Mazda Protege 5 - Terrible Tires!

[zdama]

I'm writing this post out of the share frustration with the low quality of Protege 5 (low profile) tires. I bought my Mazda Protege 5 in 2003 (currently has 44K miles) and with today's payment I have spent over $3,000 in tire replacement.

Dont get me wrong, I initially really liked this car but the thing about tires finally got me to a conclusion that this car needs some major re-thinking in regard to tires.

I have the feeling that a bubble gum would do better job than the tires on Protege 5. This is just horrible.

It is a major hazard to drive (btw I have a toddler), bumps and cuts appear quite regularly. When I asked my Mazda rep his only explanation was (quote) "Just try to avoid pot holes!". What a ridiculous statement! And I usually drive in the city, not on the mountain.

Despite the fact I like other features, I plan to sell this car pretty soon and get a car that has more reliable and secure tires. I dont have a budget to change tires every other month.

If anyone had a similar experience please let me know. Im not a fanatic driver or anything like it but after so many tire replacements I think this car has a major problem.

Thanx.

 

[ChefChris]

I have had my protege5 for 66k miles and I have put 5 sets on now, its not the car it the fact that the size only comes in soft compound tires, most low profile tires, are soft compound. The low profile tire are nothing like those 29.95 deal at tire kingdom, that have 65k mile warr. on them.

If you get 12k on a set your doing good, on low pro's.

 

[altspace]

I put 25K miles on my OEM Dunlops and they still have some tread left to them. What tires do you purchase? Do you rotate?

 

[carter1551]

yeah im scared for the day that my tires need replacement simply because of the cost. As much as i like to drive aggressive and hug turns this keeps me driving pretty conservative most of the time

 

[gottacatchup]

if you hate the stock tires so much why do you keep replacing them? Buy some quality aftermarket rubber and keep the P5.

 

[p5power]

I bought my p5 almost two years ago now, have put 30,000 miles on it and haven't even had to think about replacing the tires. And who knows how many miles the previous owner had put on them. what kind of tires are you throwing on this thing?? it just doesn't seem to make sense, regardless of what tires you're using, that you have to replace your tires "every other month."

 

[Crazy D]

I have 18.9k on my 02... still on OEM

Don't really care for them in bad weather... but I change my driving pending the outdoor conditions and/or roads. I know which street suck or what roads I need to be below speed limit cuz of how the F'ed up they are.

But if the 2nd set didn't work... I would of changed to a better brand of rubber. Getting rid of the P5 at this point cuz your Mazda Rep doesn't care to offer you more than one option. Personally I don't think its a good reason to get yourself in something else...

Tire problem < could be worst

Have 2 kids myself...

 

[Protephile]

Quoted: "Despite the fact I like other features, I plan to sell this car pretty soon and get a car that has more reliable and secure tires. I dont have a budget to change tires every other month."

^^^
This makes 0 sense to me. WTH does the car have to do with the tires?
You didn't mention what kind of tires you've been buying.

 

[The Short Bus]

How do you spend $3000 on tires?

I'm writing this post out of the share frustration with the low quality of Protege 5 (low profile) tires. I bought my Mazda Protege 5 in 2003 (currently has 44K miles) and with today's payment I have spent over $3,000 in tire replacement.
.

$3000 in tires? Wow, you must flog the hell out of your car. I got 30k out of the stock Dunflops and then spent $300 bucks on Kumho ASXs. I guess you're driving the car ten times harder than I am? Or you live on a GIANT sheet of sandpaper.

 

[mspeedP5]

Wow! To go through that much rubber you must be doing one or more of the following...
1. Using a 140 or less treadwear tire for daily driving.
2. Maintaining your tire pressures at all 4 corners either at 20 psi or less or 40 psi or more.
3. Regularly curbing your wheels to screw your alignment.
4. Disabled the ABS and locking up the wheels at every stop sign/traffic light.
5. Burning out at every stop sign/traffic light.

My OEM Dunflops have 50,000+ kms on them and they're still good for a few more. I just don't have them mounted right now because the Hoosiers are on the OEM rims.

 

[nate0123]

you could purchase a cheap set of 15s and have more size options to work with: 195/55-15, 205/55-15, etc

no reason to throw out the baby with the bathwater

 

[zdama]

Dunlop SP Sport 5000M

Guys,

thank you all for your feedback. I forgot to mention that my dealership always puts Dunlop SP Sport 5000M. I have no idea of some other brands that would fit on Protege 5.

Is this crap or a good tire? I'm far from an expert but these piled expenses just made me furious lately.

thanx.

 

[nate0123]

How much is the dealer charging for the Dunlops? That could be a big part of your problem right there...

 

[nate0123]

There are plenty of other tire brands that you could look at, even keeping your 16" rims. And you don't necessarily have to stick with 195/50-16s, you could switch to 205/50-16s

 

[GreyMan]

Guys,

thank you all for your feedback. I forgot to mention that my dealership always puts Dunlop SP Sport 5000M. I have no idea of some other brands that would fit on Protege 5.

Is this crap or a good tire? I'm far from an expert but these piled expenses just made me furious lately.

thanx.

I've been told that Mazda had a deal with Dunlop to make a different/weird tire size. Basically, its a unique tire size making it more expensive etc. because they have to special order the Dunlops.

The Dunlops that came stock are CRAAAP. Theres no mistake about it. I have Toyo Proxes and I couldnt be happier. They have lasted me well.

 

[RaiderMS3]

that is the problem. You never looked up tires here. Those Dunflops are terrible, and are well known about it. No worries, though. You can get 205-50-16 tires elsewhere that will work fine. I toasted my Dunflops after 8K miles, never wentback to stock. Went through a setof Yokohamas in 24K, and now have 18K my Kumho Ecsta 711 205-40-17 tires on aftermarket wheels, and they are almost like new, surrprisingly.

Go get a good set of tires, and avoid the dealer at all costs!

 

[MP5_509]

the OE dunflops are retarded expensive. I just bought some Kuhmos from tirerack and they gave me the suggestion of goin wit the OE tires and they were 131 a piece. f that! the kuhmos i bought were 56 a piece. Thats your problem. buying expensive s*** tires.

 

[altspace]

Oh.....a dealer....enough said.

 

[TheMAN]

first of all, if you have to change your tires every other month, there's a friggin alignment problem... get it taken cared of NOW

next, stop feeding on the bulls*** that stealership gives you and screw the stock tires... get a decent all season tire like the falken ziex 512s in 205/50R16 size.... it will 1) make your speedometer more accurate 2) they'll cushion the bumps better as they are a bit taller profile

then you need to regularly keep the tire pressures in check... if pot holes is a problem for you, pump the tires up to 35psi and leave it there... the extra pressure will make the sidewalls stiffer so that less damage could occur...

and finally, drive slower on those bumpy roads or just down right avoid them


listen to what the others had to say... the advise you see here could save you a LOT of money and time... replacing a car is NOT a cost effective solution because selling your car means losing money

 

[CTt3P5]

Please listen to everyone and stop buying tires from the dealer!!

First I would suggest you check http://www.discounttiredirect.com and do a search for tires. They will give you a couple of different option in a 16" size. Next go to http://tirerack.com to look up any tires that interest you from the first site. I have found that tirerack has much more info but yet everytime I enter the P5 in, they only give me the stock size to choose from.

Also run a search here on the forums for any tires that interest you to see what fellow members have had to say about them. If you can't find anything, start a new thread asking people their opinions.