2006 Mazda3 Tires - Which One?

[pookieguy]

Hello all,
I'm wondering if someone here can help me choose some new tires for my Mazda 3 2006.

First of all, I have the highest end model from that year and my car seems to take Z rated tires. Do I really need to install these? What will be the difference if I install other ratings?

Now, a while back, I did end up buying some Z rated Flaken tires. They were pretty good at the beginning buy they wore out super fast. They didn't even last two years, and I don't even drive that much! Do Z rated tires have low tread life or was it these Falken tires specifically?

Anyways,
After some searching here and elsewhere, I have basically narrowed things down to these...

Michelin Pilot Sports
Continental ExtremeContact DWS
Michelin Super Sports
Kumho Ecsta ASX

I'm just not sure which way to go. I don't want to spend so much money on tires and have them not last long enough. I also want to ensure the tires I choose will be the most quiet and handle well.

Any suggestion is appreciate it. If you recommend any others that are not on this list, please feel free to do so!

Thank you all,

--mike

 

[weatherdan822]

You're doing the right thing in trying to find the best tire that will get you the furthest without breaking the bank and also satisfying your needs with a high performance compound. You do not need to install the high-performance all season tires if you do not want to, although they are absolutely worth their weight in gold, albeit that is my opinion. I installed Yokohoma Advan Envigor High-Performance All Season tires last year and I love them! They have excellent grip in dry and wet. I drove through about 5 inches of moving water and never lost grip! (Don't do that however haha). As far as the choices above, I would try to steer away from the Michelins as they tend to be considerably pricier than the other two.

To answer your other questions about tire life, how you drive, road conditions, tire alignment and balancing all play into the total wear of the tire, in addition to the rubber compound used that is. The Yokohoma's I use are quiet enough to where you cannot notice any tire noise, unless for example you stick your head next to them while driving at 60 mph +. The Falken tires you purchased may have simply been designed like that, trading noise level for grip, I'm not sure. I hope this has helped you in your decision making process.

 

[pookieguy]

Thank you much for the information. You see, that is what really bugs me the most. When you are researching tires and reading reviews, you have some that just contradict each other. For example, I looked into the Yokohama tires you mentioned and found both good and negative reviews. However, what was really frustrating is that some state that these are quiet tires as you stated but a majority seem to say these tires are extremely noisy and that they won't buy them again.

Just one reason why I hate consumer reviews. lol

Anyways,
I've spent too much time online researching this. I think I'm just going to go with the Extremecontact DWS. I just can't seem to find any better tires and I don't think I can go wrong with these. Problem is, they are impossible to find. Found one place online to order them with free shipping.

Thank you,

--mike