Replacing stock Toyos w/ Potenza G009 215/50/17

mazdadude

mazdadude

ZOOOOOOOOOM ZOOOOOOOOOM
:
'16.5 Mazda CX-5 Touring
Well I have been feeling a vibration in the car that I felt was an out of balance tire or bent wheel. 30,000 miles on stock Toyos, rotated 3x

I took it in to the tire shop today to rotate and balance, and I have a bad tire.

I always watch the guys as they do my car, and while the tech was marking the tires for their new position, before he uninstalled them, he gave each one a spin. When we came to the right rear, the tire had a hop to it, but the wheel was true.

They dismounted the tire from the wheel, and the inside sidewall of the tire was damaged. This must have came from running the tire at too low of pressure. (The tire was at 24 psi when I inflated it the other night. I usually run 33-34psi.)

I have been looking at tires, and have had very good luck with the performance and wear of the Potenza's. I decided to upgrade to the Bridgestone G009 Potenza. 215/50/17's. This is a High performance all season tire, and has a few upgrades to the stock Toyos. It will have a slightly taller sidewall, slightly wider width, and a little higher load rating.

I look forward to getting them installed this week, they are on the way from the Tire Rack $578 to my door.

Of course there are so many tires to choose from, and I could have easily saved $200 going with a generic tire. However I enjoy driving, and I find that a set of tires can make or break a car.

I will give a review and some pics upon installation!
 
You'll be happy with the size, I know I am.

The same tire from tireseasy.com would have run about $564.67 shipped, so you got a good deal.

Matt
 
Well, I got the new tires installed.

Yeehah! It is like getting a new car.

I never thought much about the roadnoise with the old tires, but the new tires are silent. The first time I brought it onto the freeway and up to 75-80, I could hear the difference, or the silence for that matter.

The difference in width is nice, and makes the 5 look more "beefy".

Another nice thing is that before when you looked down the side of the car, the wheels stuck out more than the tire did. Now with the wider tires, the tire sticks out more than the wheel and will help protect the wheels from curbings.

The difference in the sidewall height is noticed too. Expansion joints in the pavement or other road irregularites are less prominent as well.

(drive)
 
Sorry, here are some pics... last pic is side by side of old tire on left and new tire on right.

Notice how the wheel looks less like a hubcap, and more like a wheel!


The overall difference in my rolling diameter from a worn out 205/50 to a brand new 215/50 is noticeable in my seat-of-the-pants dyno.

I checked it with the GPS and before the tire change the speedometer would read:

80mph on GPS was ~81.5-82 mph on speedometer.

After the tire change:

80mph on GPS is 79.5-80 mph on speedometer.





P1010014.JPG


Tread view

P1010017.JPG



old tire on left and new tire on right.

P1010007b.jpg
 
Last edited:
kyoshiro said:
do they sell 215/50/16?
Click to expand...

That 16" is kinda oddball size apparently, because when I searched that size I only found (6) tires in that size at the Tirerack.com website, compared with (55) tires in the 17"
 
Thanks for a great suggestion on tire sizes! I was thinking 225/45, but the 215/50 looks like a great alternative, and all the benefits of the slightly taller tire too......
 
awww i'm so jealous! i used to have these tires on my focus, but was iffy about putting 215s on my 5. wish i had done it.... i have nokians on my car for the winter now....

in the focus, i also noticed that the ride was much quieter and smoother! GREAT tires!

by the way, the potenza g009s are amazing in the snow! they were actually better in the snow than the snow tires i have now!

i had the 16s.... miss em!
 
mazdadude said:
It's ok MD5, the truth is, it was your thread that convinced me on the optional tire size. (bow)

I was already considering it, just waiting for someone else to do it, so I could see how they worked out.;)
Click to expand...

HA!

I like those tires, they are good looking(dance)


I've been VERY happy with the Generals, they have a good, quiet ride, and although they don't look aqua friendly, they are very good in heavy rain.

Just a couple of months after I bought those, I bought some ProGrade Goodyears for my Excursion and they ran me about $760. Dang I'm glad the 5's tires don't cost as much.... Along with tires, I replaced both batteries on the Excursion so I spent almost $1k that week(wow)
 
30k tire update!

After seeing some new threads on the updated Potenza G019 tires, I though I would post an update on these Bridgestone Potenza's G009 tires.

So far I have 2 and a half years and 33k miles on them, with 3 rotations and I am still thrilled with these tires. The tread-depth was checked this weekend and I estimate another 12k miles is within easy reach.

(rockon)
 
Last edited:
45K Final Update!

mazdadude said:
After seeing some new threads on the updated Potenza G019 tires, I though I would post an update on these Bridgestone Potenza's G009 tires.

So far I have 2 and a half years and 33k miles on them, with 3 rotations and I am still thrilled with these tires. The tread-depth was checked this weekend and I estimate another 12k miles is within easy reach.

(rockon)
Click to expand...

OK the final chapter of this set of tires...

After almost 4 years, 5 rotations, and 45,000 miles, the inside tread was down to the cords. If I would have swapped the tires on the rims, I think I could have gotten another 15k miles on them.

Final ending costs for this set of g009 Bridgestone tires;

Tires, install, tax, rebalancing, rotations for 45k miles= $0.0168 per mile (1.7 cents per mile)


New set of Michelin Primacy MXM4 215/50/17 93V tires and alignment performed @ 75k miles.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the update on the tires.

I am just about to pull the trigger on them at Costco.

Right now (starting today 3/10/11), they are having a sale on Bridgestone G019 tires (use coupon book).

Cost:
$480 - $120 per tire x4
$60 - $15 mounting and balancing x4
(-) $70.00 with Costco book coupon

So for me in California with local tax OTD is $509.

The tires are not posted on their website, but are available for order in-store.

Any better deals out there?
 
Last edited:
That is a good deal! The good thing about costco is you get the rebate back instantly, and no waiting for a check or gift card.

The only problem I have had at costco is when you are trying to put a different than stock size tire on your car, i.e. going from the 205/50 to a 215/50, some Costco's will not put anything but the stock size on.

The g019 Bridgestone, were in my final 4 tires to choose from. The other 3, were the Michelin Primacy MXM4, Continental DWS, and the Bridgestone Serenity.
 
Last edited:
The Conti's are my first choice, however due to a huge difference in price I think I'm going with the Bridgestone.

My only concern is that some reviews of the G019 state that they are noisy. My Toyo's are pretty noisy as it is and I don't think the Mazda5 is a quiet car to begin with.

I do like the fact that they are a 50k tire. And since Costco will back the warranty, I expect it to last close to 50k with free rotation from them.

-B55er
 
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