Mazda5 Tires: Issues & Replacement Recommendations

[KBrian]

Just wondering why you upsized the winter tires, usually winter tires are -1 in size not +1! The idea being that by going down from 205's to 195's you get higher pressures on your contact patches and better traction

I agree with your -1 winter downsize, was. However, as we live in a low-snow zone and don't do much travelling in the winter, I gave in to the need to be contrary

If I was in a true winter season region, I would have found 195/65-16's from somewhere.

Truth be told, I am cheap and got the wheel and tire package installed OTD for 700 bucks.

 

[Outlander]

Am I going to be the first one with 215/55/17?
I've done it couple of days ago.

The Discount tire listed this size as optional Plus Zero:
http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/tirePlusSizes.do?v=013095|2008&r=FLJINT|pc|32258

Plus Zero
215/50-17
215/55-17

The guy in the shop told me that this is a max size I can go with on my car.

The car looks noticably higher and and if I would have them earlier I would not have the ugly curb scratch under the front bumper.

Looks more SUVish but better in my taste.

I know the speedo reading will be a little bit different, but what I noticed right away - the ride is softer, quieter and I did not lose any control.

Will see how it will handle time and milage.

The tires are Barum Bravirus 2 - they are more "summer" tires (live in FL) and they were cheap, but with the list of good reviews.

 

[DKaz]

I'd go 215/50R17 or 215/45R17 or 225/45R17.

 

[Outlander]

I'd go 215/50R17 or 215/45R17 or 225/45R17.

My intention was to make the tires not only wider but higher as well.
The wheels 205/50/17, in my opinion, looked a little bit small on mazda5's minivan profile.
This is the first.
The second - I was going to improve the ride comfort, make it a little bit softer.
My initial impressions were that I achieved it - the ride is softer and quieter. The car looks more solid.

The third - I'm going to improve the lifespan of the tires - original low profile Toyo's were done by 24K miles.

With listed above sizes I do not think it changed much for me - they are about the same diameter with originals and all of them are low profile tires anyway.


Of course - when I read 60 m/hr, i actually have 63, but I can live with this - when my odometer reading will at 60 K, it will be actually a little bit more of driving I had. (burnout)

 

[bluekron]

I installed 225/45Z r17 tires in my mazda, the original tires were just too thin for the rims. I also ended up replacing the rims for some after market ones. I do have a more toed out in the back and was wondering if the toe or camber can be adjusted. Everytime I take the tires for an alignment they come out looking the same. And they tell me they are to spec, and I tell them that it doesnt matter what the factory recommends but what is the most fuctional. Can I fix the camber myself.

 

[VenomDesign]

Rear camber is not adjustable for our Mazda5. You need to buy an adjustable camber kit. And show us some pics of your new wheels.

 

[SGT_OKINAWA]

Rear camber is not adjustable for our Mazda5. You need to buy an adjustable camber kit. And show us some pics of your new wheels.

Agree 100% (can't be adjusted and we want pics, if you do)

Peace!(rei)

 

[switz]

Done with the Toyo Originals

Just thought I'd let everyone know I'm officially done with the original Toyo tires that came with my '08 Mazda5. I just took them off today and installed the Blizzak's that I have on steel rims. Ran the Blizzak's last winter and they have a lot of tread left for this winter. The Toyo's ran two summers and a total of 55,000km, but the last 5000km was on 2/32 and 1/32 of tread. They were noisy, rough and wore very unevenly, as if some of the rubber was harder than other parts of the rubber. I had the wheel alignment checked and everything was within spec. The tires did wear evenly across the tread (from the outside to inside). I usually ran 35-38psi. However, the tread remaining was lumpy and bumpy. I'm not going to get Toyo's again if I can help it.

I've a few months to think about what I'm going to replace them with and after reading all the new tire responses I think I'm going to go with 215/50-17 tires next spring. The question for me is, which ones?

I've been considering the Micheline MXV4's. I don't want a directional tire. I want to be able to rotate the tires from one side of the vehicle to the other. That leaves out quite a lot of tires in this size. I know the Micheline's are expensive, but if they wear uniformly and are quiet, I can live with that. After all, I will "cheap out" on other areas of my Mazda, but it's the four patches of rubber meeting the road that count. I understand the Micheline's have quite a bit of life in them and won't wear out very quickly. That suits me fine, because I rack up a lot of kms pretty quickly.

Any one have any other suggestions for all season rubber that has put on quite a few kms?

 

[DKaz]

I hope you're not downplaying Toyo's quality just based on OE tires. If so I would bash Bridgestone and Michelin for their crappy Insignia SE200 and MXM4 OE tires when a lot of their non OE tires are pretty good, but being two bigger brands, their stuff is typically overpriced. I'm running Toyo winter tires they're pretty superb.

Toyo Extensa A/S is a good budget all season tire that offers long tread life and is fairly quiet, it doesn't come in 205/50R17 but it does come in 215/50R17 that you want, the tire size is only about 1.54% bigger so it's acceptable. Non directional tires.

Another one is Toyo Versado LX touring all season tire that offers I believe an 80,000km tread life for our size (205 or 215/50R17), a very well received tire that is asymmetric but non directional, very quiet, and offers excellent dry and wet capabilities while also decently capable in snow.

Also check out Kuhmo Ecsta ASX (economy all-season) and LX (touring all-season), and Hankook has some good stuff as well.

 

[switz]

Thanks for the info DKaz. Once you have a bad experience with a tire, you tend to scrap the whole brand. I'm guilty of that with Goodyear tires as well. I have not had one good experience with Goodyear (and now Toyo) ever.

I must admit, the brand I have never had any troubles with is Hankook. I would purchase Hankook tires if they didn't have only directional tread paterns available in the 215/50-17 size.

Now, I'd like to ask you DKaz, how many kms you've personally put on the Toyo Extensa A/S or the Toyo Versado LX? If you've had very good experiences with them and been able to cover 50,000+kms using these tires, they may be a good option for me. They sure are less expensive than the Michelines.

Does anyone else out there have sucessful higher mileage experiences with these or other tires? I'd like to know.

Thanks for any input you provide.

 

[DKaz]

I don't have experience with the tires personally, I know some people who do use the Versado LXs and love them. The Extensa A/S is a brand new tire that's not officially available in Canada although 1010Tires carries it, a similar tire called the Eclipse is available in Canada. It's only T speed rated though so that might be an issue but it's rated to 100,000km. The Versado LX is a very good all round tire, the treadwear guarantee is actually 65,000km in our size... they'll last minimum 50,000km.

If treadwear is an absolute must, I ran Motomaster SEs on a few cars before, they're cheap and they last forever. They're not that good in wet weather though, I've had some scary emergency wet braking incidents, but on the flip side they were surprisingly good in snow. This is really the only all-season tire I've ever run for a long time but I wouldn't personally go back because of the wet weather issue especially in Vancouver.

One tire I really liked but only had for a short time was the Nokian WR G2s, they only have a 50,000km warranty in 17" sizes though, if you went for 16" rims with 205/55R16 they would have a 100,000km warranty. They're absolutely excellent in the rain and on slush, very good on dry, and carry the mountain and snowflake emblem for severe winter service, decent on snow, very quiet. If you wanted to downgrade to 16", I cannot recommend these tires enough.

 

[KBrian]

My Olds Aurora came with Michelins (MXV4's) i n 235/60-16. The car had 67000km when I got it in 2006, and now has 111000 after 36 months.

I am embarrassed to say that I have never rotated these tires, and rarely check the air pressure.

Tread wear has been almost nil, the tires are quiet, and they work well in the wet.
Not much driving in snow or ice, but no complaints about how they have worked on the Aurora (a 4000+ lb car)

 

[deadend]

Do you guys think 215-45-r17 tires would fit?

 

[VenomDesign]

Do you guys think 215-45-r17 tires would fit?

Yes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (dance)

 

[SGT_OKINAWA]

Yes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (dance)

I agree with his agree.

Peace!(rei)

 

[sethro_GT]

Just purchased some Continental ExtremeContact DWS's as I want long life and a cush ride. Was as toss up between them and the Kumho Ecsta LX Platinums. Went with the stock tire size as the old toyo's started to hit the secondary rubber on the inside of almost all 4 tires. Figured wider tires would wear even faster on the inside. Tires won't be on till march though, still running the yokohama iceguards.

Another interesting thing is that the price on tires is going up. In February three brands at the store I bought mine at are going up 8~10% and he expects even more by this time next year. I noticed the trend when reading reviews from last fall and the prices stated were lower than current. So buy em now before spring comes.

What type of aftermarket camber adjusters are there for these? Same as the 3?

 

[rweatherford]

Just purchased some Continental ExtremeContact DWS's as I want long life and a cush ride.

I purchased these tires in the 215 width. They do give a cushy and quiet ride compared to the toyos. Steering response is lower as expected from the reviews at TireRack. You should try them in the snow for fun. I was impressed by them, but they may not hold a candle to your snow tires. IDK.

 

[WhitewaterPearl]

We got a set of the Continental ExtremeContact DWS's in a 235-35-19 and we love them. The ride is smoother and less suspension noise transmit to the cabin. My wife been lovin' them the past few days with all the rain here in San Diego.

**Highly recommended tire and much lighter than other brands in comparable sizes**

 

[sethro_GT]

Excellent to hear, now I am pleased with my decision. Thanks!

 

[janneman]

What would changing to 205/45/17 do?