19,000 miles and time for new tires???

[goldwing2000]

I second the Kumho Ecsta ASX. I only got 15,000 out of the stock badyears and I have almost 35,000 on the Kumhos. I run mine at 40/38psi and I get a nice, even wear pattern and a firm ride.

djltoronto: all tires on a car do not wear at the same rate. On a FWD car, the front tires do 100% of the accelerating, 90% of the turning and 70% of the braking. Unless you drive on the freeway 100% of the time and never turn or stop, you have to rotate your tires. If not rotated, you can go through three sets of front tires before the rear tires wear out.

 

[goldwing2000]

current: 235/45r18
needed: 235/25r18 ?

need to get as close to what the 17's + tire were, but stil provide good enough ride quality and enough rubber to prevent the rims from becoming ovals

235/45-18 is definitely too huge.

If you stick with a 235 section width, the closest size to stock is 235/40-18.
However, I would suggest dropping down to a 225 section width and going with a 225/45-18. Honestly, I'm not sure how you even fit a 235 tire inside your fenders! (scratch)

 

[keleko]

235/45-18 is definitely too huge.

If you stick with a 235 section width, the closest size to stock is 235/40-18.
However, I would suggest dropping down to a 225 section width and going with a 225/45-18. Honestly, I'm not sure how you even fit a 235 tire inside your fenders! (scratch)

they fit (225)

slight scrubbing if i go full lock, but that's also because they're simply too big

the right size i need is 225/40r18, that's established (in multiple threads, plus other boards)
also looking at kumho sts, as that's been reccomended more than others and i have a $40 rebate
just need to find the other $500....

 

[goldwing2000]

they fit (225)

slight scrubbing if i go full lock, but that's also because they're simply too big

the right size i need is 225/40r18, that's established (in multiple threads, plus other boards)
also looking at kumho sts, as that's been reccomended more than others and i have a $40 rebate
just need to find the other $500....

Yeah, I know 225 fits. You said you were running 235s, though.

And yeah, 225/40-18 is exactly right. That was a typo. My bad.

 

[djltoronto]

I second the Kumho Ecsta ASX. I only got 15,000 out of the stock badyears and I have almost 35,000 on the Kumhos. I run mine at 40/38psi and I get a nice, even wear pattern and a firm ride.

djltoronto: all tires on a car do not wear at the same rate. On a FWD car, the front tires do 100% of the accelerating, 90% of the turning and 70% of the braking. Unless you drive on the freeway 100% of the time and never turn or stop, you have to rotate your tires. If not rotated, you can go through three sets of front tires before the rear tires wear out.

I guess I was in a rush when I wrote that... cause this whole topic bothers me. Hearing people say that rotating tires makes them last longer is plain silly...


What I meant by my original commet was simply that by rotating tires often, it will not make them last longer, it will only make them all wear at the same rate (with respect to each other)... "So by the end of say 35k, you will have 4 relatively evenly worn tires instead of 2 badly worn and 2 slightly worn"

Obviously the drive tires wear more than the non drive tires when accelerating, and the fronts wear more than than the back when braking/turning.

I only wanted to stop the nonesense about rotating tires to extend their life. Rotating them will only help to make all tires wear at the same rate. (over the life of the tire).

 

[goldwing2000]

I only wanted to stop the nonesense about rotating tires to extend their life. Rotating them will only help to make all tires wear at the same rate. (over the life of the tire).

I understand what you're saying but isn't "making them all wear at the same rate" the same as extending tire life, in reality?

Besides the fact that it's unsafe to have one pair of tires that is worn more than the other pair, front tires and rear tires don't just wear at different rates, they also wear in different patterns. Front tires wear more at the edges and rear tires wear more evenly across the tread. If you leave a set of tires on the front of the car, the edges of the tread will wear out long before the center does. By rotating the tires, you mitigate the uneven wear.

So that means that yes, rotating the tires from front to rear DOES make them last longer.

But rotating them more often than is recommended (5,000 miles, in the case of the Mazda3) isn't necessary.

 

[keleko]

:dunno:

i rotated mine every 6k (every other oil change), and still managed only 19k from the origonal


(2 were replaced under road hazard warranty, and have ~7k on them)

 

[goldwing2000]

The stock Badyears are just crappy tires. I rotated mine every 5k and only got 15k out of them.

Plus they suck in the dry, the wet and the snow. They have no redeeming qualities.

Move on to Kumhos and never look back! (2thumbs)

 

[djltoronto]

I understand what you're saying but isn't "making them all wear at the same rate" the same as extending tire life, in reality?

Besides the fact that it's unsafe to have one pair of tires that is worn more than the other pair, front tires and rear tires don't just wear at different rates, they also wear in different patterns. Front tires wear more at the edges and rear tires wear more evenly across the tread. If you leave a set of tires on the front of the car, the edges of the tread will wear out long before the center does. By rotating the tires, you mitigate the uneven wear.

So that means that yes, rotating the tires from front to rear DOES make them last longer.

But rotating them more often than is recommended (5,000 miles, in the case of the Mazda3) isn't necessary.

I suppose it does... But negligible. I rotate mine every 2 - 3 oil changes! And all of my tires "appear" to be worn equally. No microscopes were used!

 

[ZoomZoomH]

just want to add that quality of road surface that you drive on frequently has a HUGE effect on how fast your tire wears. Your tires will wear out a lot faster if you drive on beat up, pothole filled, worn out city/suburb roads

 

[goldwing2000]

I suppose it does... But negligible. I rotate mine every 2 - 3 oil changes! And all of my tires "appear" to be worn equally. No microscopes were used!

Good enough, then! (thumb)

 

[vimo19]

I saw the Falken Ziex ZE-512 on size 215/50R/17,will they fit Mazda 3 Hatchback with no problem?

 

[MortMan]

I saw the Falken Ziex ZE-512 on size 215/50R/17,will they fit Mazda 3 Hatchback with no problem?

Sure hope so, cuz that's what I put on my car! (yes, they fit)

 

[goldwing2000]

215/50-17? They may fit physically, but your speedometer is going to be off. Your actual speed will be faster than the speedo shows.

 

[rodslinger]

215/50-17? They may fit physically, but your speedometer is going to be off. Your actual speed will be faster than the speedo shows.

But on the plus side your odometer will start adding up miles about 1% slower now.. Might as well jump up to a 33x10.5x15 and really keep the miles off....

 

[keleko]

so is $513 for 4 kumho spt 225/40r18 installed a good deal, or does someone know where i can get better?

 

[BKK Jack]

215/50-17? They may fit physically, but your speedometer is going to be off. Your actual speed will be faster than the speedo shows.

Your speed/odometer will be off by 2 percent with those tires. Attached is a spreadsheet I made that gives speed in gear and rpm per speed for stock and one set of different sized tires. It is set up for the NA Mz3 (since that is what I am getting), but will work with any car with up to six forward gears (I didn't forget you MS3-types) for which you know all the variables (gearing, final drive, redline). If it is useful, great. If not, at least I had fun making it. I need something to do to pass the time until I finally get my hands on my car!

 

[MightyMouse]

Your speed/odometer will be off by 2 percent with those tires. Attached is a spreadsheet I made that gives speed in gear and rpm per speed for stock and one set of different sized tires. It is set up for the NA Mz3 (since that is what I am getting), but will work with any car with up to six forward gears (I didn't forget you MS3-types) for which you know all the variables (gearing, final drive, redline). If it is useful, great. If not, at least I had fun making it. I need something to do to pass the time until I finally get my hands on my car!

Um, factory speedo's are allowed to be off by as much as 11%! One or two percent difference ffrom a different sized tire is small compared to speedo error. Even the difference between a new tire and a fully worn out tire is more than a 1% difference.

Just putting some perspective on speedo error....

 

[BKK Jack]

Um, factory speedo's are allowed to be off by as much as 11%! One or two percent difference ffrom a different sized tire is small compared to speedo error. Even the difference between a new tire and a fully worn out tire is more than a 1% difference.

Just putting some perspective on speedo error....

That is very true, but for some reason that argument didn't help me when I tried to make the same point to the officer who stopped and cited me for doing 37 in 35 zone!

 

[JOS3]

if you drive like a maniac your tires will wear faster.