Mazda Protege 5 - Terrible Tires!

[TheMAN]

Trust me, this is a really sharp turn. I am sure if I got a rear strut bar or rear sway (maybe both), I could take it faster. I thinking lowering the car would help as well. I have found the P5 likes to rotate much better than sedans I have driven (I think it's the weight and spring setup). Mine you I could probably taken the turn faster, but that would be me sliding this thing. If not done right you would ram right into the railing (not a lot of room for error). It's basicly a u-turn within 20ft I think.

Yes I realized that it's not 60mph, I was stating the fact that a fellow Mazda speed person would be impressed with they way the P5 takes the turn should say alot. Cause not all turn speed are on the money. I have seen some and said what where they smoking. I seen interstates rated at 70mph that where very easy turns. And then there were turns that required you to use both lanes in the turns to keep it at 70mph (yes, same interstate)!

When someone refers to a car rotating in a turn, they are refering to the fact the rear end is swinging outwards in a turn more so then the front. Rear wheel cars do this and then power out of a turn. Then helps them maintain a high speed in the corner without slowing down. This can also be mentioned at slight oversteer. When you have a lot of oversteer your back end will swing all the way around and you spin. Most car manufactures make the cars the opposite way. They put understeer in most cars, where the front end goes in towards the turn. They do this cause you just need to simply let off the gas to correct. Why is understeer bad then? Well when your trying to steer a corner you need traction. Losing traction in the front is bad. Losing it in the back very slightly if your aware good. Losing it in it in the back completely is worse than in the front. I hope that helps. Oh and incase you did not know it's been mention with the WRX that the wagon seems like it's easier to go around corners for the same reason as the P5.

Magus

blah blah blah
WTF does that have ANYTHING to do with tires?

 

[mountjonas]

wow. the stock dunlops are crap, but i was still able to squeeze 45k miles out of them. i could've replaced them at around 35k, but the funds were a little tight. and like everyone says stop buying tires at the dealership. do some reading on tires and get an alignment ASAP.

 

[TheMAN]

haha... even with me driving the s*** out of my car when I had my original dunlops, I got 35k out of them

 

[redpr5]

as far as fwd and rwd. a fwd will understeer (the protege does it bad if you try to power through a turn, ive killed many tires cuz i start spinnin them through a turn, you cant help it. all fwds will do that) and a rwd will oversteer. its just because of the power distribution, if you drive straight in a rwd and turn the wheel back and forth kinda fast, you can feel the rear end swinging, but you dont really notice that in a fwd mostly because when you turn, the power goes with the wheels turning. of course you can make any car slide, but rwd slides much better for a reason. just look at drift racing.

 

[-pixy-]

I had 50k on my dunlops when I had to replace one of them because I ran over something that fell out of a truck. I bought kumhos to replace all four and then lost 2 of those to a pothole.... now i have over 70k and 2 stock original dunlops (i saved 2 originals just in case) on the back and 2 kumho's upfront. The pothole i hit cracked one of my rims so i had to buy a used rim. Total cost... under 300 for 4 tires and a rim... not 3000.

 

[GordonJ]

So...anyone heard anything from the O.P. yet??

I hope we've convinced him by like the 4th page that it's not the car and never to trust the dealership to fix the problem....especially when they're charging $3000 for tire replacements every couple of months! I mean, c'mon, common sense here...

But anyone man, you're not ditching the car are you?

 

[mazdaddy]

I got 30k out of the original Dunflops and bought a set of Fuzion ZRI's (205/50r16) and have about 30k on those now with tonnes of tread left.
Rotate them every 5k and check the tyre pressures weekly..that helps make a tyre last a looong time....

 

[totttalled]

I've had 4 sets of tires on my P5, and by far the best was the Pirelli PZero Nero M/S in 205/50/16 for all around performance. Night and day difference over the Dunlops. Fits on stock rims with less than 2% speedo error. An all season tire with a strong summer bias. Has some minor flatspotting at temps around freezing (never driven in colder than that or snow) but smooths out after 5 miles of highway driving. After 40,000 miles of faithful service, they were retired - 2 of them had nails all the way thru -- I never knew, they never lost pressure. They will tramline a bit on grooved concrete roads, but only at speeds of 55mph or so. Go faster or slower and it disappears.

Also used Avon M500 summers (very good performance, but weird and premature wear patterns), and now the new Kuhmo SPT's in 195/50/16 (good too, but much harsher ride than the Pirelli's).

 

[totttalled]

In every new car I've ever bought, I've couldn't wait to change the tires into something actually decent. New cars (and especially SUV's/trucks) are notorious for selling brand new cars with crap tires. Reason: lower rolling resistance of these junkers allow the car to scrape out a MPG or two more for that all important EPA rating. Another reason: They usually will hold a balance and stay round, therefore not causing excessive warranty work by the dealer.

Some poplular culprits:
Bridgestone Potenza RE-92's. Pure crap.
Bridgestone Turanza EL-42's. Even bigger crap.
Goodyear Eagle RS-A's. More crap.
(check out how these tires rate on Tire Rack...)

Not to say that Bridgestone and Goodyear overall make bad tires, they also make some great ones. Just not those models.

I had the Turanza EL-42's on my brand new Maxima back in 03. Got stuck in a concrete floored automatic car wash with those. Front tires just spun and spun, unable to pull themselves over the single 1 inch tall wet rubber chock. Very embarrassing.

I also recently noted on my recent visit to a BMW dealer that the brand new 3-series were shod with these Turanza EL-42's. I wonder how many auto mag car comparo's the 3-series lost points on by using these tires??

Truck and SUV tires are even worse. Ford Explorer, anybody?

To summarize, I submit that new autos are largely sold with underperforming, sometimes dangerously so, tires in order to eek out an extra MPG for EPA mileage ratings. Get new tires on your new auto and see your vehicle literally transformed. The overall best mod you can make.

 

[mountjonas]

Bridgestone Potenza RE-92's. Pure crap.

i concur.

 

[julester23]

To summarize, I submit that new autos are largely sold with underperforming, sometimes dangerously so, tires in order to eek out an extra MPG for EPA mileage ratings.

Don't forget about rollovers! Ford underinflated there tires to reduce rollover rates (and i'm guessing this sacrificed mileage). Too bad for them, they picked Bridgestone Wilderness AT tires that would overheat and delaminate at highway speeds - probably due to the the constantly flexing underinflation shape.

 

[TheMAN]

didn't the rollovers happen because they were under inflated to begin with?

 

[totttalled]

Re: Ford Explorer's rollovers..

Last I heard, and this was some time ago, Firestone/Bridgestone were disputing the proper inflation in court. The proper inflation is determined by the auto manufactuer, not the tire manufacturer, for the auto it is on. This pressure recommendation is usually written on a placard on the car somewhere - the door jamb, the glove box or center console, even under the hood. Sometimes in the owner's manual.

Firestone says Ford spec'ed the wrong inflation for their tires on the Explorer's, and if they spec'ed the right inflation, the rollovers wouldn't have occurred.

Ford says their pressure recommendation was OK, but that the tires were substandard, and they're not responsible.

I say that the tires were DOT rated at B traction, C temperature to begin with, showing the alert buyer that the tires were crap on these brand new vehicles to begin with.

I'd also point out that AAA says that as many as 90% of all autos on the road have incorrect tire pressures.

So, if Ford is right, why aren't so many more autos having catastrophic blowouts?

A friend of mine spent 3 weeks in the hospital due to a Ford Explorer blowout, and had to retire early. She got a settlement from Ford. She told me she'd really like to tell me how much $$$ she got, but was forbidden by Ford to do so to anybody -- part of the settlement.

Lesson? Buyers need to research, learn, and beware.

 

[clicknext]

I'm at over 58000 km on my stocks, and two of them still have decent tread left while the other two are at that point where the cuts are starting to disappear. They are definitely not the best tires and at this point, offer little grip in wet, and hydroplane so easily that whenever I see a big puddle on the road I have to slow down to prevent it while everyone around me just goes on through. The tires are usable if I'm careful. So even though I've wanted to get a new set for quite a while, I think I'll wait out yet another winter.

 

[the tortoise]

hey are definitely not the best tires and at this point, offer little grip in wet, and hydroplane so easily that whenever I see a big puddle on the road I have to slow down to prevent it while everyone around me just goes on through.

Damn, and you live in the Rainy Apple!

My Toyo Proxes4's are fantastic all round tires.

 

[mymartind35]

I like your car.

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

Love your car I have one exactly like it. I just wish people would quit door dinging it. Kuhmo Ecsta Asx are Great tires I've had a set on for almost 20,000. I don't corner too fast and peel out. The tires have done incredible, considering the "stock" Dunlops that lasted about 5000. I wasn't a happy camper. Looking for a new set now. Kuhmo just upgraded the ASX to another tire that's just a few more dollars. I think I'll try a set. what the heck. I'll tell you all after I've had them a while.

 

[Stickman]

People want different things from their tires. Some people want soft ride. Others long life, sticky in rain, etc. Since our P5's are not fast, I get my thrills out of hard cornering.
I want an ALL SEASON that allows the car to corner like a "go-cart", so I've stuck w/ the SP5000's.

Lots of people hate the OEM Dunlops................. me not included.

NEW, they have gotten me through 6 winters, light and deep snow.( although got to stay under 30 mph.) In rain they are POOR, but I sipe mine (PITA) and that has made a significant diffrence.

I've tried Kumho's, Worse in snow and poor in rain after they are worn a bit, 5k miles. and poor cornering in dry, weak sidewalls.

Read ContiContac WSD(?)'s good in rain and reported Good snow bite, but all reports show poor cornering.

Since Dunlop has stopped making the SP5000's in 195/50R16, I need to find an All Season that corners superbly, like the Dunlops.

Any ideas are welcome. Thanks

 

[gino]

May-October run ContiExtremeContact DW 215/45/17s on ADR Battle 17/7/+40s. Second season, 17K+ and have nearly 3/4 tread depth left.

I drive the car into corners agressively (these are handlers at 34# inflation) and expect two more summers out of them. The original 195/15 Dunlop Sports sucked and not very well, at that. To blame the car for bad rubber is unwise, bro.

Get a decent set of tires.

 

[P5SPDKILLZ]

Wow, this was quite the ignorant post. Dealer? Head to Google please

 

[DarkAngel]

Surprises me your looking up old post and one started from 2006..........