in this thread, but a lot of different recommendations too!

I'm looking for the quietest tires I can find. We're trying to sell our '07 5 and have somebody really interested, but he can't tolerate road noise and is passing on our car unless we can get it quieter. Rear are stock and really bad (32k), but I'm thinking even the new fronts (hi-perf) aren't quiet enough for him.

I can get the Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum or Toyo VERSADO LX for $113 each at Treadepot, and thinking 215/50R17 might be quieter. Recommendations between those two, or other ideas in that rough price range?

 

[fam]

The car is generally loud, Ive changed the tires, had them balanced etc and it didnt help in the noise dept at all for me. I had the Kumho's on my mazda3 hatchback, I didnt notice any change in sound over the quiet Mazda3.

 

[vonlein]

Thanks. I do know it used to be much quieter when new and hoping I can get it quiet enough. After talking to the (very friendly and helpful) staff at Treadepot over email and phone, they're recommending the Toyo Versado.

 

[rweatherford]

Hi rweatherford,

I have an '08 and I'm coming up on 30k with my Toyos. I'm looking at getting the Continental ExtremeContact DWS's in 215/50 R17.

Have you seen any issues with the tire center shifting to the inside like Geekspeak described in his post about "Problems with 215s" a few pages back?

Thanks.

Sorry hadn't been around lately. I'll try to look at this when the wife gets home. No issues that I know of and they are awesome in the snow.

 

[Bob*5]

Lots of good info in this thread, but a lot of different recommendations too!

I'm looking for the quietest tires I can find. We're trying to sell our '07 5 and have somebody really interested, but he can't tolerate road noise and is passing on our car unless we can get it quieter. Rear are stock and really bad (32k), but I'm thinking even the new fronts (hi-perf) aren't quiet enough for him.

I can get the Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum or Toyo VERSADO LX for $113 each at Treadepot, and thinking 215/50R17 might be quieter. Recommendations between those two, or other ideas in that rough price range?

I recently had the General Altimax HPs installed in the 215/50/R17 size and they are very quiet. I think that they are a bit more expensive than the Kumho Platinums that I considered but were out of stock at my tire dealer. I did have a slight balance problem that was solved by the dealer rotating the tires on the rim 180 degrees. I don't know what that was about. I think the original installer just did a poor job of balancing them. After 2000 miles I haven't seen a shift of the tire to the inside yet. Good thing as my wife was really beating up the rims. She had been driving a Subaru Forester that has 130,000 miles on it without one mark on the alloy wheels. These 50 series tires may look good, but they leave the wheels too exposed.

Bob

 

[2008black5]

Sorry hadn't been around lately. I'll try to look at this when the wife gets home. No issues that I know of and they are awesome in the snow.

Thanks for getting back to me! I got the 215/50 R17 Continental Extreme Contact DWS's a little after my original post. No problems at all so far and they are truely awesome in snow and rain. They are not quite as crisp in turns as the original toyos but handle very well and overall the ride seems quiter and more smooth. According to my GPS the the 5 is now going exactly the correct speed. Seems the toyos actually give a faster than actual reading on the speedometer.

 

[hagow_boy]

Just went to Costco (Westcoast Canada) today. Was going to check the price of the Bridgestone Potenza G019 205/50/17 and was told $139 Cdn each. Also at the tire center, I noticed there was a sale for $75 off when purchasing 4 tires (offer expires April 04, 2010). I then asked for the price of the 215/50/17 and was told $185 Cdn each. I didn't want to go with the 205's as the original Toyo's had terrible handling around corners at high speeds. I then decided to ask what the price of the 225/45/17's were knowing they had the lowest amount of speed differential. The price quoted was $145 Cdn each ! Costco had all the tire guide books there and checked if the 225/45/17's would fit my 2007 oem rims. They said no problem....I hope they are correct. I ordered the tires and will have them on my car in about 2 weeks.

 

[KBrian]

Costco had all the tire guide books there and checked if the 225/45/17's would fit my 2007 oem rims. They said no problem....I hope they are correct.

The problem, if you should have one, will be with the stock rim width (6.5 inches). A 225 section width tire should have at least a 7 inch wide rim, especially with such a low profile tire (45 series).

There is not much sidewall height to pull down a 9 inch wide tire into that narrow rim.

 

[hagow_boy]

Update on my 225/45/17 Bridgestone Potenza G019's that I ordered from Costco for $147 each. Costco's installation dept. could not get them on the OEM 6.5" Width rims. Bridgestones guide book showed that they would fit 6.5 to 8" width rims. There have been a few people on this forum that successfully installed them on OEM rims but for some reason, the Costco I went to couldn't. They tried and said they damaged the beads on one of the tires.

I refunded them and ordered the 215/50/17's instead for $190 each. Have to wait another week for them to come in.

 

[hagow_boy]

Got my Bridgestone Potenza G019 installed at Costco today.
$187 Cdn each + Install - $75 instant rebate + taxes = $850 Cdn
215/50/17's.
Pumped up to 34 PSI.

 

[raspykart]

I'm actually takin our 2010 in Wed for those same Potenza G019's except in 205/50/17 factory size at Discount Tire... I noticed they're a bit cheaper at Costco. Discount tire has a $50 rebate, what are the terms of Costco's $75 rebate? May have to request some price matching. We happily ran the General exclaim UHP's for almost 40k miles, I'm hoping the Potenza's are quieter... but we'll see.

 

[hagow_boy]

Coscto in Canada had a $75 Instant Rebate (Coscto Code 228857) for the whole month of March and ended April 07. They honored the instant rebate for me because I ordered the tires before the sale ended. It basically covered the cost of the $5 environmental fee + $15 installation fee. In Canadian Costcos, the regular price for the G019 is $138.99. With the 215's, I can make turns faster and the handling feels much better. I am getting the same gas milage as with the 205's. Its a huge different in feel and handling.

Bridgstone is also having a $100 mail in rebate where they give you a American Express Prepaid Credit Card. Offer is not good for purchasing the tires at Costco and is only valid when purchasing from an authorized agent.

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/Index_BS_EN.aspx?src=springpromotion

I'm actually takin our 2010 in Wed for those same Potenza G019's except in 205/50/17 factory size at Discount Tire... I noticed they're a bit cheaper at Costco. Discount tire has a $50 rebate, what are the terms of Costco's $75 rebate? May have to request some price matching. We happily ran the General exclaim UHP's for almost 40k miles, I'm hoping the Potenza's are quieter... but we'll see.

 

[switz]

Boy, this is one long thread to read through!

I just installed Toyo Extensa A/S in the 215/50-17 size. Toyo is offering a $70 rebate when you purchase four tires this spring

Of course the new tires are very quiet and very smooth. Time will tell. They are supposed to have an 80,000km treadwear warranty, but I won't get to worry about using it because I do my own winter/summer exchanges in my driveway (I have 205/55-16 on steel rims for winter). As long as I get close to 80,000km on these new tires I'll be happy. Perhaps a wider tire with slightly more circumference will mean that I will have more rubber that the stock size to wear off and I'll go even further! (doubt it though). The new Toyo's have a treadwear of 620 if that means anything (not really).

The diameter of the 215's compared to the winters I took off for the new tires is about an inch, or a little bit more (I didn't check, I was in a hurry to get the summers on and get going). I sure like how the 215's stick out beyond the edge of the rim, to give some protection to the rim from curbs. The wheel/tire combo just looks right. The original 205/15-17's just looked too small. They just didn't look right on that rim.

Another benefit is that my speedometer is now correct. I've always had to go about 103-104km/h on the speedo to actually be going 100km/h. Now the speedo is spot on.

What I have noticed with the taller tires is that the 5 doesn't seem quite as full of gusto when accelerating. I think the taller tires have taken a bit of eagerness out of the 5. Hopefully it will pay off with slightly better fuel economy, but I doubt it. I have been getting around 10L/100 most of the winter. Last summer I averaged around 8.5L/100km. Time will tell on this front as well.

Anyhow, the 5 seems more refined, less snarly and feisty. That's ok by me.

 

[sethro_GT]

Benefit to fuel economy if any may be prone to error in the speedo. May go down now that tires spin less per km.

Nice to hear all Toyo's aren't all loud and harsh.

 

[lisabudd]

OK, I'm a bit overwhelmed. I made it to 38K with my Toyos, and I want to decide on a size for my replacements. I'd like some more ground clearance-lots of speed bumps, crappy roads (crappy drivers like me, maybe?). I thought the 215/50-17s lots are switching to would just be wider? switz above seemed to refer to it as taller...I don't need it to be a big Macho SUV, just more practical. any help would be great

 

[switz]

Lisabudd,

Don't worry about your 5 looking like a SUV. In a 215/50-17 tire, the tire height (the distance the tire extends beyond the rim) is 50% of the width of the tread. So, 50% of 215 is a little bigger than 50% of 205 making the overall diameter of the tire slightly bigger. Enough to provide a bit more cushion going over pot-holes and increasing the ground clearance a bit. It doesn't amount to much; an overall diameter increase of 10mm and ground clearance increase of 5mm. But the tire fills the wheel well out more fully and I think that tire just plain looks better on the stock rim then the original 205's did.

You will not look like you are trying to make your 5 look like an SUV with the 215/50-17 tires.

 

[sethro_GT]

I would recommend the stock size, correct speedo, more narrow=less rolling resistance, and the particular tire has more to do with ride quality than tire size.