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- Canada
My previous car was AWD. The tire shop (STS) said that the new tires should go on the back. However, the dealer said no, for my car the new tires go on the front because the front of the car was heavier and did the steering. The dealer was right. I don't know what Mazda recommends.
Just curious, what was your previous car?
Personally, I'd trust a tire shop's recommendation over a dealer, if no other resources for information are available. Tire shops typically have more experience with tire-related issues than dealer shops, and sometimes the dealers (techs and reps) know less about the cars than the people coming in to buy/service them.