Followed shops potentially advice on tire replacement.... hoping they are wrong!

jehowe

Member
I nursed my 2009 Mazda5 GT's original Toyo tires to 33,000m before finally replacing them today. All of them had some cupping, causing them to be pretty noisy over the last 10k miles. They were rotated three times, the last time they were also balanced and none needed much weight.

The shop I took them to is excellent, we've used them for years. When I brought the car in to get tires today, the service manager (and a couple of the mechanics) had some advice which has me a little worried. Bottom line is they steered me to a set of decent, but mostly cheap, Hankook tires. Based on their experience, they believe the Mazda5 has a flaw that causes it to be exceptionally hard on tires. This is regardless of alignment, balancing, or general tire care (rotation, inflation).

Over the past few years, they have picked up on a pattern with 17" wheel Mazda5 owners coming in for tires every 1~2 years or so with worn out tires. Doesn't matter what the quality of tire they have beyond the original Toyo's, (Yokohama, Michelin, Continental, etc) they have all come back chewed up after 25~30k miles.

I'm hoping, really hoping, that either this shop (whom I trust) either has too small a sample set of Mazda5's, or this perhaps was a problem with some pre-2009 17" wheeled M5's. Searching a bit, I certainly found no love for the Toyo model that comes with the 5, but not exactly conclusive evidence (though there is some) that the 5 is a tire monster.

Can anyone shed some light on this?
 
through what i know and been seeing on this forum since 07~, the only bad about mazda5 are the stock toyos which are ultimately the worst tires ever. If there is excessive wear on tires, just gotta fix the alignment i believe and it should be fine. I also think that it really depends on how many people you have in your car in general and the amount of weight you're running with.
 
I guess you'd be really annoyed if you had to change your motorcycle tires ever 8K to 10K miles.... 30K seems like a lifetime to me.
 
all I can tell you is that we have about 28K on a set of Michelin Pilot Exaltos. We treat them exactly the same way we treated the Toyos: rotate every 5K, inflate to 36 psi. They have some tread left, they are worn evenly, they are still quieter than the Toyos were when new, and they are not cupped. Best $800 we ever spent. I wouldn't be surprised to get 35-40K out of this set of tires.
 
Thanks for the replies. Hopefully this won't be an issue for me. The shop I go to has apparently seen repeat M5 customers replacing quality tires from a handful of makers that should have lasted 50k, but are only lasting little more than half that. Every original tire I had was cupped to some degree despite rotating, balancing, and in-spec alignment. Their assumption (perhaps wrong in light of how crappy the Toyo's are) was this car was going to be a tire burner just like the others they've seen, so why pay more for the better model tire. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

FYI- I do drive quite a bit, 30k miles just about every 14 months or so.
 
I'm just under 1K shy of 100K miles and on my 4th set of tires. Sounds bad but,

1st set were the crappy OEM Toyo's whose wet weather traction was so bad I replaced early.

2nd set were some cheap Avon's which had good grip but poor treadwear rating but I probably compounded it by not staying on top of tire rotations. Had same cupping issues as per OP.

3rd & 4th set were/are Yokohama Avid's, which I rotate with every oil change (5K) and have much improved treadwear life. The first sign or wear will still be cupping but with frequent rotations was able to get the full life out of the tire (40K).
 
4 SETS OF TIRES IN 100K!? Wow! I understand that you replaced the OEM set early, but even 33k per set seems excessive to me. We're on the original Toyos @ 18k and they seem fine. We're 80% highway, and they definitely aren't loud.

I think I'm only on set 4 on my 216k DD, and this latest set was installed in February (@ 200k or so).
 
In fairness I did put on the 4th set very recently; March of this year if memory serves. And I'm in the Northeast so I deal with salt & gravel which does a good job of chewing up tires.
 
I guess you'd be really annoyed if you had to change your motorcycle tires ever 8K to 10K miles.... 30K seems like a lifetime to me.

^ oh how true

TO OP:
I believe it also has to do with the OEM suspension settings (negative camber) in the rear set up that causes the cupping, etc., even with regualr rotation, balancing, etc., Mazda 3's, are notorious for this, but these settings provide the basis for the "zoom zoom" factor with the suspension set up for "sportier" driving styles. These vehicles are FUN to drive, so you have to pay to play so to speak.
 
4 SETS OF TIRES IN 100K!? Wow! I understand that you replaced the OEM set early, but even 33k per set seems excessive to me. We're on the original Toyos @ 18k and they seem fine. We're 80% highway, and they definitely aren't loud.
I've got almost 17K on the original toyos and was planning on running them through the winter, but I think a piece of shrapnel has changed those plans. I was able to plug the hole (and those tires are REAL thin! the tool when through the hole like butter!) and it seems to be holding for now. I really am opposed to getting one new tire, so I think I may be buying a full set real soon.
I haven't been unhappy w/ the toyos, they are not worn out, no cupping, seem to be fine on the hwy. wet traction could be better.
 
mazda5, 2006.

I have decided to follow the sticker recommended pressure of 34 PSI for the tires. I noticed fast wear when the tire pressure is excessive in a long drive.
and we are fully loaded. I figured the rubber would resist flexing and because of the camber, more force will be exerted on the inside part..
instead of in the middle (like when the camber was perfectly vertical). Proper pressure will flex the tire a bit for a more equal distribution of the load.
(I think).

I replaced my old OEM Toyo at 31kmiles. Dealer says they were still ok. But the do-it-yourselfer in me wanted to go on a long drive
feeling good and secure with new tires. The wife also approved the purchase so I jumped on the rare occasion.

New tire is Nitto. I just realized it is also made by Toyo... lolz.. I guess I will see how long it will last.
 
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