2018 CX-9 GT Road Noise - Crosspost from Tires, Suspension Section,

Enjoy your vacation man, hopefully you'll come back to a better ride.

Thank you!

Got a call back from Mazda Corp this morning who pulled the dealership onto the call and they were more than happy (now) to grab a set of tires/rims off another vehicle and see what happens.... Wish that had been their response a week ago :)
 
And the saga continues...

Long story short, I couldn't get in and leave the car as I had originally planned - my wife got stuck out of town.

So I took it in to the Firestone store to check for issues with the tires. Dealt with one of the nicest technicians I've ever encountered.

He walked up to my car, looked at the tires, and diagnosed a substantial alignment issue visually - due to the corner wear on the tires. He put it on the wrack and confirmed that the alignment is off in all dimensions - including negative camber that likely shouldn't be there.

I called the dealership again and they have agreed to give me a CX-9 as a loaner while they fix. I've agreed on the condition that I am not giving that loaner back until my car is right.

Yuck.
 
And the saga continues...

Long story short, I couldn't get in and leave the car as I had originally planned - my wife got stuck out of town.

So I took it in to the Firestone store to check for issues with the tires. Dealt with one of the nicest technicians I've ever encountered.

He walked up to my car, looked at the tires, and diagnosed a substantial alignment issue visually - due to the corner wear on the tires. He put it on the wrack and confirmed that the alignment is off in all dimensions - including negative camber that likely shouldn't be there.

I called the dealership again and they have agreed to give me a CX-9 as a loaner while they fix. I've agreed on the condition that I am not giving that loaner back until my car is right.

Yuck.

I can't believe the service techs at your dealership couldn't do the same thing the Firestone tech did. That's pretty sad.

This may be the light at the end of the tunnel though..
 
I can't believe the service techs at your dealership couldn't do the same thing the Firestone tech did. That's pretty sad.

This may be the light at the end of the tunnel though..

Yeah... I was last there with them in, I think February, so I'm not sure how much it may have progressed since then.

They also weren't explicitly looking at the tires at that point.

I have to give the service tech at Mazda credit - he seemed genuinely interested in helping during the time he spent in the car. He did dismiss the alignment issue as being due to the crown on the road, but he was nice about it :)

Once step forward :)
 
My car is now back at the dealership.... Hopefully for the last time.

After getting Mazda Corp involved, they were much nicer and willing to work toward as solution. Funny how that works sometimes!

The loaner is an '18 CX-9 GT with the Falkens instead of the Bridgestones. Definitely a different road feel (and no noise) but I'm not sure if that is due to the car being in better alignment or different tires. I have no idea how to accurately describe it, but I think I like the road feel of the Bridgestone better.

Hope to hear back from them in the next few days!
 
Latest update...

They offered to buy me new tires.

Why? The Mazda engineers are kind of admitting that they small tire sidewall and a heavy car lead to very stiff tire sidewalls which transmit more road noise etc.

The one I'm currently driving with the Falkens has none of the suspect road noise.... But the handling is also definitely more detached.

So, here's the question - what tires do I ask for? They said they'd get pretty much whichever ones I want.

Anyone have good tire experiences on this car?
 
Here's one way to select the tires: Go to tirerack.com, tires, performance category, crossover/SUV, view consumer ratings, select your tire size, click on comfort (or the parameter of your choice)

We're pleased with our Falken Ziex CT50 A/S. Keep in mind that every tire design is a compromise. Gain snappy handling with stiffer sidewalls and give up some comfort (gain harshness & noise). Gain better wet or snow traction and give up some tread life. And vice versa.
 
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I would do what PTguy suggested as well, after identifying what you want in your tire. Being a seven seater "luxury" SUV, I would lean more towards a comfortable, quiet tire with good wet/dry traction or a comfortable, quiet all-season tire.
 
Here's one way to select the tires: Go to tirerack.com, tires, performance category, crossover/SUV, view consumer ratings, select your tire size, click on comfort (or the parameter of your choice)

We're pleased with our Falken Ziex CT50 A/S. Keep in mind that every tire design is a compromise. Gain snappy handling with stiffer sidewalls and give up some comfort (gain harshness & noise). Gain better wet or snow traction and give up some tread life. And vice versa.

I would do what PTguy suggested as well, after identifying what you want in your tire. Being a seven seater "luxury" SUV, I would lean more towards a comfortable, quiet tire with good wet/dry traction or a comfortable, quiet all-season tire.

Yeah, I was stuck a bit b/c I have historically been very happy with Michelin's - but the TR reviews have a lot of complaints about short tread life. Better ice and tread wear scores pushed me to the Alenza.

I called to tell the dealership that and they said the offer had been rescinded with no explanation by Corp. So I called my corp friend and haven't heard back.

Two steps back!
 
Yeah, I was stuck a bit b/c I have historically been very happy with Michelin's - but the TR reviews have a lot of complaints about short tread life.
Read this article by a Forbes reporter about how Michelin has created tires that work as well when worn as when new. Impressive technology! Full disclosure: I worked for Michelin for 16 years.
 
Read this article by a Forbes reporter about how Michelin has created tires that work as well when worn as when new. Impressive technology! Full disclosure: I worked for Michelin for 16 years.

That still doesn't answer the issue with lots of TR reviews claiming that newer Michelin designs (like the Premiere A/S) are getting anywhere from 30%-50% less tread-wear life than their rating says they should. Most of their Premiere A/S models have only 8.5/32 of tread, where previous models like the Primacy MXV4, would have 11/32 but they have the same tread-wear ratings. I'm assuming that this is done to save weight?
 
Resurrecting an OLD thread to see if anyone else has experienced same, or has any new ideas. Just shy of 17,000 miles and still ongoing. I had the tires rotated and it made no difference.

The one thing that consistently bugs me - and this may all be related to - the car pulls left constantly. It's been aligned, both by Mazda and a third party.

The pull occurs most clearly on the highway - and occurs in the left, center or right lanes (it's not the crown). The entire wheel turns a couple degrees to the left.

Any ideas on what could be causing this?!? The dealership has punted on this one, so I'm trying to figure it out for myself....

Thanks!
 
Resurrecting an OLD thread to see if anyone else has experienced same, or has any new ideas. Just shy of 17,000 miles and still ongoing. I had the tires rotated and it made no difference.

The one thing that consistently bugs me - and this may all be related to - the car pulls left constantly. It's been aligned, both by Mazda and a third party.

The pull occurs most clearly on the highway - and occurs in the left, center or right lanes (it's not the crown). The entire wheel turns a couple degrees to the left.

Any ideas on what could be causing this?!? The dealership has punted on this one, so I'm trying to figure it out for myself....

Thanks!

Tires. May have a good alignment, road-force balancing and all, but it's probably the tires. Had a similar issue on VW a few years back and, after being unable to get it right, a new set of same brand rubber was the fix. Maybe you can get dealer to throw on a set of wheels/tires from another new vehicle to do a road test (?). Wouldn't hurt.
 
Tires. May have a good alignment, road-force balancing and all, but it's probably the tires. Had a similar issue on VW a few years back and, after being unable to get it right, a new set of same brand rubber was the fix. Maybe you can get dealer to throw on a set of wheels/tires from another new vehicle to do a road test (?). Wouldn't hurt.

Ha. The dealer has been entirely useless in this entire thing. Car spent nearly 2 weeks with them and they claimed to do extensive testing on it. Except they only put about 15 miles on. Given that each lap on the highway, where the issue occurs, runs about 5 miles they didn't do much work.

They initially offered to put a new set of tires on, but the regional rep quashed that.

I've had the tires rotated left/right and front/back and no change, so I'm skeptical it's the tires. But, like so many things in life I could be wrong!
 
Ha. The dealer has been entirely useless in this entire thing. Car spent nearly 2 weeks with them and they claimed to do extensive testing on it. Except they only put about 15 miles on. Given that each lap on the highway, where the issue occurs, runs about 5 miles they didn't do much work.

They initially offered to put a new set of tires on, but the regional rep quashed that.

I've had the tires rotated left/right and front/back and no change, so I'm skeptical it's the tires. But, like so many things in life I could be wrong!

Did the Mazda dealer fix the alignment problem the Firestone tech found? The Mazda dealer I have my CX-9 serviced has the new Hawkeye alignment system right at the drive up service drop off bay. No need to put the car on a rack to check alignment anymore. Just put on these 4 cone like things on the wheels and get alignment measurement in couple of minutes.
 
Did the Mazda dealer fix the alignment problem the Firestone tech found? The Mazda dealer I have my CX-9 serviced has the new Hawkeye alignment system right at the drive up service drop off bay. No need to put the car on a rack to check alignment anymore. Just put on these 4 cone like things on the wheels and get alignment measurement in couple of minutes.

They did. I don't take my car to the dealer for paid service, so I had it double checked the next time it went in for an oil change.

The noise on the highway also consistently appears with a vibration you can feel both in the steering wheel and the floorboard.
 
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