Tire Wear

[cybernetic]

Hello to all posters,

I purchased a Mazdaspeed6 in April 2006. I travel long ditances for work so I have put on about 26,000 kilometers or 15,600 miles since April. I do mainly highway driving and NOT at excessive speeds going to work and back. My dealer told me this past weekend that my tires will need to be changed as I am at the "tire tread-wear" mark on the tires - indicating a need to replace them shortly. The dealer was surprised and said he would look into this and see if it was an issue with Mazda or not.

Does anyone else notice rapid tire-wear with their cars? I can't see myself having to replace tires every 15 or 16,000 miles as that would be ridiculous. I welcome any comments and/or suggestions.

Cybernetic

[jsahyoun]

Wow that seems very soon! How is your alignment have you checked that lately? How agressive do you drive?

[cybernetic]

Wow that seems very soon! How is your alignment have you checked that lately? How agressive do you drive?

I do drive fast from time to time but not usually. I do highway miles at the speed limit - which varies between 60 & 72 miles per hour. What is your expeirence with tires?

[Mgkdrgn]

I've generally found that the first set of tires I have had on any new car have worn out very quickly. The subsequent sets do much better.

I've often wondered if they don't use a softer compound on these "oem" tires than they do on "for general sale" runs so that the cars handle better in test drives.

Hello to all posters,

I purchased a Mazdaspeed6 in April 2006. I travel long ditances for work so I have put on about 26,000 kilometers or 15,600 miles since April. I do mainly highway driving and NOT at excessive speeds going to work and back. My dealer told me this past weekend that my tires will need to be changed as I am at the "tire tread-wear" mark on the tires - indicating a need to replace them shortly. The dealer was surprised and said he would look into this and see if it was an issue with Mazda or not.

Does anyone else notice rapid tire-wear with their cars? I can't see myself having to replace tires every 15 or 16,000 miles as that would be ridiculous. I welcome any comments and/or suggestions.

Cybernetic

[jdub260]

11,000 miles and I need new tires too. I Auto-X mine but still 11K is a bit premature. You should be able to get at least 30K out of OEM tires, otherwise they are just price gouging. Just my 2 cents.

[buit9110]

i also have rapid tire wear, i had mine replaced at 12000 miles, i drive agresively sometimes but not much.

[dread]

do you rotate your tires?

[MazdaTurboSpeed]

(rtfm) ...remember that you bought a fairly high performance vehicle. It did not come from the factory with wimpy all season tires with a treadwear of 440. I believe the treadwear on the Potenzas is 140...i could be wrong,..but I know it is very low. It's a soft compound summer tire. Same thing happened with the stock tires on the MSP's.

There are decent performance tires out there with treadwear in the 300 range. Tirerack and discounttiredirect shows the specs of tires online.

There is nothing wrong with your tires. As a previous Toyota service manager I heard that complaint many many times from new car owners. Especially those buying a car like the camry se v6. Those buying a camry are not looking for performance tires but from the factory they were coming with a fairly soft compound. 15K miles into the car they would start complaining when they needed new tires.
Bottom line,...you are lucky to be driving a MS6! Now go buy a longer life performance tire. :-)

[MS6S2K]

My MS6 was a lease, so I found it necessary to get the exact 215.45 18 all seasons for winter. Thus far, I am very impressed with the tires I got. I picked up a set of Pirella Nero M & S high performance all seasons, and they really do not feel cheap. They grip very well in all conditions, will be sufficient in snow, and will last you 40K+ miles easily. I didn't feel all that much of a downgrade in performance believe it or not, they only ran me $125 each, so those make a great replacement tire. I didn't feel I needed snow tires, because i believe this car is gonna go quite well in winter, and the winter ratings of this tire are very sufficient on this AWD car. :)

[Lt. Dan]

Remember, there are many different things that contribute to tire wear, especially on an AWD tire... Tire pressure, Regular alignments(you should have had at least two done in 16K), and Tire rotations!!!!

[cybernetic]

do you rotate your tires?

Yes - the dealer rotates them for me regularly

[cybernetic]

(rtfm) ...remember that you bought a fairly high performance vehicle. It did not come from the factory with wimpy all season tires with a treadwear of 440. I believe the treadwear on the Potenzas is 140...i could be wrong,..but I know it is very low. It's a soft compound summer tire. Same thing happened with the stock tires on the MSP's.

There are decent performance tires out there with treadwear in the 300 range. Tirerack and discounttiredirect shows the specs of tires online.

There is nothing wrong with your tires. As a previous Toyota service manager I heard that complaint many many times from new car owners. Especially those buying a car like the camry se v6. Those buying a camry are not looking for performance tires but from the factory they were coming with a fairly soft compound. 15K miles into the car they would start complaining when they needed new tires.
Bottom line,...you are lucky to be driving a MS6! Now go buy a longer life performance tire. :-)

Hi - Thanks for your data - I am therefore now trying to find a longer life high performance tire - any suggestions? see below that I just saw on tread wear web site

"The DOT does not test tires. It depends on manufacturers to test their own tires and report the results. Unfortunately, this system has made treadwear ratings far less useful than the DOT had originally intended because tire manufacturers are able to use the treadwear grade as a marketing tool.

It is legal and permissible for a manufacturer to give their tire a 240 rating when their competitor's equivalent tire has a 220 rating; thus creating the false impression that the 240 tire is a better purchase because it will last longer. This tendency to inflate treadwear numbers has become so common that some manufacturers may report that ALL their tires have above average treadwear grades. Some are taking normal tires and reporting a treadwear of 600 or more, or giving a 220 rating to maximum performance tires with a reputation for poor tire life (e.g. the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar EMT).

TreadWear Grade

Below 200=15% of Tires

201 - 300=25% of Tires

301 - 400=32% of Tires

401 - 500=20% of Tires

501 - 600=6% of Tires

above 600=2% of Tires

Source: safercars.gov

Trends
In general, manufacturers tend to overstate the treadwear of their tires in an effort to create the impression that their tires last a long time. The exception to this is in competition racing tires, which customers expect to have very soft rubber compounds and very short lifespans. Manufacturers tend to give their race tires low treadwear numbers (often zero) to emphasize how soft and sticky their rubber is.

Uses
The ability of manufacturers to report their own numbers makes comparison of treadwear ratings between companies useless. Ratings may still be useful within a manufacturer's own line of tires. For example, a customer can reasonably assume that the higher treadwear rating on a Dunlop SP 60 means it will last longer than the Dunlop SP Sport.


Suggestions would be great -

cybernetic

[MazdaTurboSpeed]

As far as the industry misleading the consumer with inflated treadwear numbers.....who knows. (dunno) A thought here though is that I imagine the inflation happens more with those tires being sold/marketed for longevity,...ie. the 60K mile tire. Yes it may very well happen with a performance tire,..but think about this. People buying performance tires know that low treadwear generally equals better performance(softer/stickier). One would assume that a 300 treadwear tire is not going to perform as well as a 200 treadwear tire. For performance I don't want to purchase a hard 400 compound but at the same time i don't want a 140 super handling compound that will wear out in 10k miles. I believe the tire manufacturers keep the numbers within reason. I doubt you'll ever see an Eagle F1 with a 400 treadwear. It is a tool to help with a tire purchase. Just like manufacturers that claim certain HP numbers with their parts. Varying circumstances can provide varying results.

Do your homework. Ask around. Read reviews on tirerack.com
Keep in mind that everything is a factor....driving style, conditions(temp, surface type), tire pressure, maintenance.

Good luck finding your new tires.

[psi365]

Remember, there are many different things that contribute to tire wear, especially on an AWD tire... Tire pressure, Regular alignments(you should have had at least two done in 16K), and Tire rotations!!!!

I don't agree with the alignment statement. Technically you should never have to get an alignment unless a suspension component wears out, or an outside influence changes the alignment.....ie hitting a large pothole, curbing it, etc. That's almost a direct quote from a Hunter instructer, Hunter being one of the largest manufacturers of alignment equipment.For the first several hundred miles the suspension of the car is still settling which also leads to tire wear. OEM tires also generally suck. I know a lot of VW's and Audi's wear tires out quickly. Allroad's would usually go through a set of tires every 15k.Best bet is when you do decide to replace your tires try another brand, I'd even say go more toward an all season too.

[MazdaTurboSpeed]

OEM tires generally are not the best,..for many reasons. 1. Price. Pay now or pay later. Most people would rather see a lower sticker price. 2. Most normal sedans/coupes/suvs use tires that fall in the middle of their intended purpose. They need to be quiet and comfortable while also providing decent traction/wear/feel. I would not want to be the guy working for a car manufacturer who decides what tire goes on a vehicle. Whatever you choose will likely have people complaining about it.
So it comes down to the intended purpose of the vehicle. An all season tire will not perform as well as a summer tire of course,..and also won't perform nearly as well as a winter tire. It's a balance that most of us who aren't at the track every weekend can live with.

Also,..as a fact, show in many studies, vehicles are much heavier than they were 10, 15, 20 years ago. All of our standard accessories add alot of weight. power everything, airbags everywhere, bells/whistles/safety features. Not to mention they are larger in general..but not all. Park a 84 accord next to a 2004 accord..wow big difference. That weight hurts tire wear obviously.

A good rule of thumb for alignments....once a year. You will encounter plenty of bumps, etc. to throw it off. The suspension does not need to be out of tolerance by large margins. 1/16th" out of spec will wreak havoc on your tires.
Just my 2cents. If we were all as worried about tires/gas/price/etc. as we pretend to be,...everyone would be driving around in little 94 honda civic vx's getting 50mpg without hybrid technology.

If you want to play...you gotta pay. Driving an MS6 is no exception. Sorry for the ramble...but work is boring me today..lol.

[Newf]

I got about 25k out of my bridgestones on my MSP as well and I rotate every 5000 kms, do not autox or race.

Same goes for my Dunlops on my MP3.

Go out and get some goodyear eagle f1's next time around. Supposed to be a decent tire with good tread life

[ZUZOOM]

As for tire replacement, my original Potenzas lasted 21K with wear on outside of 3 tires. Getting really cloase to the wear marks. Researched and found goodf news about the Zero Nero M +S . Have had them for 1 week and let me tell you. WOW. Great handeling and less NOISE than before. Last winter I did get stuck 1 time with the Bridgestones and other than that the car handeled fine. So if these new tires last 40K then I may not be getting my new Rims anytime soon.LOL BY the way I am in Cincinnati and yes the snow did get bad..

[JaxJeff]

I bought mine mine with 12500 on it and my tires where about dead ! i think the backs were worse. I think the camber in back makes the insides wear out faster but im not sure. mine were pretty bad on the inside.
I run Nito neo gens now and i love em they are only like $105 each...super sticky ! . I have like 5000 on em now and no huge signs of wear. I'd say ill get about 20000 out of em . but since they are about half price of most tires who cares!

[ZUZOOM]

Yeah the P Nero Zero's ran about $155 at Tire Discounters. ASnd they did find 3 out of 4 corners out of alignment. As much as 1/4 of an inch. I do like these tires.

[fellowkillla]

:eek:(sad2)(sad2)I rotated my tires around 10,555.and when i was rotating them i notice the back look just like the front.and believe me in n.y.c,the snow storms here is killing my pockets for replacements...so i called the dealership and ask if some of their cars have the same tires.he said "no"!!most of them have season and the others summers.and he said you have to ask for it when you buying it.thank you mazda

[ZUZOOM]

Yeah my Dealer also mentioned that The summer tires sold with the car were "designed" to only last about 20k miles. Which seems to be a consensus. I do really like my dealer they do seem to be very honest. Yeah I know a OXY MORON, but so far so good. Honestly I likes the season Potenzas were a great tire, maybe still go with a Summer set and a winter set. Sport cars require special treatments.

[BoostedSpd6]

10,700 on mine replacing them in the spring time... they started wearing badly after about 6,000 ive been to the track twice but still.. im putting somt toyo's on a set of nice blacked out rims..

[Drover]

13000km on mine and the back ones are smooth (notcool)

[Afroman]

I got about 15k gout of mine. I changed them to Pirelli M+S jsut befor hte winter snow hit.

They are soft tires, "ultra high performance summer times" according to tire rack.


Its just a price you pay for getting these kinds of tires straight from the factory. They were fun for a year, now its time for the good all seasons.

[kurfgator]

I burned up a set of almost new RX-8 Bridgestones in about 15,000. I'm on a nice set of Proxes so we'll see how these hold up.

[gooniac33]

you need to rotate these tires regularly!! I need to get my car aligned I think but I mainly make right turns. So the out side of my left front wore pretty bad. But it is an all wheel drive car and they say that they must be rotated more often. I go by how they look not by miles. And I have softer than stock tires too. SO that may have something to do with it....

[TOM3622]

(rtfm) ...remember that you bought a fairly high performance vehicle. It did not come from the factory with wimpy all season tires with a treadwear of 440. I believe the treadwear on the Potenzas is 140...i could be wrong,..but I know it is very low. It's a soft compound summer tire. Same thing happened with the stock tires on the MSP's.

There are decent performance tires out there with treadwear in the 300 range. Tirerack and discounttiredirect shows the specs of tires online.

There is nothing wrong with your tires. As a previous Toyota service manager I heard that complaint many many times from new car owners. Especially those buying a car like the camry se v6. Those buying a camry are not looking for performance tires but from the factory they were coming with a fairly soft compound. 15K miles into the car they would start complaining when they needed new tires.
Bottom line,...you are lucky to be driving a MS6! Now go buy a longer life performance tire. :-)


My experience tells me that the writer quoted above is correct in that there is nothing wrong with the tires, but I disagree with his contention that buying tires with a high treadwear number is the answer. I believe that there is something mis-engineered with the front suspension of the Speed6. I have read that a camber adjustment could cure the problem of uneven and premature tire wear, but the camber is not adjustable; however, I don't know how accurate that report is.

As for my experience, a month after I bought my Speed6 in November 2006, I was in a light snow and (despite my dealer's testimony when I questioned why Mazda would sell a car in Pennsylvania with only summer tires) I found the "stock" summer performance tires to be totally unsafe. At that point, I installed Pirelli P-Zero Nero Mud and Snows, rated at 400. By the time they had 15,000 miles on them, they were worn to the point that they would not pass a PA state inspection.

At 5,000 miles, I took the car to the dealer believing that the front end was way out of whack because the outside edges of the front tires were cupping badly and the inside edges wearing noticeably. The dealer was alarmed enough to check the alignment--free. The report came back that all was in spec, and the dealer rotated the tires front to rear and added two pounds of pressure. At about 12,000 the "new fronts" were not cupping as badly as the originals, but still wearing alarmingly quickly, so I visited the dealer again. Once again the service manager was concerned enough to re-check the alignment--again free, so you know they had to figure that something was wrong with my car!--and it came out fine again. I made a third visit a couple of weeks ago with the tires worn beyond inspection standards, and I was basically told that I have a performance car with performance tires, what did I expect? Rotate them with each oil change, and GO AWAY.

The change in attitude makes me believe that, as Mazda dealerships are becoming more familiar with the cars and getting a parade of them coming in for the same reason, they are coming to realize that this is a common condition and unfixable.

If you go to Tire Rack web site and check the reviews, you'll see that people are getting in excess of 60,000 miles out of these Pirellis, and one of the guys I work with has a Lexus 300 with 50,000 miles on his P-Zero Nero M&S's, so it's not the tires. I don't drive overly hard. I put two sets of replacement tires (one at about 40,000 miles and another at 90,000) on my last car, a Nissan Maxima, and sold it at 130,000 miles with plenty of tread on the tires, so I don't think it's me. That leaves only the car.

I really love the Speed6, but I won't put up with putting tires on it every 15-20,000 miles. I'm going to give it one more shot with a harder Yokohama Avid H4s (500 wear rating) and, if these don't last more than 20,000 miles, I'm going to put the almost unused summer tires back on it and trade it.

Perhaps everyone with this problem should call Mazda at 800-222-5500 and complain. If you do, have your VIN and other pertinent info handy.

[Qwik6]

My tires usually last 15k miles. Is any1 having problems with all the tires edges being cupped? Like high and lows. Inside and out. Center is perfect.

[AWDTerror]

Holy old thread batman!
Qwik mine wear like that also, i think tire wear has a lot to do with the complicated AWD our car has. I've got a set of fuzions that have lasted 20k miles so far, probably won't last to much longer though.

[Skywlkr]

Try TireRack for Kumho Ecsta SPT. I'm going to try those. $100, rate close to the micheline pilot sports and some of the miata guys have used them and say they are getting over 30k on them.