I’m the one who started this topic six months ago when I had 21k miles on the OEM Bridgestone Dueler 400s. I actually ended up replacing them in May just past the 28k mile mark. They probably had another 6-8k miles left in them, but (unlike you) I was NOT very happy with them! The two issues I had with them were premature wear and road noise.
I rotated them every 5,000 miles and they still wore unevenly and quickly. I’ve spent countless hours researching why they only lasted 28k miles (might have made it to 35k miles, if I had stuck it out until they were completely worn out). I was determined to figure out why they lasted 50-60k miles for some and only half as long for others (including me)! The best and most logical explanation I’ve found is that the combination of a warmer climate (and much hotter road surfaces) and spending about 75% of my time/miles on the highway going 80-85mph caused them to wear very quickly. I also live in the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains where straight roads don’t exist. All of the roads I drive daily are very curvy and I take advantage of the CX-9’s handling capabilities more than the average driver probably does.
I had 10 tire models to choose my replacements from (excluding two Bridgestone Dueler models). I researched each of them until I finally felt comfortable making a choice. I got a set of Yokohama YK580s which were originally exclusive to Discount Tire but now are becoming available at other retailers. I paid $817 out-the-door and I couldn’t be happier with them! I’ve put almost 3,500 miles on them so far and they have met or exceeded my expectations across the board! =)
Handling and ride quality are both noticeably improved, especially on less than perfect road surfaces. Most importantly, road noise is definitely reduced! An unexpected but welcome surprise is improve wet weather traction. My CX-9 is FWD and it took me at least 10k miles to learn how to start off on wet pavement without causing the traction control to kick in because of wheel spin. With the Yokohamas, it’s much harder to cause wheel spin even in pouring rain.
The YK580 also has a 60k mile Treadwear Warranty, which is excellent for any tire with a V-speed rating. When I was shopping, I noticed that the Bridgestone Dueler 400 (OE) doesn’t have a mileage warranty, but the Dueler 422 has a 65k miles warranty!? To be honest, I’ve never had very good luck with OE tires that were performance-oriented. My 2006 Mazda3 had a set of $1100 Goodyears that were starting to show steel belt at 26k and I had an Acura TL that ate up a set of Bridgestone Potenzas in under 20k miles! So I definitely avoided replacing them with the same make/model of tires and went with something that would last longer. I put a set of Dunlops on both the Acura and the Mazda3 and got over 50k miles on both.
I know that you don’t have Discount Tire in your area, but DiscountTireDirect.com carries the Yokohama YK580s with FREE SHIPPING (UPS Ground)! They’re only $170 each and a set of four + TPMS Rebuild Kit would total $700 even! The only additional cost would be having them installed locally but there are plenty of local installers showing in your area who would do the job for $80 or less.
I almost forgot to mention, even though the YK580s have great handling and traction, they are also low-rolling-resistance. Yokohama accomplishes that by replacing a percentage of the petroleum-based oil used in the tire with orange oil (as in the fruit)! My MPG average has increased by 0.8mpg overall since I got them. I’ve managed to stay above the 20mpg mark for the last 3,500 miles, for the first time!
One final note, I bought a 2014 Mazda6 Grand Touring a few months ago and it has just over 4,000 miles on it. According to numerous other Mazda6 GT owners, the OE Dunlop SP Sport 5000 tires (225/45R19 W-rated) are starting to wear out before the 20k mile mark! So I’ll be replacing those in a year or so, I’m sure…..
It does sound like you are hard on tires. It will be interesting to see how long the Yokohamas last.
As I noted earlier, my Dueler OEM tires were still going strong at 53,000 miles with perhaps another 10,000 miles of tread left when my wife hit some metallic object and created a non repairable puncture through the tread. I was going to replace them before winter anyway but now I am forced to make a quick decision.
After some thought and research I have come up with the following conclusions (for me):
1) The customer comments and "reviews" on the popular internet tire company websites are worse than useless. Indeed, they are extremely misleading and biased. Every Tom, Dick and Harry gets equal billing and everyone writes their reviews essentially to justify whatever purchase they just made. They also whine about whatever the OEM tire they had before they made the brilliant switch to the new tire. I appreciate that many people think they "feel" a difference when they get new different tires installed. However, they are feeling the difference between one new set and another old set. Not a valid comparison. Nobody's memory is good enough to recall what the OEM tires felt like when they were new. If Mario Andretti drove a CX-9 with two different tires and made comments about them I would be impressed but most of the people making comments about handling have no better skills or expertise than I do so it is hard to put much weight on their opinions. Comparing MPG is very tricky as weather and age of the car can affect these numbers and it is very hard to control for that. My mileage tank to tank can vary ten percent easily and sometimes much more. Bridgestone says there might be one percent improvement in MPG with the 422 over the 400. They have real data and the strongest statement they make is that the new eco tires may save you one tank of gas a year. I presume even that estimate includes typical marketing department hyperbole.
2) There is virtually no unbiased data comparing tires other than occasional reviews and tests by auto magazines. These data are still very limited because they obviously don't test the car that I own and don't test in the conditions that I drive. Still, there is at least a modicum of objectivity which is completely lacking in the customer reviews. When I last looked, Bridgestone Duelers did as well as any other tire and typically finished mid pack compared to other luxury CUV tires.
3) The Bridgestone Dueler 400 that Mazda chose for the CX-9 GT is not the cheapest tire they could get away with. Why did Mazda choose the Dueler??? They could have saved a few hundred dollars per car by going with less expensive but well respected tires from Yokohama or any of another four or five high quality manufacturers.
4) Once Mazda chose the Dueler, they optimized the suspension tuning for that tire. They most likely did gobs of testing and tuning with that specific tire. Any other tire would have resulted in different tuning (not saying it would have been worse but it would most likely have been different).
5) When Mazda engineers choose a more expensive tire, presumably they had a good reason for it backed up with carefully controlled and unbiased test data. Who am I to wander the internet seeking "something better" and disregarding everything the Mazda engineers learned?
6) If I had to pay $1300 for a replacement set of Bridgestone Duelers and could get perfectly good alternatives for $800 or so, you can bet that I would go for the value tire. In this case, Costco has a pretty reasonable deal for 4 mounted, taxed and with a 5 yr hazard warranty for under a grand. I am willing, especially given my experience with the original set of Duelers, to pay a couple hundred more (but not $600 more!).
7) I can drive to Costco tomorrow and have the tires installed in 90 minutes while I roam around the store tasting cheese dip and crab spread. Compare that to the time and energy involved in organizing an internet purchase, shipping and then local install. If something goes wrong I just go back to Costco. Who wants to spend hours on the phone with some internet tire store trying to sort out whether the tire or the installer is responsible for something that doesn't go well?