Mazda5 Tires: Issues & Replacement Recommendations

[Silentnoise713]

Different strokes for different folks. There is no better tire since everyone's needs are different. Notice the New Englander has dedicated snows while the Mid-Atlantican settle on all-season and the Southerner only cares about grip


I will say the Grand Touring All-Seasons seems to be the better overall package b/c they have extended tire wear and most importantly, they ride the most quite while still offering decent performance levels for in the all-season categories. BUT (always the butt), the cost is hard to swallow -for me. I reasoned that the roads around here are prone to destroy tires/rims before I can actually get the full lifespan out of them so I went cheap. The Generals were $275 but I really did want the PureContacts at $448; however, not at that price difference.

 

[GBean]

I had the Avid envigors on our 5 last time around.
Due to the price increase and the so-so tread life of the Yoko's I tried a set of Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum in a slightly larger 215/50/17. (see here)

They have been awesome, especially on tread wear and noise. (Been on the car about 10 months now.)
My only complaint is I noticed the sidewalls are definitely flimsier. The ride comfort is therefore a little better, but initial turn in response is slightly worse than the more performance intended Yokohama Avid.
All in all I would like to try a firmer better handling tire but the Kumhos will do fine until they wear out.

 

[phunky.buddha]

Different strokes for different folks. There is no better tire since everyone's needs are different. Notice the New Englander has dedicated snows while the Mid-Atlantican settle on all-season and the Southerner only cares about grip


I will say the Grand Touring All-Seasons seems to be the better overall package b/c they have extended tire wear and most importantly, they ride the most quite while still offering decent performance levels for in the all-season categories. BUT (always the butt), the cost is hard to swallow -for me. I reasoned that the roads around here are prone to destroy tires/rims before I can actually get the full lifespan out of them so I went cheap. The Generals were $275 but I really did want the PureContacts at $448; however, not at that price difference.

Yeah that's a huge price difference! I need to start shopping for a new set of 235/45-17s again...

 

[GBean]

235's?! That is a big width increase!

 

[phunky.buddha]

235's?! That is a big width increase!

Yup, but just a hair larger in diameter- just enough to correct the speedometer out to actual speed compared to the factory standard "reading faster than you're really going" speedometer calibration. There's actually room for more tire- I can fit the 235/45 with a 5mm spacer up front and an 8mm spacer out back with room to spare on +55mm offset wheels. With just a hair more negative camber to clear the fenders and probably a +52 offset wheel, I bet 245/40s or 245/45s would fit all around.

 

[Orangutan]

About to pull the trigger on some new tires for my OEM 16s. Deciding between the Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2 and Cooper Zeon RS3-A most likely. Both are on sale at PepBoys. Reading up on the latest results from ConsumerReports and TireRack right now.

Also going to be putting my MS3 rims up for sale later tonight if anyone's interested. And some steelies+snow tires. MS3s have some rash and scratches. If anyone is interested now, let me know. Thread will be up later tonight.

 

[Orangutan]

Went with the Cooper Zeon RS3-As in 205/55/16. They're Recommended by ConsumerReports and were the cheapest option available to me for quality tires. Here's what CR says:

CR Rating - 64/100 (Highest rated in category is 76, Lowest is 52)

CR's Take
Solid all-season performance in the UHP category.
Highs: Consistently good to very good ratings in all key performance areas.
Lows: No vices.

Report Card (Scale is Excellent - Very Good - Good - Fair - Poor)

• Dry Braking - Very Good
• Dry Handling - Very Good
• Wet Braking - Very Good
• Wet Handling - Very Good
• Hydroplaning - Very Good
• Snow Braking - Good
• Ice Braking - Good
• Ride - Very Good
• Noise - Good
• Rolling Resistance - Very Good
• Tread Life - Good

 

[Orangutan]

What my OEM Bridgestone Turanza EL400-02s looked like right before I got the new Coopers.

 

[Secondtyme]

Is that dry rot? Damn! How in the world does that happen on tires less than two years old?

 

[phunky.buddha]

Lots of sun? That really doesn't look bad to me... the surface of the tread and the main section of the sidewall still look good.

 

[Komodo693]

Just replaced the oems with continental pure contact. The oem toyos were slip and slides with any snow/slush on the ground. The contis are pretty quiet I hear wind noise again... Grip has been great so far! Haven't been any considerable snow to measure that traction.

 

[1987cp]

Not just me, then. IIRC, the Toyos seemed rather good the first winter but were substantially worse the second one, and this year they're about hopeless on slushy stuff (and my county's idea of winter road maintenance is to dump loads of salt with minimal scraping so everything's a slushy soup - no wonder huge 4x4s are popular here). Had a shockingly hard time recently just getting through a snow-covered parking lot, even. Still lots of tread left, and grip seems very decent in most conditions other than slush. My wife suggested maybe we should start saving for new tires.

I need to take the car in today for my last free oil change ... should really have a look first to see if my roadspeed-variable thumping noise isn't just something dumb like a screw.

 

[microvan]

About to pull the trigger on some new tires for my OEM 16s. Deciding between the Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2 and Cooper Zeon RS3-A most likely.

I went with the Hankook Ventus s1 noble2. Much quieter than the Toyos, more sidewall flex, thump a bit over bumps, excellent wet traction, minimal hydroplaning and much better than the Toyos in light snow.

 

[hchia29]

I went with the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus. Way to expensive for my budget, but with the weather I been getting in Michigan. Thought the would be safer for my family and it is.

 

[kiwi5]

So after trying to assimilate the data contained within the 35 pages and 514 comments has anyone built a spreadsheet somewhere for this topic where we could all put in data and try and make sense of the comments or is it too complex....I have an 06 with 85,000 and 3 sets of tires later still can't decide what to get to trade off wear with mileage, nvh, etc etc...
came with pirelli somethings (wished I had noticed) got 55,000 out of those
yokohama avid 7,000 before they self destructed
pirelli p6 all season 18,000 and now they are worn to nothing (but an "even" worn to nothing)

yes we have the camber issue so I am thinking of moving to 215-50-70's...so who has got more than 30k out of anything?? Tirerack reviewers not enough data to go on....even in this form most post are from those who just put them on so no data to go on....so if someone has the data summarized somewhere let me know...appreciate the advice.

 

[GBean]

My Kumho Ecsta Platinum LX set is still going strong after 14 months. Looks like they will easily hit 35K miles. I'm surprised as I had been very skeptical of Kumho in the past.

BTW I up-sized and went with the 215-50/17 tires. Smoother ride and negligible handling differences.
I'm wondering if the extra sidewall height may help deal with even wear issues?
I only had noticable wear problems at the very end of the tread life anyway...
My 2009 Touring model never seemed to be affected by the "camber issue."
It's only been affected by my bride brushing curbs.... :/

 

[Silentnoise713]

So after trying to assimilate the data contained within the 35 pages and 514 comments has anyone built a spreadsheet somewhere for this topic where we could all put in data and try and make sense of the comments or is it too complex....I have an 06 with 85,000 and 3 sets of tires later still can't decide what to get to trade off wear with mileage, nvh, etc etc...
came with pirelli somethings (wished I had noticed) got 55,000 out of those
yokohama avid 7,000 before they self destructed
pirelli p6 all season 18,000 and now they are worn to nothing (but an "even" worn to nothing)

yes we have the camber issue so I am thinking of moving to 215-50-70's...so who has got more than 30k out of anything?? Tirerack reviewers not enough data to go on....even in this form most post are from those who just put them on so no data to go on....so if someone has the data summarized somewhere let me know...appreciate the advice.

I nominate you to build this sheet 
The problem is everyone has a different butt dyno and driving needs. You should not take anyone one tire as the end-all. I find TireRack’s reviews to be very much on-point. Instead of building this spreadsheet, I’d suggest first decide on what tire category suite you most (keep in mind the performance -to- comfort slippery slope). Go here http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/index.jsp and jolt down the top 5 highest “opinion” rated tries, good tread wear indicator. Go here http://www.tirerack.com/tires/reviews/MenuServlet?search=surveyComments and read TireRack’s “Professional review” on said 5 tires, which IMO are pretty accurate. Pick any of the top 2 in any category and you can’t go wrong.

What is tricky is to trying to find that “affordable” yet well rated tire but there are too many “personal needs” factor on this decision b/c once you go budget, sumthin's gotta give.

 

[kiwi5]

thanks...had done the research on tire rack and yet hadn't found that particular approach...had focused on either by size or by similar vehicle...appreciate the comments...

 

[chief_wiggum]

My Kumho Ecsta Platinum LX set is still going strong after 14 months. Looks like they will easily hit 35K miles. I'm surprised as I had been very skeptical of Kumho in the past.

Keep a close eye on these; I just replaced my set with about 30K on them and had one close to fully separate. I religiously rotated them every 7K miles or so and put them on after a fresh alignment. At least one other was showing signs of excess inside wear. Maybe I had a bad one. Either way, it was hard to see the damage until i had it on a lift and could see the inside wear.

 

[phunky.buddha]

Keep a close eye on these; I just replaced my set with about 30K on them and had one close to fully separate. I religiously rotated them every 7K miles or so and put them on after a fresh alignment. At least one other was showing signs of excess inside wear. Maybe I had a bad one. Either way, it was hard to see the damage until i had it on a lift and could see the inside wear.

You probably had a bad one, it happens. I've had tons of Kumho tires without incident- they're an excellent value tire company, and they make some pretty sweet race tires too.